A Three Week High

Sunday September 23rd, 2007 - Houston, TX/Lake Villa, IL

Packers win. Bears lose. Vikings lose. Lions lose. On the first Sunday of autumn there’s not much better news I can receive than that. The Packers are 3-0 and I’m in the euphoric stage of my addiction for another week. That high will run out and I know it but for today things are pretty sweet. The sun is shining and Packers are winning and life is in a groove.

Sometimes it all just works out. I tried my hardest to get the airline to allow me to switch my ticket so I could do the show in Houston tonight but they wouldn’t let me do it unless I sold an inner organ. Don Learned is one of my favorite people and he took care of it and found a replacement and there were no problems. I had to pay for it out of my check but it was a lot cheaper than what the airline was demanding and I gladly thanked Don and left.

It’s great when it all works out but it also is a very strong reminder that I’m replaceable and so is everybody else. I was thrilled to hear Don found somebody to replace me but the fact that it took about fifteen minutes was a wake up call. I am lucky to have the work. If I were a draw it might have been a problem but I’m not and nobody knows it more than me.

All I thought about on the plane was how being good doesn’t really matter. I would love to be thought of as good at what I do but the truth is it means next to nothing in my ability to draw a crowd and do business. It’s about promotion and sales and public relations and I am realizing it more and more. Being good helps but it’s not what is getting me bookings.

I met Don in LA when we both were on the faculty of Gene Perret’s Round Table about ten years ago. He and I hit it off and he invited me to work his club in Houston. He hadn’t even seen my act or known if I had a headline set. He liked me as a person and I got hired. Yes I did the job and got hired BACK several times, but being good didn’t get me the gig.

This is a challenging time for me right now. I have a lot of people who like me and book me on a regular basis. I do the job and that brings me back but it’s not automatic. I am not welcome back at a few places too and again it’s because of nothing to do with my abilities as a comedian. I have a personality that polarizes people and when I clash it’s usually big.

Knowing that, I need to reshape my business dealings and add more prospects. I am too old to change my ways now and I actually don’t mind if certain people don’t like me but it isn’t smart to cultivate it and I don’t. If it’s there I can’t do much other than go around the people who aren’t going to change their minds. It’s an inconvenience but it won’t kill me.

I’m not sure if I’ll be back in Houston any time soon but Don helps book Las Vegas and he said he’d help me get in there next year. That’s the kind of stuff I need to focus on. I do like Houston and would love to return if they’ll have me but Vegas is where I need to be.

After the Packer game I took a nice long nap and relaxed today. This will be another big week of hard work and I’m looking forward to it. I have a lot of projects I’m trying to get off the ground and they’re all things I enjoy. That part of my life is working out splendidly.