Image Is Everything

Tuesday August 28th, 2007 - Lake Villa, IL

No show today. No class either. Still, I managed to work a full twelve hour day getting a handle on how I want to focus my energies in the next little while. Time management has been and still is an ongoing issue in my world and without a plan it will be easy to just drift away from all my dreams and that’s not what I want. I’ve come too far to let that happen.

The sad reality is that there are many talented people in all areas of show business and in life too that never get the recognition that people of lesser abilities do. Show business is an unbelievably difficult challenge and requires lots of hard work but luck is a big factor too.

Many talented people never get to that hallowed ground of ‘right place, right time’. I am hoping I can get there and just because I haven’t done it in the past doesn’t mean I cannot turn it around and get there in the future. The best people don’t always make it the biggest and even though I think that’s insane it’s the truth and that’s how it works. Sometimes. I’d love it if it were fair or at least a little fairer than it has been but all I can do now is look at where I am in life and look at where I want to go and map out a plan on how to get there.

Bill Gorgo made a great point to me in an email yesterday about image. We talked about it on the way back from Zanies last night and I thought about it all day today too. Image is SO important in show business and many huge performers have changed theirs throughout their careers. I am in need of an evolution of Mr. Lucky’s image and also of my own too.

Mr. Lucky is the character and Dobie is the person. I need to make a distinction between the two if for nothing else so that I don’t get lost in my thoughts and become ‘him’ all the time. I think sometimes I get overwhelmed with all my personal problems and it gets in the way of my professional life. It’s easier said than done but keeping the two separate is a big key to moving forward to where I want to be. Today I consciously thought about doing it.

There was a booker who told me one time ‘I can tell what kind of a day you’re having in your personal life by watching you on stage. If you’re in a good mood there’s nobody who can touch you but if you’re not it’s edgy for everyone.’ I cringed when he said that but the message was loud and clear and I’ve worked really hard to improve that and I totally have.

That was several years ago and it started me thinking about being ‘the character’ on stage.
Alice Cooper is an example of someone who didn’t know when to shut the stage guy off and he had real problems with it for many years. He has a grip on it now but it wasn’t easy to come out of ‘that guy’ in getting off stage. I guess all those self help books are true and what a person thinks about really IS important after all. Thoughts are things and they have a real affect on our lives. Maybe I’ve been unlucky in life because I expected it. I will say I first heard how unlucky I was from my grandfather when I was a kid and maybe it’s been a part of my thinking so long I don’t even realize it. Whatever the case, I need to leave it on the stage when I get off. Mr. Lucky is a hilarious character to play but SO not fun to live it off stage. On stage I am the brunt of everyone’s frustrations and a pressure release valve. I let people relieve their tensions by seeing that someone else is doing worse than they are.

But what is the image of ‘that guy’ on stage? Having a standardized look is an important part of the package and I need to evolve. Elvis evolved several times. He started out being fairly conservative and by the end he looked like a cartoon character but it sure fit him. He wore the jeweled jumpsuits and the capes and it became part of his image. I need one too.

Rodney Dangerfield is my comedy hero and he evolved his look too. I saw an album that he did in the early ‘60s and he didn’t wear the trademark black suit and red tie. He wore a flannel shirt and pair of jeans and didn’t look anything like ‘Rodney’ the character. At one time I wore suits on stage and it never hurts to dress up but I really don’t think it fits now.

George Clinton is another one of my favorites and he made his hair his image. He was an innovator of music in the ‘70s and played the character ‘Dr. Funkenstein’ who landed in a spaceship from another planet. Now THAT’S an image! He wore all kinds of stage clothes that added to the presentation and it didn’t hurt that it was the ‘70s and that was already a time for goofy fashion statements. He dressed wildly but then in the ‘80s he evolved and it took on a different look. He wore more colorful long robes and had his hair braided into a multi bright colored look that he’s now known for. His quote was ‘If I couldn’t get any hit records I needed to get a hit hairdo.’ Brilliant. George is very sharp and that’s why I enjoy his work so much. He’s always evolving onstage and off and I need to do the same myself.

I don’t think sequined jumpsuits or multi colored hair braids will work for my particular persona but I do need to find something that’s identifiable. Being ‘just another white guy’ is not going to get me out of the trenches and in reality I’m NOT just another white guy. I really am different onstage and off and I need to convey that message to the public so they can pick me out of a crowd and know that I’m not another idiot talking about airline food.

I need a comedy uniform. It’s a look that I cultivate that isn’t necessarily the same exact clothes every time but it should be similar. Steven Wright wore jeans and a flannel shirt. It didn’t matter if it was summer or winter. Robin Williams wore a short sleeve shirt that had a pattern on it and often had suspenders and casual pants. I don’t think I ever saw either of those guys in a suit but Steve Martin wore a white suit on stage and that’s what he became known for. He didn’t start that way and in fact he had long hair and a beard but he decided to consciously change his whole persona and came up with ‘that guy’ he called ‘the jerk’.

Putting on ‘funny pants’ isn’t going to make me famous. I have an act and I’ve spent my life honing my skills on stage. I have a persona that is identifiable in ‘Mr. Lucky’ and it has been relatively successful. I have also begun using ‘The Dented Can’ in describing how my childhood went because I know there are LOTS of people who can relate to that also. I’m ok with using both of those for now and I know I have a sellable show but I need to put it all into some kind of package so when people see me on stage they say ‘Oh, THAT guy.’

It’s a puzzle I need to solve. It’s not just clothing, it’s a whole image. For example, I’ve worn glasses off stage my entire life but NEVER worn them on stage. I thought they were goofy looking and never wore them. Now I wouldn’t know what to do if I saw anybody in the audience looking back at me. But it may be a part of my image. I’m still working on it.