Thursday October 25th, 2012 – Fox Lake, IL
It sure would be nice if life would get easier and less complicated as time goes on, but that isn’t about to happen any time soon. I always seem to be working my way through a constant series of complicated situations that are like having to solve some giant puzzle. It can be very distracting.
One of the many hats a comedian wears is that of schedule arranger. I never enjoyed doing that and I still don’t, even though it’s a high priority. Without work, there is no income. Having to put a schedule together takes time away from actually being funny, and I find it an unpleasant chore.
Most people not in the business assume there is a ‘circuit’ we work, and our schedules are laid out in some sort of logical order. Oh, how I wish that were true. The truth is, it’s a giant game of musical chairs, and everyone has to scramble for work however and wherever they can find any.
It would be a breeze if there could be a way to guarantee one night or week in one town and the next in a town that’s not far away. I’d love to do a Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati Columbus, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Grand Rapids run just once. I’d be in heaven.
Instead, I’ve had to do insane mish mash runs like Salt Lake City, Charlotte, Reno, off a week, Duluth and then back to Salt Lake City. I go where the work is, and rarely does it get handed out in convenient and orderly servings. It’s a constant battle to get to wherever there is an opening.
I’ve got a potentially complicated situation brewing for New Year’s Eve week. That’s the best paying week of the year as a rule, and depending on when the actual date is it can be a good way to start the year with a few bucks in the pocket. This year it happens to fall on Monday and that’s tricky as it can make getting a booking the week before a bit harder. New Year’s Eve is the key.
Well, I might have a booking in Reno December 26-30. That’s great, and I have a lot of friends there but the gig doesn’t include New Year’s Eve for whatever reason. Maybe they booked some big name, or maybe they’re not even doing comedy. Whatever the case, I am not booked for it.
That’s where the problem starts. I don’t have a New Year’s Eve gig yet, and often they can get booked on short notice. If I had something, I could arrange my schedule so that I’d be able to fly from Reno on New Year’s Eve day and be wherever I needed to be so I could score the payday.
As of now, I don’t have any of it in stone and I could really end up in a pickle. If I get the Reno gig, I’ll have to buy a plane ticket ASAP to avoid getting bent as much as possible. But if I’d get a New Year’s Eve gig at the last minute that’s far from Chicago that could end up being a hassle.
If it were any other week, I’d go to Reno and have fun. The one week of the year when it could mean a big payday it has to work out this way and make me have to stress about how it will wind up turning out. I could catch a break, or I could totally take it in the shorts. I’ll see how it ends up and at this point the Reno gig still isn’t in stone. Having to still be dealing with this kind of house of cards so far into the game is not what I wanted to be doing, but that’s how the game is played.
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