Tuesday February 8th, 2011 - Milwaukee, WI Testicles of the world, unite. It’s time to retract - the super duper double bubble deep freeze is here. This is the one part of winter I could do without, but that’s not an option. Temperatures are dropping like Steeler fans’ morale, and it’s going to be here a while. I went up to Milwaukee today to meet with my friend Richard Halasz and do a gig in the evening. I felt the temperature drop significantly around 6pm and knew it by all the smoky exhaust I could see coming off cars, and windows started freezing up in my car. Richard and I met about the ‘Schlitz Happened!’ show and what the next steps are to keep steady progress happening. He’s my number one lieutenant right now, but we both agree we need other people on the team to really put it over the top. He’s my pit crew. No race car driver can win a race without a pit crew to change tires and gas up the car. Richard lives in Milwaukee and is very honest, and wants to be part of the team. I won’t screw him over and I don’t think he’ll do it to me either. We’ve put on a couple of solid shows already in Saukville, but now it needs to go higher. Richard will be able to help. We went to Jake’s Deli on 17th and North to enjoy a hot sloppy corned beef sandwich on a cold sloppy day. There’s nothing better than one of those fatty, greasy unhealthy for you sandwiches on a day like today that make life worth living. It was a gastric delight. Yeah, I’ve been trying to eat better and all that, but once in a while it’s good to grease it up a little and enjoy life. I had some potato salad with it and a delicious frosty cold can of Dr. Brown’s black cherry soda to wash it down. If there’s a better meal anywhere, eat it. I had a gig tonight in Brookfield, WI at the Best Western on Moorland Road. It was for a group of electrical contractors, and they were very nice people. Being a Packer fan sure didn’t hurt, and I got on a roll and kept going. I did my time and the people were pleased. BUT - I had a red flag go off after the show. I’ve been taking some time off lately and I can notice some rust already starting to accumulate. I ever so slightly stumbled over just a couple of lines tonight, something I rarely do. The audience would never have known any difference, but I sure did. I was able to easily work around it, but it made me take notice. Being off stage for any amount of time produces rust. That’s why I’ve always stayed at it my entire life, even when I had radio jobs. Comedy needs to be treated as a craft, which it absolutely is. Crafts must be WORKED at, not only to get better but even to stay as is. I’ve got work this week, and then it’s back on the ships where I’ll have more stage time than I want. That’s a good thing right now. It’s so easy to get out of practice, and I’ve put too much time and effort into this to let that happen. Nobody is immune to this happening either. It’s a wake up call, and I heard it loud and clear - STAY WITH IT and get on stage no matter what. It’s the only way to stay sharp. “Use it or lose it” couldn’t be more true.
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