Rudy Rush - Harlem Cowboy

 

Three years ago, Fourth of July weekend, I was performing at Caroline's Comedy Club. I was opening it up for Tracy Morgan from Saturday Night Live. I had a great show. It happens all the time, but just this particular time. [audience laughter] After the show, everybody came up to me, they were telling me how much of a good job I did. But there were these two ladies, straight, leave it to Cleaver, Leave It To Beaver mothers, they came up to me, tell you how much I watched that show. [audience laughter] They came up to me and they were like, “Oh, my God, you did such a great job,” blah, blah, blah. “This is our first time in New York. It's our first time here. It's our first stop. You did such a great job.” And I was like, “Thank you very much.” 

 

They were like, “Well, you seem like you know what's going on in the city? Can you point us in the right direction as to what we can go do and hang out and see?” I'm saying to myself, I'm looking at both of them and I'm like, “Whatever direction I point them in, they're going to be in the newspaper tomorrow morning.” [audience laughter] I said, “I'm going to take these two ladies out and show them a nice time.” Now, most of us are New Yorkers in here. I didn't take them too many crazy places. I took them to a couple of places where they had music and probably 8 to 10 people, but they enjoyed it. They were from all the way in Portland, Oregon, and they were here for the first time. So, reluctantly, I became the tour guide for the rest of the weekend. [audience laughter] 

 

Two other sisters flew in. Actually, their daughters were performing at the UN. But they were really appreciative. We had a really great time. I showed them a nice time around the city. I was surprised I knew so much about the city. Just out of nowhere, one of the ladies said, “You know what? You have to come out. We do this rodeo every year in Pendleton, Oregon. You have to come.” [audience laughter] I said, “Okay.” If you haven't noticed, I'm a brother from the hood. We don't do rodeos. [audience laughter] But then, I thought to myself, I said, okay. I'm a comedian. I've done a lot in terms of seeing things. I went from Miami to Tampa, saw the orange groves, flew over the Grand Canyon, saw the mountains in Montana just because I was a comedian, not because I saved my money and went. 

 

So, I said, you know what? This would be another adventure that I can say, at least I tried it. They fly me out there. As soon as I get out there, I have a New York City cap, got a sweatshirt on and everything. They were like, “Mm, you can't really wear that out here. So, we're going to take you and get some clothes.” [audience laughter] Well, they take me to this store where you got the Wrangler jeans and the shirts and the hats. The store attendant, she gives me these Wrangler jeans. These things were Patrick Swayze tight, [audience laughter] all right? So, I come out of the dressing room, I'm like, “Are these okay?” Everybody's like, “No, those are perfect.” [audience laughter] I'm looking at myself in the mirror, I'm like, “Damn.”

 

So, I got this whole get up on. I got this black Stetson. I'm looking like Will Rogers dipped in chocolate, right? [audience laughter] So, we go out to this bar and we all having drinks. The ladies’ husbands are there, we're having a great time. So, this guy comes up to me and he's like, “Come with me. I want to show you something.” So, my buddy, Tom, he's with me. He's like, “No, I'll walk with you, guys.” So, we walk two blocks. This is no lie. We walk two blocks to a small little pub just for him to show me a picture of a black dude who was there in 1915. [audience laughter] Then I thought about it. I'm like, “Okay, maybe this is his way of just trying to show me that I'm accepted.” He didn't know how to do it. 

 

I'm just thinking in the back of my mind like, “100 years from now, they're going to show some other black kid of my picture.” [audience laughter] [chuckles] So, the following day, my buddy Tom, he's a photographer, so he gets all access to the fields, to the rodeo grounds and everything like that. So, I'm feeling uncomfortable with Tom, but he's protecting me. So, I'm like, “All right, I'm cool. I'm a little comfortable.” So, he introduces me to the fence crew. Now, for you who don't know what the fence crew is, these are the guys who go out on the field and make sure the fences are up and make sure everything's right for the rodeo and blase blah. 

 

One of the funniest things is working with the fence crew, they actually snuck me on the field during the festivities. I mean, you got thousands of people in the crowd. If you guys don't know, they have like this thing, the bronco bucking. That's when the horses come out and they throw the guys every which away. And it's very dangerous. Just my luck, this wild horse is coming at me with two guys trying to corral a horse to get into the pit. So, I'm like, “Okay, I'll play basketball. [audience laughter] I got some moves.” So, I actually dodged and I got out of the way. My hat fell off and I got up. Everybody was cheering. I'm like, “I never heard this applause at a comedy show ever.” [audience laughter] Anyway, I've been going back for the last three years. [audience laughter] [audience applause] 

 

These are like my best friends now. [audience laughter] I cut off my schedule in September and I'm like, “I'm going to the rodeo.” [audience laughter] I'm like, fucking Batman. I put my little hat and my boots and my pants in my bag. “Yo, where you going?” “Nowhere, bruh. [audience laughter] Going to rodeo.” But the thing that is so special about this experience for me, is that I actually happened to be out there during 9/11 and the three-hour difference. I wake up at 07:00 in the morning to watch SportsCenter, and these buildings are collapsing. And I'm thinking, what movie is this, until the reality strikes me that this is actually happening. My mother works not too far from there, and my sister and I can't get in touch with anybody. 

 

They're okay. But at the same time, these people stopped everything that they were doing. There was no rodeo until-- Because I'm the only guy from New York out there. They knew I was from New York City, so the cowboys are coming from the pits and everything like that just to make sure that I got in contact with my family. I thought that was very, very, very special, which makes me want to go back for the next 50 years. But that's the type of people that they are. Even the year after that, I came back again. They had a tribute to 9/11, which was funny because they flew in a firefighter from New York and this other guy from the police department. I'm like, “Hey, what's up, y'all? I'm Rudy. I'm from New York.” They were like, “What the fuck are you doing here?” [audience laughter] I was like. “It's a long story, man.” [audience laughter] 

 

But they actually enjoyed themselves too. So, it was cool. We got to hang out and stuff. But the thing that was so special this particular year, a friend of ours, Lucas, older gentleman, he has bad arthritis. He had two fingers one hand and maybe three on the other. His wife passed away. He's an older gentleman. So, everybody grouped around him, made sure he was okay. That was the focus of our trip this year. It was so funny. During the opening festivities of the rodeo, they were singing the national anthem. Those of you who go to events, you never-- sometimes you're walking around, you never know where you're standing. 

 

I actually happened to be at the top of the beaches with Lucas. They were singing the national anthem, and they had this F150 fighter jets or something come through. So close you could see the nuts and the bolts in the plane. It was really a touching experience. He starts crying, and I'm quite sure he was thinking of his wife, that he wished that she could see something as beautiful as that. I'm thinking of my friends that I lost in the towers. So, he puts his two fingers on my shoulder [audience laughter] and I put my hand on his shoulder-- I love those people, and those are my friends and that's my story. That's it.