Just go ahead and take a look at that picture and tell me you don’t like this kid. You kidding me? It’s Rob Gleeson! Bob! Bob Gleeson! And you don’t like him? Look at his boyish exuberance, his devil-may-care attitude, his sheer aura of optimism and determination! And you’re really telling me you still don’t like him? Rob Gleeson? Bob?
WELL FUCK YOU THEN! YOU CAN JUST GO AHEAD AND QUIT READING!
Sorry, guys. That last dude was a real jerk. You know, you get these people following you on Twitter and they’re just really negative and you’re trying to tell them about how great your friend Rob Gleeson is and they just don’t want to hear it, so what do you do? You cut them out of your life and you MOVE. THE. FUCK. ON.
The rest of you: In. For. A. Treat. Rob. Is. A – sorry, got to stop doing the period thing – he’s a comedian and actor who started right here in the Denver scene as a college student and quickly impressed everyone. From the get-go he had this kind of manic energy on stage – an irate, goofy intensity that was impossible to take your eyes off of. Then he up and moved to LA right after graduating from college. Disappeared like a phantom because homeboy is ambitious and determined. Not really he came back often and is embraced by the Denver scene, but his move dovetailed nicely and conveniently for me, as it was right during a period where I was starting to travel to LA often. And Rob always opened up his door to me. At this point I can’t even recall how many times I’ve slept on Rob’s couch or on his living room floor. It’s always nice to be Operation Dumbo Dropped into Gleeson’s life for a few days because he just opens up his world to me, and I to him, and for a week or so at a time we catch up, help each other prepare for auditions, go over new material, head out to comedy shows together, just generally ride the peaks and valleys of the life of a LA comedian. Here’s a video that proves that fact.
Rob also makes me laugh as hard as anyone. Both on stage and off. We have years-old, bizarre inside jokes that can still bring tears to my eyes when riffed anew in some nondescript Los Angeles living room. And riff anew we do. Often. So. That. Is. What’s. Up – goddamnit, I’m doing it again, I’ve been spending too much time on social media. Apologies.
On stage, it’s been a joy watching Rob grow as a comedian, and I love watching his sets now to see that same goofy, manic energy you could see from the get-go, but now talking about things are near and dear to his heart. Homeboy has been working. It’s also been a joy watching Rob mine the emotional battlefield of shitty auditions and callbacks with varying levels of success all the way to perhaps his greatest acting coup so far, a recurring part on the show “House of Lies,” with my main man and East High School graduate Don Cheadle, a.k.a Cheads!
Cheads! Huzzah!
So enjoy this episode of My Dining Room Table with Rob Gleeson, gang. One of my favorites.
And as far as music videos go, Rob picked something by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But this is a better video by them. Chris Farley is in it. It’s haunting.
Episode available on iTunes here.