Up The Creek Without A Battle

Thursday October 8th, 2009 - Lake Villa, IL

If all these giant red flags weren’t waving in my face I could probably see all of the bold black handwriting on the wall behind them. Comedy clubs as I’ve known them are in BIG trouble, and I need to start working on alternate forms of income. The gravy train is over.

Today I got word the club in Battle Creek, MI closed after 25 years. That was one in the first batch of road gigs I did when I started, and I was sorry to hear it‘s gone. When I first did it in the ’80s it was located in an athletic club. The stage was right on a tennis court.

In fact, they even called the club “The Comedy Court” at the time. It wasn’t horrible as I remember and then it moved to an actual night club location for a few years. That place was better but then the owner got a sweet deal from the city of Battle Creek and it moved right downtown into a gorgeous facility I really enjoyed. It was a miniature auditorium.

The whole setup was fantastic from the sound system to the lights to the stage itself. It’s a shame a place like that had to close, especially after comedy had been in town for such a long time. The owner was smart enough to name the joint Gary Fields’ Comedy Club and he became a celebrity in town because he used to host the shows every week. Very smart.

I wasn’t a regular there but I did work it several times over the years in all of his various locations and I never had a problem with the guy. He was always cordial and we worked a deal when I had my radio job in Lansing that I’d be his ‘go to’ guy in case of any fallouts.

That worked out great because it was close by and there actually were some fallouts that I ended up doing so it was a win/win for both of us. I always liked Battle Creek because it was home to the cereal companies and it was unique. Most of the rest of Michigan is built around the auto industry. Battle Creek and Grand Rapids aren’t and they’re a lot cleaner.

Michigan is in a lot of trouble, and I hope it’s not a foreshadow of things to come for all the other states but I can’t see how it isn’t. Where are all these mysterious new jobs going to come from? How much cereal can we as a nation eat? Battle Creek had a comedy club that ran for 25 years. I don’t know all the inner workings but Gary seemed to have a clue.

Last year South Bend, IN had their club close, the Funny Bone. That was there for many years as well. It troubles me that all these medium sized towns that used to sustain a club for years are falling out one by one. Kalamazoo has been gone for a while now and I have to wonder about other towns like Fort Wayne, Lansing, Toledo, and a whole lot more.

This is a real concern and it makes me feel old that I’ve seen these places come and go. I started not too far after all these clubs opened and I saw them at their peak. Now I have a strong act all these years later and they’re teetering on the brink of extinction. My luck.

I think there will always be a need for comedy and people will always need to laugh but it sure seems like the venue’s changing. I wonder where that is? I better find out. SOON.