Too Much Going On

Monday September 17th, 2007 - Chicago, IL/Lake Villa, IL

Another manic Monday. They’re getting busier and busier but I love it because Mondays are usually dead for most comedians. It’s the day when we’ve finished a week of work and get to hang out and relax and catch up on sleep and mail and laundry and get ready for our next week of work wherever it may be. Then we pack our bags on Tuesday or Wednesday and it’s out on the road all over again. That’s the grind of the business and it can get really difficult after several weeks of it in a row. Those weeks add up over the years and the best treat of all is just hanging out in one place for a while and not having to be anywhere else.

That wasn’t the case today. I had lots of people to see today and I was up early getting a head start on it. Living out in the hinterlands changes my whole schedule around so I want to find a new place to live. This was a noble experiment but the longer I live here the more I realize I made a mistake. It’s ok if I’m on the road and I will be this week but working in Chicago is very difficult. To make it even worse the Edens Expressway (I-94) is scheduled to be ripped up in the next little while for repaving and that will make it go from bad to the worst of the worst. Not only will I be far away I’ll be stuck in hellacious construction too.

I did have an odd option pop up today. I have a friend up in Milwaukee who is leaving a two bedroom mobile home to take a job out west. He said if I wanted to move in there we might be able to help each other out. He’s got a $1000 deposit that he would lose if he left without giving the 60 day notice required on the lease. If I moved in I would just use what he put down and when I move out I would send him his money back. It’s cheap rent and it is in a very good location in a quiet neighborhood. I’ve been there several times and I have no problem with living in a trailer. This one is very nice. It’s not a hillbilly hangout at all.

The main problem I have is moving back to Milwaukee. I said I’d never ever move back there and this is proof I should never say never. It’s a month to month deal just like where I am now. It’s a two bedroom place with a washer and dryer and my friend would leave all of his furniture so he wouldn’t have to move it or sell it. Whether I bought it eventually or just used it for a while and gave it back to him or whatever way it works out would not be bad for me at all. I’d be helping him out too and if his job didn’t work out I’d move again and let him move back in. No harm done at all. I’m not thrilled about moving but I’d do it.

Living on the cheap is my main goal right now. I don’t know how many more years I am going to be out on the road so I might as well do as much of it as I can before I have to be fed pudding in my bed at the home. Earning money on the road just to have to turn around and give it to a landlord is frustrating. If I live like a cockroach and am only home a couple of days a month what difference does it make if it’s a trailer or not or Milwaukee or not?

It really doesn’t matter at all. I would focus on being out as much as I could but I would still have a place to relax for a couple of days when I would be in the area. That’s what the deal was supposed to be here in Lake Villa but I’m so far from the freeway where I am it’s ridiculous. There are no stores or restaurants and I feel like I’m living in a rural nightmare. Milwaukee might not be the answer either but for now it would be a place to hang my hat.

I had lunch with my friend Marc Schultz today as I do frequently. He is just a fun guy to hang out with because we have so many things in common to talk about. Sports was what came up today and we both agreed that it doesn’t look good for O.J. What an idiot he is. I wonder how people like him get every break in the world and still manage to screw it up.

He’s an NFL hall of famer, gotten to make movies and can get paid for signing his name at a card show. He even beat a murder rap and yet he still manages to get into trouble. I’m 44 and thinking about living in a mobile home. But would I trade places with him? Nope.

After lunch with Marc I checked out a couple of apartments near his house in Niles. The location would be fantastic because it’s near 94, 294 and O’Hare airport. I would love that and it would save me a lot of wasted time. Even when I lived in the city before I was quite far from any freeway and most of my time was spent fighting ugly city traffic to get there.

I looked at one place and it was $850 for a one bedroom. There was no carpeting and it looked like a hospital room. It didn’t feel right and the price was higher than what I would like to pay so I thanked the manager and left. This might be a challenge after all. I thought I’d just find a place and be able to move in next month but it looks like I’ll have to hunt.

We had a Chicago Style Standups meeting at 4 o’clock at the Boston Market on North Avenue near Zanies. I love being part of the group but I don’t know if all the guys are on the same page about taking the concept to a higher level. I am too busy with my own stuff to make it an issue but it seems like it’s just going to be a hobby fun thing. That’s fine and I will enjoy hanging out with the guys but as far as career advancement that’s up to me.

After the meeting I taught a class with Bill Gorgo. He was there for the meeting too and it worked out perfectly. I like this group of students and we had a fun class. This particular lesson talked about joke writing and we had the group write some O.J. jokes. So at least it will do some good that he’s back in the news. Comedy writers will get a shot in the arm.

After class I went right back to the Boston Market to meet with a former student named John O’Brien. John is a very good person and a student of comedy. He’s a few years older than me and has a family but now his daughters are both out of the house so he can pursue comedy and hang out and do stage time. He loves it and age doesn’t matter so that’s ok.

The show after that was not that great. I thought the audience was a little tight and it did not have the pop that most other Mondays do. I was tired from my long day and it just felt like everything was a little bit off for whatever reason. I’ve done better and I knew it but it didn’t matter to any of the audience. They had no clue and I just smiled and did my best.

This was a packed full day and I shook a lot of hands and kissed a lot of babies. I was all over the place doing a lot of things and then I had a long drive back to Lake Villa and saw that my emails are piling up again and I have no time to answer them right now. That’s the way they piled up before and the cycle is starting all over again. What can I do? Time is an inflexible resource and I can only do my best with the amount I get. Tomorrow’s busy too.