Tuesday September 6th, 2011 - Milwaukee, WI Up to Milwaukee today to run some errands. One of them was a breakfast meeting with Russ Martin to talk about booking some ‘Schlitz Happened!’ shows. I still haven’t lost an interest in putting that show together, but I have lost momentum. I’ll have to start all over. Russ is an interesting case. He’s a former Milwaukee County Sherriff’s Deputy and has just retired from a job in security at Northwestern Mutual Life, a major company in town. He gets two pensions plus his social security, and has decided to pursue comedy full time. There are plusses and minuses to that, but at least he’s having fun. Russ has the attitude of a little kid when it comes to comedy, and he loves being around every part of it. That’s a major advantage, because it shows on stage and off. A disadvantage is he won’t have an unlimited amount of time to learn the craft like someone would starting in his early 20’s. I had my whole life in front of me when I started, and got to grow organically. I learned as I went, and was able to squeak out a living while I did it. I’m still squeaking, but times and circumstances were a lot different. Now, guys like Russ have to go to open mic nights and wait around for stage time with disrespectful clueless punks less than half their age. I wish someone who has never performed comedy could see and experience the insanity of the ‘new talent’ or ‘open mic’ night. It’s usually a makeshift stage setting in a bar on an off night that attracts a ‘crowd’ that consists of wannabe twenty something neurotic idiots fighting for five minutes on stage to get the attention they never got at home from daddy. The tension is thick, and the competition for stage time and attention is fierce. Very few actual fans of comedy are usually in these places, and what ends up happening is a person ends up performing to a room full of other ‘comedians’ who are desperate for stage time. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the journey those nights are necessary because it’s all about stage time. That’s the only way to learn the craft, by actually doing it as many times in as many places as possible. It’s like a butterfly pecking its way out of a cocoon. It’s not easy, but it’s the only way to get the strength to fly. Nature can be brutal, but it has a plan. A huge percentage of those who go to open mics eventually drop out. Sometimes it may take a few years, but most stop doing them - either because they start getting paid work or they never do and they discover they’re just not good enough. Then there are the nut jobs. They either don’t discover or won’t admit they aren‘t good enough, but they won‘t stop showing up. They keep trying to hang on, only because they can. If I went to try out for an NFL team, I wouldn’t be allowed to go on the field - nor should I. Comedy isn’t like that. Russ has made it past open mics and his enthusiasm alone makes him fun to be around. I’ll help him all I can, because he’s serious about doing it. He can help me by seeking out locations to do shows, and I can help him in return with quality stage time. It’s win/win.
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