Friday December 3rd, 2010 - Quincy, IL Today was very bittersweet, and loaded with messages I need to hear loudly and clearly. I took a gig tonight in Quincy, IL at a place called Backwaters, a really cool old club I’ve worked several times before. It’s built on a hill right on the Mississippi River, and it’s one of the most fun one night gigs I can think of. The audiences come out to see the shows. They usually do rock bands, but they’ve done comedy once a month for years. They’ve been very smart to keep it that way, as sometimes I’ve seen places get greedy and squeeze more shows in, which eventually kills the specialness of comedy. Some places are only so big, and can only support comedy once a month. This has been one of them but it’s good. Driving in today I got the strong message that my days of doing gigs like this are rapidly drawing to a close. The thrill of driving is gone, and even though the pay is what they can afford - it’s just not enough to warrant a whole day in the car anymore. I’m losing money. By the time I drive all that way there and back, gas up whatever car I might have, do my show, get something to eat and drive back, it just doesn’t add up anymore. I don’t need to do it for the experience anymore, and as far as fun goes, the down time in the car doesn’t add up with the stage time anymore. I love the shows, but having to get there is a bitch. We had a small crowd numbers wise tonight, but wow were they fantastic. I knocked it out of the park, over the Mississippi River and halfway into Missouri. I will admit, doing the cruise ship gigs made me stronger for this one as I pulled out one hour and ten with no problem whatsoever. I had material left over, and I leaned back and let them have it all. I felt bad for the owner, as she works her ass off to pack the place and is very ethical. It always hurts me when the club loses money, as that means the chance of me coming back gets lowered. Then I realized I really shouldn’t be doing gigs like this anymore, unless my schedule dictates I’m near by. No offense to anyone, I’ve just passed this level of comedy. There was a gentleman in the audience who came up after the show and said he used to live in Hollywood and worked at an agency with some big time actors. He looked the part and the people around him vouched for his credibility, so I have no reason to doubt him. He must have gone on for ten minutes about how great he thought I was, and who isn’t flattered to hear that? He knew what he was talking about from a business end, and I gave him a copy of my CD as thanks and asked him to turn me on to any connections he had. I didn’t ask why he was in Quincy, IL but at least for ten minutes I felt like a big star. It really was a great audience, and I loved every minute of the show, then I went out to get a bite with the other comedian and ended up stopping at a greasy chain restaurant at 1am. I got a bad batch of something, and was up all night heaving my guts out. Nothing is as lonely as puking by yourself in Quincy, IL at 4am. And I don’t even drink. Time to start.
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