THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF LORI BETH DENBERG

"If your phone rings, pick it up. If your butt rings, see a doctor"
Miles Mandwelle (Actor/Musician)

As a kid, more often than not, I was surrounded by pretty mean-spirited babysitters who forbid me from watching anything other than “Teletubbies.” But when their backs were turned, the channel immediately went to Nickelodeon, where I would savor every moment of my favorite television show, “All That.”While the performers, Josh Server, Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Amanda Bynes and others, were all great in their own ways, it was the fantastic Sassy McSassy-Pants, Lori Beth Denberg, who enriched my life with Vital Information, which I would joyously share with anyone who would listen. 

If this information wasn’t enough, we also needed to be reminded of proper library etiquette:

 

She also did double-duty, serving as a panelist on Figure it Out.

 

I would always quote “All That” and spew Vital Information to the joyless adults in my life, causing much ire. When grounded, I’d retreat into my room and listen to musicals, where Bill Finn would later remind me, “Sometimes joy has a terrible cost.” Thanks, Bill.

I would think of Lori Beth and her amazing-ness from time to time as the years passed, but having no idea that The Steve Harvey Show was even going on, I suspected heavily that something was rotten in the state of Denberg.

Then, during my junior year of high school, something miraculous happened. I was in the middle of the first of my strings of existential crises -- you know, the ones that suck the most, but make the rest of them easier -- and I happened to be at a showing of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. It was there that I saw the most divine fifty-nine seconds of my life:

 

Faith. Restored.

In Lori Beth we trust.

 

MILES MANDWELLE is an actor/musician currently stationed in Washington, DC. He spends a majority of his time in search of theatre that will blow his mind, and witticisms that will distract him from boredom.
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Comments

[David Davila]

I was just thinking about her the other day... I hope she's seen this. :)

[Miles Mandwelle]

One can only hope, David. One can only hope.