Around the time of my 13th birthday (March '85), our family went to see the Ringling Bros. & Barnum Bailey production at Hampton Coliseum. This place was located right beside one of the shittiest housing projects I had ever seen. The Coliseum was where The Rolling Stones had recorded their crappy '81 live LP Still Life. It would later become the setting of Phish's six-CD set Hampton Comes Alive (hippie humor is the worst).We saw a bunch of clowns, freestylers, jugglers, horses, hoops, balls, bears, elephants, and lions. The main attraction was King Tusk -- "The World's Largest Elephant." Whoa! Well, "The Greatest Show On Earth" had drawn to its conclusion, so we made our way to the ground floor with hopes of seeing King Tusk up close. While the rest of us gazed amazingly at the thick-skinned mammal, my father dismissively said, "Oh, there's about 50 of these elephants that Ringling Bros. has." "Well, how many Gunther Gabel Williamses (the famous lion tamer and animal trainer) are there?" was my question to him.
The whole family (minus my dad) laughed tremendously. He called me a smart-ass; I called him an asshole (but not to his face).
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