NOW The Real Work Starts

Thursday March 12th, 2009 - Los Angeles, CA/Vernon Hills, IL

What an amazingly life transforming trip this was but now the real work needs to begin. This was a long time coming and it feels great to have my first national television shot out of the way but by no means is this the end. Now I have to parlay it into a comedy career.

In reality I dodged a major bullet by being able to recover from my flubbed line dead on smack dab in the middle of my set. Everyone flubs lines but to do it right in the middle of my national television debut is a perfect fit for Mr. Lucky’s character. Unfortunately it’s a nightmare for me as a comic but when it happened I knew I had to make a quick decision.

I could’ve gotten angry or frozen up or just stomped off stage never be heard from again or countless other dumb stunts. I had enough presence of mind to pause for a second for it to be edited out and then I continued and tried to get back in a rhythm again and finish up.

I doubt if I’ll ever watch the set because I don’t enjoy watching myself in the first place but also I’d be way too critical of it. I could and would split it apart and rip myself but for what good reason? The audience did laugh and applaud and the show staff seemed happy.

I couldn’t change it now even if I wanted to so why try? I’ll let it be and hopefully many years from now people will look at it and say ‘Wow, did you see Dobie’s first TV spot? It was sort of like him but not all the way. He’s SO much funnier now.’ That’s what I want.

Go back and look at the first Tonight Show comedy sets from Seinfeld and Leno and all the rest and you’ll see what I mean. Some of the finished product is there but not all. It’s a constant work in progress and I see that the longer I do this. It’s an evolutionary process.

I’m evolving in a good way and this whole experience didn’t hurt a bit. It’s my point of beginning and whether or not it came later in life or not - it came. Period. I know a bunch others who are older than me and probably funnier too but they’d never take this chance.

Part of that is luck of the draw but part of it is personal choice too. I knew deep down it was necessary for me to make this step if I was indeed going to ever become a real comic in the eyes of the industry. This one shot might open a couple of doors and then it’s a new push to open a few more. This was a very important step because it gives me legitimacy.

I’m not walking around with an old dead credit like a lot of other guys are. That’s not a rip on anyone else but nobody cares if someone was an extra on ‘Gunsmoke’ in 1967 or a stuttering cab driver in a Jerry Lewis movie. What has a person done in comedy lately?

That’s why this is such a huge deal to me. Craig Ferguson has a hot hip show and is an up and comer and I doubt if he’ll be going anywhere but up in the next several years. He’s on his way up and hopefully so am I. I’d love for us to develop a professional exchange. It would be great to sit on the couch and riff with him like Rodney Dangerfield used to do it with Johnny Carson. They had a great rapport and I’d love to develop my own with Craig.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself here. I’m not assuming it’s going to be a partnership thing or anything delusional like that. I’m Mr. Lucky, not Ruppert Pupkin from ‘The King of Comedy’. All I’m saying is I feel I can come back in the future and do my part better.

The harsh reality is that I wasn’t completely ready for this appearance with the material I was planning on using. It wasn’t polished and spit shined to the point of total clarity and that will never EVER happen again. I learned some very valuable lessons from all of this.

The fact that I made it through it all is a miracle. Now I just cross my fingers it will air.
It should but who knows what could happen? If it does air I’ll hear about it beforehand and afterward I’ll get calls from people I haven’t heard from in years and I’ll feel good for a few hours and then it’s time to get busy and get going on making the next TV set better.

The first thing I need to do is send flowers to Celia Joseph the talent coordinator. She’s my main contact with the show and has been instrumental in getting me on and I am very grateful for her ease of demeanor and professionalism. I can’t forget about that and I want to let her know that she not only was great to work with she helped make my dream real.

The second thing I need to do is get a finished copy of the DVD and send it everywhere in the free world that could possibly book me for a show in the future. I need to reconnect with those I know and connect with those I don’t. This is a solid first impression to send.

Thirdly I need to find management in the near future. That’s going to also put me into a more credible light with those who can and do pay the highest wages. I am understanding a lot more how all this works and how the perception can sway a buyer into hiring an act.

Fourthly I need to crank out a few products as soon as possible. I have at least one CD if not two or maybe even three recorded raw but now I have to pay to get them edited and in print and that also will help spread the word. This is also part of the process of business.

Fifth, I need to keep exercising and watch my health a lot more than I have been. I’m at a crossroads now where I’m not old but I’m not a young buck either so better to start now than wait and have a stroke or heart attack and wish I would have started this years ago.

Those five things will keep me quite busy for the rest of the year. I also need to keep on working and polishing the set I was planning to do on Tuesday until it shines like Kojak’s forehead. Jerry Seinfeld did his set 80 times allegedly. I did mine about six. Not enough. I want to put a time in my act each night to polish and experiment with television set jokes.

Tonight I did exactly that in Vernon Hills at Zanies. I was in a great mood and I sure do have a new enthusiasm for the stage knowing I have a reason to be up there. I did as much of the lost TV set as I could but I spread it out and didn’t try to jam it all on them at once.

THAT’S the way to do it and tonight all the pressure was off so it was fun to go up for a whole set and riff and have fun like I usually do. I did, but I also had a game plan in play.