Thanks to British comedian Rowan Atkinson and the Olympic Opening Ceremonies being scheduled the evening of my birthday, I received the funniest birthday present ever.

Hiram thought I was a little deluded to claim the ceremony as my personal birthday bash. But those of us with a summer birthdays, like me and Dorothy Hamill, spent our entire elementary careers celebrating birthdays with our classmates born from September through May, but never celebrated our own. So we’ve learned to grab glory where we can, and the opening ceremonies did the trick for me.

After James Bond and Queen Elizabeth entered via parachute, the extravaganza was pretty hard to follow…until the London Philharmonic began playing the theme from Chariots of Fire with Rowen Atkinson (known to many as Mr. Bean) keeping the beat on the keyboard. By the end of the skit, I was laughing so hard, my sides ached.

Rather than try to describe what happened, you can watch for yourself at dailypicksandflicks.com. But hurry! The Olympic committee already took down any clips posted on You Tube, so this one could be next. But until that happens, get ready to laugh at one of the best comic actors of all time.

Thank you, Rowan Atkinson, for the funniest birthday present ever!