Ella's With The Fellas

Friday October 19th, 2007 - Madison, WI

Any time I’m near Madison I try to find time to stop at Ella’s Deli on East Washington Street. I love the whole vibe of that place and I was able to turn Tim Marszalkowski and his son T.J. on to it too. They’d both never been there before and their eyes got wide and smiles came on their faces as we walked through the door. That’s the same look I had too.

I don’t even remember the first time I visited Ella’s but it was many years ago. They are a Madison tradition and it’s been open for thirty years. It looks older because the toys that are all over the place are much older than thirty. Most of them are functioning antiques. It is a museum of old gadgets, toys, gimmicks, machines, gizmos and they all are amazing to watch while waiting for a meal and while eating one too. I never get sick of going there.

Tim and T.J. were like little kids as they walked around and stared at everything. There is a flying mechanical Superman made out of paper Mache that flies back and forth on the ceiling along with a Popeye on a rocket. There are mechanical birds and a flying saucer in the corner and all kinds of amazing old tin that is in working order all these years later. It’s a place where nobody can be in a bad mood and I came here to take notes for my business.

My friend Max opened ice cream stores because he said ‘Nobody is in a bad mood when they eat ice cream.’ The same holds true here. Ella’s has lots of ice cream and great burger platters with crinkle cut fries and corned beef and pastrami and chicken soup with noodles and matzoh balls as big as I’ve ever seen. This place is a one stop feel good shop. I love it.

That’s how I want my business idea to work out. It’s going to be a website that sells fun and funny things at first and maybe a store eventually if I do indeed actually need one. I’m going to focus on marketing it better than anyone else and make it entertaining for people. Ella’s Deli isn’t the only restaurant in town but it is the most unique. I want to do that too.

It’s not going to be easy and I know it but it’s definitely something to shoot for. I will be getting older anyway so why not sink my entire creative energy into this and make it work like I know I can? There’s just something about this project that makes me feel good. I am confident but not cocky and I know I’m on the right track. Coming to Ella’s was a treat.

Tonight’s shows were nothing to remember either good or bad. They were just there. It doesn’t matter anyway as this isn’t a career maker. The staff is unbelievably friendly and it is a big deal to them to have live comedians to talk to. They are used to movies and that’s a whole different thing. It’s fun to be treated like a celebrity and Tim and I both play it up to the hilt. Not the celebrity part, but being nice to the staff. He understands it because of his background in the bar business and in sales. What we are doing this week is sales, plain and simple. It doesn’t matter how funny we are this weekend or even if we’re funny at all.

What matters is that we are nice guys and professional and fun to hang out with. We’re not drunks and we’re easy to talk to and approachable and I can tell the staff thinks we are cool. Whether we are or not they THINK we are. That’s the key. The game is ours to win.