The Time Eric Raith Surprised Chris Rock

It was the early to mid-1990s. There was a stand-up comedy cafe in West Palm Beach, Florida, called the Carefree Theater. The Carefree Theater was a very small place. What was unique about it was that you could sit and watch a show in a very, very small venue. Everybody sat at a table, so the place didn’t have seating like a traditional theater. There were tables, and they had food service. Part of getting tickets to the Carefree Theater was that you agreed to order food in addition to the cost of the ticket. I can’t remember exactly, but it was something like ticket holders had to get 2 drinks and something to eat while they watched the show in this very small venue. So, you sit at a table, enjoy a show, and have a snack or a meal. It was the type of food, like a hamburger or a pizza slice, and I believe that was a 2-drink minimum.

I found out that Chris Rock was coming to the Carefree Theater. I got tickets with some friends. We went to the show. Chris Rock was great. He was very funny. And one of the things that stood out. He was talking about the local big shopping mall at one point, the West Palm Beach Mall. What he said about it was things that it seemed like you would have to live there to know about. I remember after the show talking with my friends, thinking that he must live in Palm Beach County or visit here often enough to know these details about the area. Anyway, the show was hilarious. He was hilarious. I enjoyed it. And after the show, people were filing out. In the back of the room of this very small venue, there were double doors where the servers went in and out of the kitchen, that’s where they were serving the food from. After the show, I went to the doors, and I could see through the kitchen doors that Chris Rock was just standing there in the kitchen. I cracked the door open, and I motioned to him to come over. I said Chris, come here. He did. We had a brief conversation. It was pretty cool, and I was surprised that he came over to me. I was just some random guy. I’ve always wondered to this day if he remembers that some guy motioned for him to talk to him when he was back there in the kitchen area at the Carefree Theater. I guess I’ll never know. Today, I doubt that would happen because times have changed, and I think people are more security conscious. We had a brief conversation, and I told him I enjoyed the show. Next up is a story about when I saw Bobcat Goldthwait at The Carefree Theater.