Who Cares What I Think?

Saturday January 29th, 2011 - LaSalle/Peru, IL

   I’m learning more and more that what I think doesn’t matter, and I’m fine with it. I feel a lot better about last night’s ‘Schlitz Happened!’ show today than I did last night, and it’s not going to hurt me one bit in the long run. The perception of those who attended is what matters, and I’ve heard nothing but raving compliments today. They seemed to enjoy it.

   If anyone didn’t, they’ve kept it to themselves, and I like it that way. But I don’t think it was that way at all. Most of those who came out last night knew me personally. They had fun, and came to support me as friends. I know how that is because I’ve done it myself.

   Many times I’ll go see either a comedian friend or former student perform and not care in the least what they do on stage. I like them as people and they have complete and total job security as far as any judgment I may have goes. They could literally remove all their clothing and defecate on the stage, and I’d still like them as people. I go there to support.

   That’s what most of the people were there to do last night. They weren’t there to see my show, they were there to see and support ME. Big difference. Their standards were as low as it gets, and that’s no insult. It’s a good thing. All I had to do was walk out on stage and they’d gotten what they’d come to see. I’m flattered and grateful, but that’s now history.

   Tonight was a another strong reminder of why I’m working on my own show in the first place. I had a one nighter in LaSalle/Peru, IL I’ve done several times before but still don’t know for sure if the gig is in LaSalle or Peru. It could be Lima, Peru for all I really care.

   It’s a bowling alley, and it’s owned by two brothers who decided to try doing comedy in their lounge. There’s a nice stage in there and it’s been a big success for them. I’ve been a regular for several years now, even though it took a long time to get into the rotation. I am now one of their favorite acts, and that’s always nice to hear. It feels good to be wanted.

   I hadn’t been there in a while, but there was no fallout or anything. We just weren’t able to coordinate open dates until now. It’s not far from home and I was able to put the Friday together last night to make a weekend out of it. On paper in theory, it was a great match.

   In reality, I had to fight a table of boozed up rubes from a small town who were about as rude as I’ve seen in a while. They talked and drank and got up to pee and did anything but listen to the show. My opening act Steve Purcell had to fight them his whole set and I was next. I slammed them to the crowd’s delight over and over, but they wouldn’t quiet down.

   I busted my ass up there for right around an hour. I brought the heat and gave those who wanted to listen a hell of a show. It was a full house, and most of the rest of them had fun. I wanted to give them a great show because I like the owners and wanted to make sure the rest of the paying customers got their money’s worth. I had no idea if the trouble table put up a nickel in cover charges, and my guess was they didn’t. It degenerated into a matter of using a chair and a whip on a wild animal, and I’m just too damn old to do that anymore.

   I’m at a very crucial point in my ‘career’, if you can call it that. Maybe I should classify it as an endeavor. I’m outgrowing these kinds of shows more and more, but I’m not in the position to give them all up if indeed I intend to continue calling myself a pro comedian.

   That was what occupied my thoughts most of the way home. Do I really want to do this anymore? I’m having my doubts, and I didn’t fight any of them as I tried to think through all the angles. Steve Purcell and I rode together and he also has had his own set of doubts.

   Steve is a husband and father or two teenage daughters who are now getting into school stuff like sports and boys and all that happens during teenage years. Steve sees the insane nature of the business and isn’t sure if it’s worth it to him either. He started later than me by far, but has still done it for years and is well liked by everyone who works with him.

   He’s a great guy to hang with, and that’s good for a comic. He’s a feature act and that’s good for getting work with headliners who can bring their own features. I’ve gotten him a ton of work through the years, and he’s also one of my former students. He’s made all of whatever his tuition was back many times over, and he’s one of my true success stories.

   Steve came down from Madison, WI every week to take my comedy class at Zanies in Vernon Hills, IL about ten years ago now. He stuck with it and worked his way up to pay his stage time dues and now he works on the road for several bookers. He even works at a few rooms I’ve had fallings out with, including the infamous Giggles in Brookfield, WI.

   The reason he does is because he’s just out for stage time. He has a well paying day job and I believe his wife also works. Good for them. Steve knows he’s not depending on the money from comedy to pay his bills or he’d be starving to death. He does it for the fun of it all, which is the right reason. What’s too bad is, a lot of that fun is slowly going away.

   The club scene is getting worse and worse. Idiot bookers are now passing down all their businesses to their bigger idiot children, and any kind of quality control is long gone. I am sickened to see it all crumble, because at one time it was a booming business with a lot of fun and adventure attached to it. Now, it’s a weekly fight to get the attention of morons.

   It feels like veteran acts like myself have wasted our lives to polish a very difficult craft that doesn’t reap any rewards. The money in clubs hasn’t gone up in twenty years, and it’s in fact gone down if anything. There are less and less quality one nighters and it’s all on a decline for many reasons. The golden years are over, and I don’t see them coming back.

   I can piss and moan all I want, and I know I sound like a whiny old fart, but it’s all true. Guys like John Yoder and now his sons are raping the talent pool from the booking side, and clubs like Giggles are doing it from the club side. In both cases, the comedians lose.

   I’ve had enough of the show biz pimps and whores game. I’m sick of fighting both the drunks and the halfwit bookers. That show last night was brutal, but the audience loved it. Like I said, it doesn’t matter what I think. My opinion is my own, others think differently.

Posted via email from Dobie Maxwell's "Dented Can" Diary