(Saturday Night)
Jerry stood backstage straightening his tie for the third time.
"Five minutes, Seinfeld." The emcee called from the stage.
"Thanks, Alan." Jerry replied.
God, why am I so nervous tonight? It's not like I've never done this before.
Before he knew it, he heard his name being called, followed by applause. His throat went dry, but he raced onto the stage, grateful for the pitcher of water that sat on the table. His fingers trembled as he poured himself a glass. Quickly he drank it down and smiled at his audience.
"What a great crowd!" He said to the small group of people seated around the club. "How many of you are from New York?"
A few people applauded.
"New Yorkers are the best, aren't they?" Jerry said with a smile.
"You got that right, Dude!" A man yelled from the doorway, causing the audience to laugh.
"Okay, now how many of you are from Jersey?" Jerry continued.
The sound of distant clapping followed.
"My condolences." Jerry said, pleased when the audience laughed.
"So the rest of you... those who didn't clap... you don't know where you're from, right?"
Again some laughter.
"Okay, well... Has anyone experienced a breakup lately?" Jerry asked.
This time there was a lot of applause.
"Wow, so what I'm gathering is that after a breakup, you no longer know where you live?"
He smiled at the positive reaction he was getting. This was going much better than his set last weekend. He crossed the stage and took another drink of water.
"So who did the breaking up? You or the other person? Because you always want to be the one who ended it, am I right? My friend George breaks up with women at the drop of a hat. He once broke up with someone because the stripes on her shirt were sewn in wrong. He said she looked like a clown that had escaped from the New York Penitentiary."
Just then he noticed faint laughter coming from a dark corner of the room, amazed to find that he recognized it. But that was crazy. Who recognizes laughter from an audience that changes every week?
Quickly he returned his attention to his audience.
"What would a clown have to do to get himself arrested? Run a red light in one of those little cars? They pack like fifty clowns in those things. What if they get pulled over by a traffic cop? It would take hours just to give the driver a ticket because he wouldn't be able to find his wallet. They'd all have to get out of the car, just so he could move his arms."
The joke was met with more laughter than anything he'd ever said on stage before. It came from the same direction; the dark corner of the room. When the laugh came again, the sound was unmistakable.
He peered into the corner and his chest began to tighten.
It was her! The woman in the incredible dress from last week! Suddenly, he was more nervous than ever before.
He stared at her, unable to look away. She was dressed casually tonight; jeans and a blue sweater.
But she was even more beautiful than he remembered.
When he finished his last joke, he barely noticed the rousing applause that followed. Moments later, he peered through the curtains from behind the stage.
His biggest performance was just moments away.