Tour Guides at the Alamo…

…Don’t like being asked where the basement is.

I already checked.

(One day, I will do a study on the percentage of people who ask that daily at the Alamo. I’m guessing it’s somewhere around 7%).

However, the people in Austin do.

Austin hearts Pee-Wee big time.

Enough to have a PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE bike-in this weekend.

Yeah, you heard me. Bike-in.

The Alamo Drafthouse and Rolling Roadshow presented an outdoor screening of the classic movie on a patch of eastside grass. A soggy patch of eastside grass. You see, it rained earlier that evening and most folks thought the event was cancelled, so the excitement leading up to the event was dampened by dampness. However, that didn’t stop the hardcore PW fans from showing up in full costume and quoting every single freaking line in the movie. I have to say, the highlight of the evening was watching the crowd’s response to Pee-Wee singing, “The stars at night are big and bright….”

The evening was a blast and it was so refreshing to be around a large group of people who laughed at all of Pee-Wee’s lines, who cheered when they saw Danny Elfman’s name, and clapped at Phil Hartman’s cameo at the end. Having grown up in a very pro-Pee-Wee environment, it warms my heart to see people who love our little hero just as much as I do (but not more than I do…. I will fight you.)

The film was shown in 35mm which meant there were some hiccups along the way, but at least we got to see the wonderful gaffs that didn’t make the DVD version (a crew member’s leg in the bike’s debut scene and Pee-Wee’s bike chain being pulled from out of frame).

I have to say though, Austin has a lot on Los Angeles, but Austin has got nothing in the Pee-Wee screenings dept. Every year, the Hollywood Forever Cementery series hosts a screening of PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE where typically Paul Reubens and most of the cast show up unannounced.

Alamo, next time you have this screening, why don’t ya extend the invite to the big man himself?

TRIVIA QUESTION: What is Pee-Wee’s father’s name?