by Susan Gerle

Created on: July 31, 2008

When I sat down in front of my computer this morning and couldn't think of a thing to put on paper. I was frustrated. I had nothing funny to say. Why would I even consider writing a comedy sketch? I already knew why. Real life is hilarious as I was constantly finding out.

"Okay Susan. Fantasize." I said to myself. My desk has a number of items on it right now. A telephone. A phone card. A couple of business cards. My digital camera. Hair clips. An old copy of the Vallarta Tribune. A small satin rose. My printer.

The phone rings (but it really doesn't!), and the male voice on the other end is thanking me for the wonderful evening we spent together the night before. The night before I was curled up on the couch by myself watching a re-run of Boston Legal.

"I'm sorry. You have the wrong number."

"But you sound exactly like Carmen." His husky voice remarks.

"I wish I was Carmen. It sounds as though the evening went well." I say, wanting to hear the sexy voice a little longer.

"What is your name?" He asks.

"Leah. Leah McDonaugh." I grab the name from one of the business cards on my desk.

"So tell me about Leah McDonaugh." He says with that low, smooth voice of his.

And suddenly my next comedy sketch is falling into place.

Here I have a lonely woman making contact with a perfect stranger on the telephone. He has already found out her first and last name. She knows nothing about him. Or, let's put a modern day twist to it. It's a woman phoning a man to thank him for the great date the night before and he's the lonely one who spent the evening by himself.

Before long, lonely man and lonely woman are talking about getting together for coffee at a little bistro they both know. Whichever way it goes, it's a good sketch for a new series, "Blind Date." I can write about this. I went out on a few blind dates myself set up by well-meaning friends.

The first "blind date" I remember was a Halloween costume party. Not a great idea. Actually, it went wrong right from the beginning because my friends set me up with a guy they knew who would be perfect for me but mixed up the phone numbers. When Larry phoned it was really Bob phoning (the wrong guy), so I went out with Bob instead.

I was really impressed when Bob picked me up in a chauffeur-driven car, even though it was a 2-door limo. What did I know? I was young. So was he, and too shy to introduce the guy driving the car, his buddy, Larry! You may already have decided where this part of the comedy sketch could go if you were writing it.

Fast forward to the following week when Bob asked me out on a second date and I decided to accept. The first time I saw Bob he was dressed in a red and white checkered suit with his hair parted down the middle. I was in a turn of the century style dress with ringlets and big freckles. We were the perfect couple. Forget about the lemon gin added to the punchbowl!

I answered the door to Bob's knock. There was obvious disappointment on his face when he saw me.

"Is something wrong?" I asked with a gulp.

"Your freckles. They're gone!" he remarked.

I was crushed. So was he.

That romance ended but the new series of comedy sketches had only just begun!

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