A Double Slump Buster

Saturday October 3rd, 2009 - Chicago, IL/Rockford, IL

Up and down, in and out, joy and pain, heaven and hell. That pretty much describes life in a nutshell. With me it’s been the last couple of days. I needed a slump buster to relieve some of the pain from this whole Giggles mess and not only did I get it I got an extra one.

The first was our Jerry’s Kidders segment on WGN today. Those can be in and out and although we always have fun getting together as a group sometimes I’m not thrilled with how it comes off on the air. I know I’m goofy that way and have a way higher standard of excellence than most people but I want it to be right and do the very best show possible.

Today we were on point and it worked how it’s supposed to. We were loose and funny and flowed back and forth seamlessly and we all felt the energy in the studio. When we’re in that groove the time flies by and it’s pure electricity. That’s what makes radio addictive because it really feels great to be in a zone like that. I know that comes through on the air.

After the show we usually go hang out for lunch and that’s even more fun but today we stayed at the station in a conference room and worked out some scenes for our play we’re working on with Vicki Quade. Everyone is contributing and I’ll be the first to admit I was very skeptical at the start but now we’re all really excited. We can feel it coming together.

None of us consider ourselves actors but we are performers and we have a feel for what an audience likes. We’re all putting our standup bits in a theatre setting and collaborating on it and that’s what’s making it greater than the sum of the parts. We put in a solid three hours doing a read through at the table and then rewrites after that but that time flew too.

After that Tim Slagle, Ken Sevara and I went to the famous Billy Goat tavern to grab a ‘cheezborger, cheezeborger’ and talk about how we thought the marketing should go and ask questions that were very smart to ask BEFORE any money starts rolling in. We’re all communicating well and this project feels right to all of us. It’s worth investing our time.

It was exciting to sit there and talk about where we want to go with this project because it’s getting close to the time when we’ll be able to start selling it. Vicki Quade knows her stuff and we’re lucky to be working with her. Everyone who has become involved with us has been a perfect fit so far. Kipper McGee is another one. He believed in us right away.

Kevin Metheny is the program director at WGN and he hired Jerry back in Minneapolis several years ago. He’s had nothing but good things to say about us and we’re starting to catch on with the staff at WGN. Everyone has been polite and treated us professionally in every way but now I can feel it getting friendlier. Now it’s like “Oh, you’re a KIDDER?”

One of those guys is Steve Alexander, the news guy when we’re on. He’s got a voice of God set of pipes like most big market news guys do but he’s got a great sense of humor to go with them. He was always nice and a great talent but today he came in and visited for a few minutes when we were meeting and he didn’t have to do that. I can tell he likes us.

We like him too. It’s all starting to feel right on many levels, especially after the energy of a hot show like we had today. People in the building pass us in the halls and their eyes light up and they say “You guys were SO funny today!” How can that not perk a guy up?

I sure hope we can stay on the air for a while and get the public to react like that. I know we were starting to get a following at WLS before Jerry got gassed but now we’re feeling it start to kick in at WGN too. At first we felt out of place but now we’re really loving it.

This is the kind of environment I live for. Creativity is flowing everywhere and we’re a kick ass team. Not only that, we’re on one of the biggest radio stations in America and we get to display our wares between the ears of hundreds of thousands of people every week.

There are a lot of creative types with real talent who never find the mass outlet but this is a real opportunity for us to be heard and we’re taking advantage of it. Even if we stunk, it’s still a great opportunity. I’d rather stink on a major station than be a genius in Idaho.

I felt really good as I drove to Hoffman Estates to pick up Jim McHugh to drive to a gig in Rockford, IL for some U.A.W. workers who have an annual comedy night. Our mutual friend Jim Stone from WXRX radio got a call asking if he knew of any comedians and he was nice enough to think of me. McHugh and I have been on with Stone quite frequently.

Again, everything about this gig worked exactly as it was supposed to. Jim Stone called me and suggested Jim McHugh, who I would have chosen anyway. The guy who booked us wanted three comedians so I chose my friend Steve Purcell from Madison. He’s a great guy and one of my favorite former students and not only that today was also his birthday.

It just all fit together perfectly. Then we got to the union hall and the guy who bought us came over and he couldn’t have been any nicer. His name was Doug and he treated all of us like kings, as did everyone else in the place. Jim and Steve both know how to act and it wasn’t fake from any of us. We were grateful for the work and they were glad we came.

That’s the formula for sure success and we had a killer show. I’m good at getting energy going up front so I got them loosened up and cheering and introduced Steve. Steve did his set and did very well and then brought Jim up who took it where I knew he would. He’s a super solid comic and I knew he’d be perfect for this audience and he was. He nailed it.

They wanted to take a smoke break for 20 minutes after Jim and normally that would be a bad idea but these people were great so I knew I’d have no problems and I didn’t. I went up and ripped it up for my 45 minutes and I gave them absolutely everything in the tank. I respect how hard they work and they were good people who deserved to get our very best.

Why can’t it be like this every week? One of these things would have made my day, but both made it pure heaven. I made more tonight than I made for the week at Giggles, and I got stiffed on that. Plus, I got to work with great comics who are also great people, not the incompetent filthy mope I got stuck with that week. THIS is the vibe I want to continue.