While Raoul's recovering from what I'm sure will be a temporary snit, let's continue, shall we? When Incredibly Irritated Jay orders his friends to stuff a sock in it already 'cause they're giving him a headache, Vernon -- played by veteran character actor Richard Libertini -- simply snorts, "Come on...he's shaking his ass like an Eighth Avenue hooker." "Used to be about skill," Charlie commiserates, and they've snagged the equally veteran John Rubinstein to play this character, though I should note that when this first aired, I could not for the life of me figure out what he'd done to his damn forehead -- it looks like he ran face-first into a cinderblock wall, and now there's this ugly, purplish bruise over his right eye. Of course, it's actually a Gorbachevian birthmark, as we learn at the very end of the evening, but for a while there, I kept expecting him to keel over dead from a subdural hematoma, and wondered what The Kripkeeper put these dear old gentlemen through just to get this episode in the can. In any event, Jay gripes, "Listen to the two of you -- it's pathetic! Bitter old men talking about the glory days, but you know what? This douchebag isn't the joke. We are." Charlie, concerned about his friend's tone, tries to lighten the mood with a playful challenge, but Jay doesn't rise to the bait, choosing instead to drop his head sadly for a moment before refocusing his attention on Douchebag Supreme, who's just now continued his tech rehearsal with some lame-ass trick involving interlocking rings. "That used to be us," Jay moans, feeling especially sorry for himself. "Maybe he is a douchebag, but he's playing the main stage and we can't even afford an assistant!" "What the hell are we doing?" he spits, and even though it's a rhetorical question, Charlie leans forward over Jay's right shoulder to insist they're doing all right. Jay denies this, countering that the three are instead "sad, old, and dying" before announcing his intention to perform "The Table Of Death" that evening in whatever crappy sixth-tier venue they've managed to secure for themselves. "You almost killed yourself the last time you tried it," Charlie protests as Vernon nods in agreement, "and that was thirty years ago!" "Who cares if it kills me?" Jay angrily retorts. "At least I'll go out with a headline!" "Well, he's not very cheery at all!" shrieks Raoul, and honey, that's the point. "Oh! My apologies, I'm sure! Please continue!" Oy.