Back In The Minors

Saturday November 17th, 2007 - New Holstein, WI

Back in the low minors for a day. I was off this weekend due to the unscheduled falling apart of the Chicago Style Standups group. They were supposed to be in Iowa for another weekend of shows but after last week I wasn’t going to drive eight hours one way for yet another unguaranteed door deal. The Saturday show had fallen out already so it was only a Friday in Spencer which doesn’t even merit using that much gasoline with these prices.

There comes a point when a person just has to say no. That’s the most powerful word in the world. I have traditionally had a difficult time saying it especially for comedy shows. If I could get booked ANYWHERE I’d usually say yes and then regret it later. I’m SO done with that at this point and it felt good to say I was not going. I’m not sure if the other guys did and I really don’t care at this point. Spencer, IA will keep existing whether I go or not.

I was planning to have the weekend off but a last minute spot came up in New Holstein, WI. My friend Jim McHugh who is also a refugee from the Chicago Style Standups had an opening on a two man show and asked if I wanted to do it. I haven’t taken the opener spot in I don’t know how long but I like Jim and I was off so I said I’d do it. The money wasn’t bad at all and all I had to do was 35 minutes which is a night off. This was a gift of money and I told Jim I’d like to use it to buy tickets to see the game on Sunday at Lambeau Field. He’s a big Packer fan too and I haven’t been to a game for many years. He loved the idea.

We got into town about 4pm and found our hotel. It was ‘The Starlite Inn’ but I doubt if any stars had ever stayed there. Not since the early 1960s anyway and that’s probably the last time the carpet was cleaned. We were going to share a room and save a few bucks but there was only one bed so I ended up getting my own room and there went that good idea.

The show was in a joint that was an old basketball gym that was built in the ‘20s. I’ll bet the owners got it cheap and I don’t blame them for giving it a shot. They painted it up and are doing entertainment and God bless them for hustling. They work hard and I can totally respect that. They have bands mostly but they’ve been doing comedy shows once a month.

The lights weren’t the greatest and the sound kept cutting in and out but the people who showed up were there to laugh and they loved the show. There was a drunken goof who’s a regular and always wants to be the center of attention. I let him know immediately that it wasn’t going to fly and the crowd loved it as usual. He wasn’t ready for me and of course he had to try and find me after the show and say how much he was ‘helping me.’ Uh huh.

I turned and walked away as he came over and went back stage and read my book about mail order for a while until he went back to drinking. I’m not interested in trying to be nice to yet another in the long line of clueless boozers who just don‘t get how to act in public.

Actually it felt good to just walk away and not waste any breath on him. I think I’m now finally starting to learn how to say no in the right situations. I’ll need that for my business. Jim and I got paid and thanked the owners. They have to deal with that halfwit every day.