Killer In Quincy

Friday February 1st, 2008 - Quincy, IL

Now THIS is why I put myself through the tortures of road life. I had a hot show tonight in Quincy, IL at a place called ‘Backwaters’. I’ve been here before but it’s never been like this. The joint was packed to the rafters and ready for a show. They were a little older but there was a nice mix of all ages. Everything I did worked and I could have gone all night.

The layout of the place is very odd. There are three levels of seating and it’s like an old style theatre like the Pabst in Milwaukee or the Vic in Chicago. The stage is large but it’s elevated and isolated from the main floor and it’s meant mainly for bands. They only do a comedy show once a month on the first Friday but they’ve made it work for seven years.

I’ve been here two or three times before during that time and it’s been pretty good. Last time I remember a fight breaking out and they had to stop the show. As I remember it had nothing to do with me. It was an ex-husband/new boyfriend issue with a bimbo and it was of course fueled by alcohol. It boiled over during the show and everyone stopped to gawk.

It kind of put the damper on both the show and CD sales but the lady who owns it likes comedy and told me I could come back anytime. Tonight was it and I’m glad I did. She’s now advertising with a local radio station and it sure worked out great. There were about 300 people packed in the place on three levels and there wasn’t a seat to be had anywhere.

They were turning some of their regular comedy people away at the door and that was a good and a bad feeling. I was happy to see the place packed but not happy to have people get turned away. How many nights have I had to do shows for ten people and would have loved a few more? Having to turn anyone away makes me feel like I’m wasting resources.

The show started on time because there were no more seats to fill. The owner hosted the show and brought up the opener who is a very nice guy but a little dirty for my tastes. The audience was polite but I felt them tighten when he would drop one of his way WAY too many ‘f-bombs’ for no particular reason. That’s how he is and he doesn’t notice it at all.

A comedian has to learn to read the audience. Sometimes they want a ‘nightclub’ show and language is not an issue but more often than not keeping it clean is THE issue. That’s what everyone worries about when they’re booking a comedian and there’s nothing worse than trying to win back a room full of offended people after an opener has taken it too far.

I didn’t have to use any foul language tonight because I had them from the first minute. I knew what to give them because I have spent my life preparing for shows like this. I did about an hour and ten minutes and had a ton of stuff left over but it was just enough time. I could feel it. I’ve been around long enough to know how much is enough and I got off.

After the show people lined up to shake my hand and I sold a bunch of cds and life was fun for this night. I got a speeding ticket on the way down in a small town and it was not a short drive either. Total round trip was 764 miles. But even with all that this was worth it.