I can feel my whole attitude evolve, and I’m not sure what to think of it. I’m completely sick of having to deal with the pitfalls of small time entertainment. I’m sure there are a lot more in big time entertainment, and that scares me even more. What the hell am I even in this business for? My needs are changing as I get older, and dealing with this is necessary.
I still love to be creative, and I also love to be around anything funny. If I ever lose even one of those two things please shoot me in the head as quickly as possible. Life would not be worth living. I’m barely hanging in there now. My desire to please idiots is fading fast.
Look at all the hundreds of thousands of miles I’ve logged trying to get somewhere with either comedy bookers or radio station management. I’ve sacrificed everything for a lot of years, and always thought things would work out for the best. I hoped so anyway, but that wasn’t in the cards. I gave everything I had, only to get exploited by the ‘powers that be’.
Why has it taken so long for me to realize that I need to be the powers that be, and that I can totally do it effective immediately? I don’t know, but it has. I have a desire to venture into the entrepreneurial field, and making a buck intrigues me more than driving to some hellish midweek gig in the middle of Nebraska. That ship has sailed, and I’m not on it.
Comedy is still fun, but not the booking and traveling part. I’m thrilled to be developing the ‘Schlitz Happened!’ show with at least a chance to expand that into something fun for people who hopefully haven’t consumed an individual keg before they arrive. Comedians like Jim McHugh are also working on their own projects. He sees his situation similarly.
He’s working on his ‘Chicago Comedy All Stars’ theme and guys like Wild Bill Bauer in Minneapolis are rolling their dice too. It’s a whole new world out there, at least for 80s standup comics who came up through the comedy club boom years. It’s all changed now.
Radio has changed as well. Jobs are hard to find, and security is absolutely non existent. I’ve had a blast hosting The Mothership Connection on AM 1050 WLIP in Kenosha, but I haven’t made a penny in three years and it doesn’t look to change in the near or far future.
The fun of doing it was what kept me going this long, but I must say that isn’t enough at this point. My co-hosts Shelley, Greg, Gary and Diane have really stepped up in my place as I‘ve been away on the cruise ships, and I don’t need to be there anymore. They’re fine.
They enjoy doing the show, and they’re good at it. They do it differently than I do, but it still sounds good and is interesting radio. I feel like a fifth wheel when I sit in, and I’m ok with that. They’re taking the baton and running with it. I’m happy they’re still doing it.
This is all part of my evolutionary process. I am no longer playing the role of the up and coming comedian, and thus I don’t have to suck the asses of people I used to think were a way to get ahead. They weren’t and still aren’t. Good. I never enjoyed doing that anyway.
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