The Island of Misfit Toys (Mui Wo) So it was after our show was finished at TakeOut Comedy and many drinks at Fat Angelo’s that Pete, myself, and Ryan stumbled into Isra’s bar in SoHo. The bar was nearly empty. Isra smiled and was acting as bartender when she saw us so we took the stools next to the bar. Pete and Ryan ordered what was on tap and I ordered a Vodka Red Bull. We began to reminisce about Christmases past in the United States. Ryan being from near Chicago, Pete being from New York, and me being from Atlanta we talked about watching a “Charlie Brown Christmas” every year. And then Pete spoke up, “You remember this?” And he straightened his body up to project, “No one wants a Charlie in the box!” Ryan and myself exploded in laughter. He was quoting one of the claymation CBS Christmas specials entitled “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” where Rudolph gets stranded on an Island of Misfit Toys with Hermey the Elf who wants to be a dentist after being chased by Bumble the Abominable Snowman. Pete repeated for effect, “No one wants a Charlie in the box!” Again, Ryan and I couldn’t stop laughing. Then without pause Ryan and I began to sing Christmas carols as loud as we could – while nursing our drinks. The wait staff and those who were still in the bar joined in. And we laughed as Ryan, Pete, and myself tried to do harmony and failed miserably. Isra laughed with us. And she looked me in the eye and smiled. She looked so deep into my eyes – it made me nervous. And I dropped my gaze and looked into my Vodka Red Bull.
And it was 1977. Star Wars had first come out that May. And it was Christmas Eve. I was four years old at my daycare center. All of us kids had been so excited about