fancy Hollywood parties

My friend Les has been a constant source of interest and adventure since I've lived here. He seems to have a gift for finding bizarre and amazing situations. One such situation was earlier in the summer.
I got an email message from Les saying that this company he was connected with, 'Premiere Catering", was hiring like crazy to get help with a party. They needed more people to help with an upcoming HBO emmy party! Of course, I was interested in helping. I wasn't sure how the situation would turn out, but I knew it would be crazy. And, at least I could get paid a little extra. So, I emailed the woman with Premiere Catering, and was able to get the job. That sunday afternoon, they day of the Emmy ceremony, Les, Ward, and I climbed into an SUV and headed down to West Hollywood. It was so rad to go through police barracades and security, just telling them that we were working at the party. It was inside this graphic design firm. It was close to where my roommate Andy works, at Koontz Hardware in North Hollywood. We were all wearing our "fancy pants", and we were given black dress shirts upon arrival.
If you're familiar with the Hollywood system, it should be no surprise that all 75-80 workers of this catering company were struggling low budget actors. The situation was like a dream, as we were instructed not to ask for autographs or for pictures. Les, Ward, and I were each assigned to different teams with specific jobs. Ward was stuck bussing tables. Les was working at a buffet table. And I, of course, was stuck with the job I most dreaded: holding silver platters full of drinks. This could only be bad.
Words can't describe it. The theme was roses, and everything was covered with rose petals, plush red velvet seats, tables, chairs, a DJ and a leopard print dance floor. And, there was a giant red pavilion tent set up. This was the super VIP section, with only the biggest stars, or something.
As the night began, things went normally. People entered, and I stood at the back entrance with a silver platter of drinks. As the night progressed, one of the managers of Premiere Catering asked me to help out with bussing. This was when the really strange part happened. I was able to walk around to different tables, asking people if they were done with their plates. Since HBO swept the Emmys this year, they were showing acceptance speeches on a giant screen. Whenever an acceptance speech would start, people would quiet down, and applaud the speech. I was surrounded by so many people in the entertainment biz, it was strange.
I got to see people dancing around with Emmys in their hands! I got to see Chris Rock sneacking in the back door. I got to see Ray Ramano come in the party surrounded by his entarouge. I saw William H. Macy, Mark Wahberg, Glen Close, Mos Def, most of the cast of "the Sapranos", Shannon Daugherty, the guy who played Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscimi, among my favorites. It was an exciting and insane nine hours of constant work, but it was amazing.
You can read a little bit about the HBO emmy party by clicking on Daily News Bulletin.