IN A “FLASHING” KIND OF MOOD

I’ve been telling The CC Strummers, my ukulele group in Culver City, all about the big “Ukulele Flash Mob.” It’s a-comin’. And we’re a-goin’.

What’s a flash mob?” One senior asks. “Well…. You wear a trench coat and when they count 1-2-3-4, you open your coat and flash your….…ukulele.”

That goes over with a thud.

“When is it,” they ask? One fine Saturday afternoon in Little Tokyo. So I gather three stalwart strummers, Ed, Lillian and Nancy, to carpool with me as we drive to what is now vibrant and exhilarating downtown Los Angeles.

We find a place to park in the cheap lot and hike past the new condos, old restaurants and colorful shops. Suddenly we are swept into rivers of people and declare, above the cacophony, that we should tie a rope to each other so we don’t get separated. But I guess cell phones have become the new virtual “leash” these days.

We eventually find the powers-that-be, Terry and Shoshanna, the two hard-working volunteers from the Los Angeles Music Center, who have planned this flashy exhibition of spontaneity, right in front of the Japanese-American National Museum. A few moments before “show time,” folks arrive with their ukuleles surreptitiously hidden away—in grocery bags, big purses, between their legs. But even the few ukes that are now prominently displayed out in the open don’t register a passing nod of curiosity. Did I tell you it’s Nisei week? Too. The food, the taiko drums, the rows and rows of booths that sell all kinds of goodies, the whole celebration, that is what’s drawing the crowds today.

I’m actually here by accident, to tell you the truth. A few weeks ago I respond to a group email request from Terry, asking for song ideas for the mob to perform. Well that’s right up my alley after teaching the CC Strummers for three years. We like our fun, simple songs that are easy to learn and easy to play. So I share a few suggestions, and figure that’s it. Done.

Well so much for my gifts of prophecy. “Flash forward” and the organizers are using three of The CC Strummers’ song charts for the Flash Mob and I am called on to lead the group. I figure I will count 1-2-3-4, then fade into the crowd.

But no………

They put me up on the steps and tell me to start playing my uke. Suddenly people appear, almost a hundred I guess, from every direction, with ukuleles and smiles and they begin strumming along. Oh what a wonder!

At that point I am yanked off my stoop to face the crowd and suddenly I’m “conducting” and most important, “counting down” the songs so we all start together. At the same time. Large crowds make me nervous so I think about food instead and that usually calms me down.  Today sushi comes to mind.  And that’s how I make it through an utterly joyful mob-scene of happy ukulele players. We sing Let’s Twist Again, Dream Baby, Hound Dog and All of Me.

Families, couples, young people, old people stop to watch and take pictures and sing along. I have to tell you, this is SMILE-O-LICIOUS! And it’s hard to imagine anything can top our splendid six minutes of flashing in Little Tokyo…

Until…

As we merge onto the Santa Monica Freeway, a long stretch limo appears to our right.  It’s big, almost like a bus. Suddenly a window rolls down and someone hangs his big naked butt out for all west-bound traffic to see.  Let me tell you, glimpsing a full-moon, on a hot afternoon, from a moving vehicle with three other people who value comedy, is better than chocolate.

“Wo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o”! That’s all we can muster at first, in exquisite unison. Eyes fixed on that big round posterior until the limo changes freeways at the Staples Center, we dissolve into laughter, then rousing commentary concluding that this butt belongs to a dude. Not because any other “dude” parts are hanging out.  Nope, we figure this kind of “display” is something a dude would do. And a young-un at that. These are not the buns of someone who is worrying about paying the mortgage. You can tell two lanes away.

Quick! Get that kid a ukulele…

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Attention Cheat Sheet Fans: It is nearly impossible to memorize four ukulele songs and perform them without nary a rehearsal, but this Flash Mob pulls it off. They use cheat sheets–in an array of creative ways. Mini charts are taped to ukuleles, players are turned into human music stands when the songs are taped to their backs. And here is another clever solution: This young lady clips her cheat sheets onto a harmonica holder as she plays her banjo ukulele.

What do you do to get through a show?