Friday The 13th

Friday September 13^th, 2013 – Fox Lake, IL

   Another Friday the 13^th passes quietly into history, and I have no shows to do. That bothers me. I never like to be off on a weekend as it is, but this one especially hurts because there aren’t very many Friday the 13^th opportunities to be able to exploit to my benefit for manufactured publicity.

   This year has two – September and December. I have a tentative holiday party on the books for December, but that’s in the afternoon. I have nothing at night as of yet, and I hope to land a show somewhere so the year isn’t a waste. Next year there is only one – in June. There are never more than three in any given year, and there is always at least one. I have to make the most of them all.

   If I’m going to play the stage character of ‘Mr. Lucky’, it’s an ideal way to stand out. It should be a special event to have Mr. Lucky booked on Friday the 13^th, but I’ve yet to be able to sell that idea to bookers. From a promotional standpoint it should be a no brainer, but nobody has bitten.

   Maybe I need to sell the concept to them more, but something’s definitely missing somewhere. I will go to my grave believing in the potential of the premise that someone being the unluckiest person on the planet is funny, but for whatever reason it hasn’t caught on with a mass audience.

   Am I not selling it correctly? Am I the wrong guy to play the character? I sure hope not. What a crushing disappointment it would be to have somebody else play on stage what I’ve been living in real life since birth. That would really be a Mr. Lucky scenario, only I wouldn’t be laughing.

   I know there’s enormous comedic potential with this character, and I have to believe that it can catch on big time with a mass audience. It’s universal. Who doesn’t think they have some kind of bad luck in their lives whether it’s bad parking karma to lack of ability to choose a correct mate?

   The more wildly wrong someone else’s life goes, the funnier it is to those watching. There is a cruel but undeniable comfort in knowing somebody else is doing worse, no matter who it is. I am fine with playing that character on stage, but it’s been a bitch and a half having to play it in life.

   I once submitted a recording of my act to a comedy record label, and the guy in charge said he didn’t like gimmicks as a rule, but mine fit. He didn’t sign me to a deal, but I was encouraged by his comments. There is definitely something there, but how do I plug into it? That’s the mystery.

   Maybe Mr. Lucky should be a cartoon character or even a comic strip. The advantage of that is that the character never ages, and there is a lot more creative freedom. That’s what’s great about animated shows like The Simpsons or Family Guy. They can blow them up, send them into outer space or anything else they want without consequence or added expense. It opens up new doors.

   I’ve got to open up something. Doing what I’ve been doing isn’t working to my liking, and it’s not going to change by itself. I know I have a solid act and solid character, but what I’m missing is a solid business plan in place to sell it correctly. Once people see it, they will be able to relate.

   Or, maybe I’m completely off base and nowhere near hitting anything. Sometimes it seems that way – especially on a Friday the 13^th when I think I should be doing sold out shows somewhere.