World Prepares For Entertainer Martin Jackson's Memorial Services
Tens of fans across the globe this weekend rushed to try and get a ticket to the Tuesday memorial service of beloved entertainer Martin Jackson, known by some as "the King of Pep."
The anticipated event will be held at a Joe's Crab Shack in Los Angeles, where a portion of the dining room will be set aside for remembrances. Buckets of shrimp and several orders of chicken tenders will be provided.
Representatives for the restaurant have voiced concern that Jackson's legion of several fans may overwhelm the facility's limited seating, advising some to consider staying home with some imitation crab meat and watching the service on a local public access station, where it will be broadcast.
"We're planning on pushing two tables together, but since Tuesday is kids' night, we won't have room for much more than that," said general manager Jan Perry.
The memorial is expected to be one of the most popular remembrances ever held in a Joe's Crab Shack. Jackson's death stunned and united his fans, which he built up over decades of his powerful albums and silly dances, including the popular "Terrestrial Walk", which featured Jackson slowly shuffling across the stage, as though walking through the Earth's gravity field.
1982's Surpriser, considered by many to be Jackson's best album, spawned over 29 singles (including "The Gang's All Here", "Beauford Johnson", and "We're All Pink On The Inside") and helped break down barriers that previously existed in the entertainment industry for people who like to wear fedoras. Other albums explored a variety of styles and genres, including Jackson's own unique style he called "pep", best described as a fusion between pop, children's nursery rhymes, and Gregorian chants.
The entertainer had other popular albums, but his increasingly-mundane personal life became the subject of media scorn in later years; while many of his contemporaries stayed in the limelight with outrageous antics and scandals, Jackson was content to spend quiet evenings at home building his enormous Lego structure, called "Twilight Ranch".
Jackson's death remains a mystery, although some reports indicate that he may have eaten too many Smarties, one of his favorite candies. He died only weeks before he was scheduled to begin a series of comeback concerts at bowling alleys across the country.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding his death, fans of Jackson say they're ready to honor the King of Pep's groundbreaking career, and move the focus off his personal life.
"I don't want to discuss why he never got any plastic surgeries, or the rumors that he has fathered over 150 children," said fan Paulina Trudy. "I just want to remember the mark he left on my life."
"I liked him okay," Trudy added. "He's definitely in my top 65 favorite artists."
Another fan, Lars Dalmer, claims to own over two of Jackson's albums, making him the world's biggest known collector of the artist's work.
"I still can't believe he's dead," said Dalmer, "especially because I've been assuming that he was dead for many years now."
Fans and critics alike helped propel Jackson's death to the top of news and media reports, with popular websites like Google and Twitter seeing enormous spikes in traffic related to searches for the word "Jackson". Heavy coverage will most likely continue for at least another few days, until another celebrity dies.
