he thought you would probably see much the same thing at any tenth or twentieth high school reunion-the class comedian who had discovered a vocation for the priesthood in college would , after two drinks , revert almost automatically to the wiseacre he had been ; the great english brain who had wound up with a gm truck dealership would suddenly begin spouting off about john irving or john cheever ; the guy who had played with the moondogs on saturday nights and who had gone on to become a mathematics professor at cornell would suddenly find himself on stage with the band , a fender guitar strapped over his shoulder , whopping out `` gloria '' or `` surfin '' bird '' with gleeful drunken ferocity .