Comedy Heaven

Wednesday March 5th, 2008 - Chicago, IL

What a fantastic day! This is as close to comedy heaven for me as it gets. First, I met up with my former student Vince Carone for lunch. Vince took my class when he was 19 and he’s 25 now and doing great. He’s putting his time in and paying his dues and working all he can which is exactly the recipe for success. Plus he’s a way better marketer than I am.

His parents owned a sports card shop when he was a kid and he learned a lot about how business works and he’s carried it over into his comedy career. He’s got a great website at a time when that’s really important. He has a DVD out too with a nice package and he has me beat by light years as to when I got my first product out. He’s going to really do well.

I’m really proud of Vince and just because he took my class on comedy doesn’t mean I can’t learn from him about marketing. He was in a band for a while too and is really good about making sure people know where he’s performing and staying in contact with people too. From fans to bookers to other comics like me Vince is on top of it and I admire that.

I need to get better at all those things and it was refreshing to see how well he is doing. I think of all my ex students he’s the one with the most desire and that’s a big part of it. He also has talent which is another helpful ingredient. I can see bright things for that kid and I couldn’t be happier. He will have a chance to do a lot of things I missed out on in life.

That’s just how it goes. I have had some good chances though and today was one of the most rewarding ever. I was on a showcase at Zanies to audition for Eddie Brill who books comedians on the David Letterman show. He has a new project that sounds fantastic and I am thrilled to even be considered for it. Bert Haas chose me to be on a short list to try out.

Eddie is looking for comedians to go to Johnny Carson’s hometown in Nebraska to be a part of a celebration in the summer that includes a comedy contest. His job is to find who he thinks would be the best 24 and he’s going around the country searching for those acts.

I would LOVE to be a part of that event but even more so I wanted to get my chance for redemption from the last time Eddie saw me. I had a horrible set and I knew it and having never met him before it was very disappointing. He’s ‘the man’ as far as getting a shot on Letterman and I sure didn’t do myself any favors my first time in front of him. I blew it.

There were reasons for it but nobody wants to hear excuses. I pulled spot number one to go up and that’s always tough. The host that night was from Canada and worked blue and that was also not very helpful. The audience was stiff and ended up being that way for the whole night but still I know for sure I’m a whole lot better than what I showed that night.

Sometimes people only get one shot and that’s it. I didn’t expect to get a second chance this early but Bert put me on the show and I’m extremely grateful for that. I vowed that if I ever got another shot I’d make up for my last one and show Eddie the real me. He’s also a comic too which makes it a lot easier. He understands how it is and he’s been there too.

I was already in a good mood when I got to Zanies because I felt good about Vince and all the good things he’s doing. I also stopped to get my mail and had a few fan letters and some stuff I bought on Ebay too. It was just a good day all around and I enjoyed all of it.

There were two shows at Zanies and I hadn’t known that when I got there. The surprise got even better when I found out the headliner was Jake Johannsen. Jake is one of my all time favorite comedians onstage and off. He’s a great guy and a super comic and I hadn’t seen him in a while so that was a treat. I enjoyed his show and marveled at his brilliance.

After his show we drew numbers for the showcase show. The basket came to me and to my surprise I again drew number one. How could that be? Mr. Lucky is no gimmick. It is my destiny. Still, I was in such a great mood I didn’t care. Just hanging out with all of my favorite local guys was worth the drive and Eddie could not have been any nicer to us all.

The emcee of the show was a woman named Dava Krauss. Dava took my class a lot of years ago and I hadn’t heard from her. It turns out she moved to LA and is doing comedy full time and it was great to see her. She did a very fine job of hosting the show and I had a lot more to work with than the last time I was in this position. I knew I wouldn’t eat it.

I ended up having a very solid set. I took Eddie Brill’s advice from the last time and he really was right in what he said. I knew it when he said it and I appreciate his taking time to do it. I know a lot of comedians poo poo it when a booker or especially another comic makes a suggestion but it’s not Eddie’s job to kill our dreams. He wants us to get on TV.

That makes him look better too. Just as it looks good for me to have students get work. I was thrilled to see Dava get booked and it was a pleasant surprise to have her be the host of the show I was auditioning for such a cool event like this. It just all worked perfectly.

I have been working on what I wanted to do for a showcase set and tonight it clicked. It may not get me the Letterman show or the Carson contest but that’s not a deal killer. Just the chance to redeem myself both in Eddie Brill’s eyes and with myself meant a lot to me. After the show he shook my hand and said some nice things and I felt like I was floating.

Then Jake Johannsen came over and shook my hand and told me how funny I was and I almost peed my pants. Then Carl LaBove said the same thing and he’s also one of my big comedy heroes. He was Sam Kinison’s best friend for years and just a wonderful guy and spectacular comic. Dwayne Kennedy was there too. He’s been on Letterman before also.

The whole night just let me know that I am on a par with these people that I so admire. I may never get on Letterman and that doesn’t take anything away from this night. If I do it will be fun but I still don’t think it would be able to top the feeling of satisfaction I have. I worked a lot of years to get to this point and now I feel like my idols look at me as a peer.

The ride home was like riding on a cloud. Eddie Brill has me on his radar and that’s the thing I’ve waited for for years. I’m finally starting to feel like I‘m making good decisions.