Benevolent Vengeance

Tuesday February 23rd, 2010 - Lake Villa, IL

Back to work with a vengeance today. Things are coming together quickly on more than one project and if I’m not careful I’ll have a life gridlock worse than I’ve ever had before, and I‘ve had a lot of them before. I have to really watch myself or I’ll lose myself easily.

Comedy classes are scheduled to start up next week and I’m always pumped about that. A mistake I’ve made many times is waiting until the day of the show to make up all of the class worksheets and put them in order. I’ve got them done early this time, but I still need to buy some three ring binders. I like to give the classes lots of paperwork to study later.

Uranus Factory Outlet is also closer to becoming a reality. I’m delighted with how it has developed, and working with Mark Huelskamp was the right call. He’s the brother in law of Jim McHugh, and Jim has been great at being supportive of the whole project. He gets what I’m trying to do, and I try to support him on his comedy projects too. It’s a win/win.

I did get my ass out and exercise yet again and that’s never a bad thing. It’s funny how a couple of laps in the mall are a lot more difficult now than they’ve ever been before and it isn’t an effortless undertaking. By the end of the walk I’m soaking wet and my legs really hurt, but I know it‘s good for me. Better to exercise now than after a massive heart attack.

One thing that’s falling behind a little more than I’d like is my comedy career. I need to address that immediately, and I started today. My booking system is nonexistent. I’ve not kept up with my list of older connections, nor have I sought out new ones. That’s the kiss of absolute death, and I have nobody to blame but myself for not keeping my name fresh.

Even though there is some shrinkage going on in the business, I still get enough calls to work for enough bookers to keep me surviving. I’ve lost touch with a lot of people due to my other projects, and that’s something that I need to be careful with or I’ll lose any good leads I do have. It’s never been a matter of who’s best, it’s who’s available that I know?

I’ve been working on lots of offbeat projects like the stage play “You’re On The Air” with Jerry’s Kidders and the one man show about Milwaukee called “Schlitz Happened! An Old Milwaukee Blatz From The Pabst” and that’s distracted me from my club work.

There are a lot of places I’d love to go back and work, and there’s no reason I shouldn’t. I haven’t been to the Comedy Caravan in Louisville in a long time, and I love it there. It’s a matter of updating my availabilities, and I haven’t been current. Shame on me. Calgary is another place I enjoy. The Comedy Cave is a fun place and it’s even good in summer.

There’s always Wiseguys in Salt Lake City and Ogden, UT and Rooster T. Feathers in Sunnyvale, CA. I’ve always loved these places and it’s high time I get back to all of them. I’ve got a new CD on ice too, and hopefully that will be out in the very near future so I’ll have something new to bring to all these places. There’s a lot to do, and all I can hope for is to keep myself focused and plugging away at all of it every day. Today was productive.