Staying Busy

Friday September 28th, 2007 - Lake Villa, IL/Racine, WI

Another busy day today but I enjoyed it. The weather is getting a little chillier and fall is in the air. Pretty soon it will be snowing and the holidays will be here again and then it will all come back around and another year will come and go. I am starting to see what both of my grandparents used to harp about when I was a kid. They both told me how time flies as a person gets older and now I can see what they meant. I’m trying to enjoy all of my days.

I thought about it today as I drove up to Milwaukee to visit Alan Eisenberg. I remember meeting Alan many years ago when I was doing comedy bits for the Reitman and Mueller radio show in Milwaukee. I was first starting out and didn’t have a clue as to what I might be doing but I thought associating myself with well known local celebrities couldn’t hurt.

Quite a few local icons said yes and did the bit with me and I learned a lot about politics. I learned how to put comedy bits together and how to work with people’s personality and quirks. It was a very educational. The bits were lousy but I was 21 and needed experience.

Alan Eisenberg is a lot of things. He’s a true character and everyone in Milwaukee has a personal opinion about him. He’s a well known defense attorney and my father was in awe of him. I think the only thing I ever did that pleased my father in any way was getting to be friends with Alan Eisenberg. He was always on TV for high profile cases when I was a kid and he’s the kind of lawyer you loathe until you need one. Then you want it to be Alan.

He has a presence and a charisma all his own. He was a drag racer for years and has his real estate license and hosted a radio show and is a local celebrity. He’s known by a lot of people and he’s the kind of person that gets a reaction right away. I happen to like him. It may be because we share a lot of maverick qualities but he makes me look absolutely tame by comparison. Alan can be a lightning rod for controversy and I think he enjoys it. He’s a ham. He’s also a very engaging and entertaining character. He is a dented can too. Maybe that’s why we get along so well. He has made something out of his life and he really does have a soul. I’ve seen him help people many times and he has a softhearted human side.

I went to see Alan about my big business idea. I know he has experience in stuff like this and I wanted to pick his brain. He can be eccentric and I knew that going in but sometimes that’s the price to pay for genius. He really is a sharp mind and that’s what I want around me as I breathe life into this thing. He had a few interesting ideas and I listened for things I could build on. We sat for an hour at the Pfister hotel cafe and had a brainstorm session.

If my father would have seen me hanging out with Alan Eisenberg at the Pfister I’d have probably have had his admiration. That was his hero. I thought of it as I sat there drinking my Coke and listening to Alan lay out his idea of what my entire business should entail.
I still have a long way to go with this idea but at least it’s in motion. I plan on working a lot more on it after the first of the year. For now I am just fishing for ideas and getting my ducks lined up as far as how an overall plan should look and how I can execute that plan.

I’ve told several people what I am planning and nobody has shot it down yet. Even Alan liked it initially even though I am not sure he gets the concept of what I’m trying to do. He still had good ideas to add as did all the other people I’ve told so far. I can feel that I’m on to something with this but it will be a big challenge to pull it off. That’s a giant part of it.

I love challenges and this will be a big one. I’m starting from absolute zero on this and it will take a lot of help from a lot of people to get me up and running. It’s an idea that is not necessarily original but what truly is? Was McDonald’s original? Not really. The system of making the hamburgers was unique and the McDonald brothers developed and improved it and Ray Kroc took it national and then world wide. I’m not sure if my idea is that big but I don’t need it to be. It’s a combination of many things I’ve done in my life and I think I will be able to pull it off like nobody else can. That’s what I’m gambling on and if it completely blows up in my face I’m not going to die from it. The risk is actually very low. I like that.

I’ve been thinking about it day and night lately. It’s exciting to me. It’s new and fresh so I am thinking new and fresh thoughts. It’s like when I get a difficult crossword puzzle. I’m totally focused on it and it’s a mental workout. I love that. That’s what this business is. I’ll learn all about a lot of things I never thought I would and the whole thing just feels right.
It doesn’t mean I’ll have to stop doing comedy either. In fact if it works it will add to it. I’m always going to do standup comedy and that’s my main love. Depending on doing the one nighters for low money is not my main love. It will be a lot better when I don’t NEED to do them. I’ll be able to pick and choose a lot more and comedy will be even more fun.

Tonight was a perfect example. I worked in Racine, WI at a place called McCaulliffe’s. I think that was the name anyway. They are all starting to run together after a while. I got a call from a booker named Fletcher Lee who I have worked for many times over the years.

Fletcher used to be in a band for twenty years and is originally from D.C. He got out of music and his wife was from Kenosha, WI so he moved here and started booking bands. It grew into comedy too and he’s had gigs that have come and gone for a lot of years. He’s a very honest person and a good guy and everybody likes him. His gigs aren’t always on the list of favorite places to play and there usually isn’t a hotel involved but for a local comic it is a few bucks to pad the open dates on the schedule. I had this weekend open and got the call out of the blue so I gladly said yes. I haven’t worked for Fletcher in quite a few years.

The opening act was Steve Purcell. Steve took my class at Vernon Hills Zanies and he’s been coming up the ranks for several years. He loves comedy and is also a good guy so it was a fun night all around. It was the place’s first time doing comedy and they were trying to experiment a little. The stage lighting was bad and there were some other glitches too.

The crowd wasn’t huge either but it was very responsive and they all had a good time. It wasn’t the kind of gig that will make anyone a star but to hang out with friends and have a good time for a night and get a few bucks to boot was a fun night out. I am doing ok and I am not depending on that money to live on. That makes it a lot easier to enjoy the rest.