Call Me Controversial

Tuesday April 8th, 2008 - Lake Villa, IL

From one controversy to another. I feel like Amy Winehouse or Pac Man Jones. All day long I’ve been getting calls and emails asking ‘Did you see Shecky? You made front page news!’ What they’re referring to is the online comedy publication Shecky Magazine. The recent blog I wrote about John Yoder made it across their desk and they commented on it.

‘They’ are Brian McKim and Traci Skene. They’re both comics out of Philadelphia and I’ve known them for years. They started the magazine in 1999 and it’s become a flagship in the comedy business for who’s who and what’s what and they’ve done a great job with it. They both love comedy and pour their heart and soul into it and I respect their passion.

They didn’t agree with what I wrote about John Yoder’s losing work as a death knell in comedy and they spoke their mind. That’s fine. People were asking me how I’d react to it thinking I’d spout off a laundry list of harsh retorts but I’m not angry or upset at all. I only worried if John Yoder would be upset but I talked to him on the phone and he was calm.

The only bashing I need to do is against ME. I’m the one who put myself in this delicate situation and it’s up to me to get out of it. I take full responsibility. What I was attempting to say in that article was that everything shifts in life and the comedy business is doing it.

I am too. I’m now 45 and grisled and have different wants and needs than when I was a 25 year old punk who thought I knew it all. The Yoders of the world were thought to be a pot of gold waiting to be raided and the comedy business was new and growing. That’s an out of date fact now and in reality there aren’t too many more places comedy can expand.

There are a lot of clubs having problems right now for various reasons. I don’t think the business is ever going to go away but people in my situation need to be careful or we will get passed by. That is happening to me in a way and I’m aware of it even more after going to see John Yoder. He knows it and he’s no dummy either. We’re both trying to survive.

Brian and Traci are trying to survive too. They are both comics and writers and it’s their job to call it like they see it just like I do. They write for people in the comedy industry on many levels while my little daily diaper full is mainly for me. I try to make it easy to read for someone who doesn’t know comedy that well but wants to get a peek inside the door.

I am finding I’m getting a wide range of readership from both the comedy and civilian world and from past experience I’ve found that the best way to please nobody is to try to please everybody so that’s not what I’m going to do. If someone is angry with what I say or write or do I’ve had lots of experience with that. It’s no big deal. I can handle backlash.

What I don’t want is to have run ins with people who I didn’t intend to run in with. I am not angry at John Yoder at all. In fact I like him personally and respect his honesty. I have never EVER had a problem getting paid what I was owed and no matter what some might say he’s been nothing but fair and accommodating to me. I hope he can rebound nicely.

There are other bookers that comics like to complain about all the time too. Tom Sobel is one and Bert Haas from Zanies is another. Those guys have both been nothing but nice to me as well and I don’t have a bad word for either of them. A lot of comics don’t feel as positive toward those guys as I do but that’s their business. As for me I have no problems.

I have no problems with Brian and Traci either. Some people thought they bashed me or were unfair with what they said but I really didn’t think they were. They said what was on their mind and it didn’t hurt me at all. Who’s right? Who knows? We all view it uniquely.

This blog is meant to open up a window to what it’s like in my world warts and all. I do not sugar coat anything and I write what I feel. It’s gotten me in trouble more than once in the past and may again in the future but that’s ok. At least I know someone is reading it. It isn’t interesting to everyone and that’s why I try to mix it up a little so I can keep it fresh.

One thing I respect in people is ACTION. We can all sit back and think we can do a lot better than something we see but most people never once take any action. That’s not easy and I know it. Maybe people think my rantings stink and that’s fine. Let them write their own diary and keep it going every day for over two years. We’ll reconvene in April 2010.

In my description of John Yoder’s reaction I called the look in his eye ‘shell shocked’. I felt that way today after going through the nightmare of this situation with my partner in comedy classes for the past few days and now this latest posting on the Shecky website. I am going to just hang out today and relax and watch some movies or sort baseball cards.

That’s what would take the edge off this for me. I can see why people drink or do drugs. I’d probably be high or drunk by now but that’s not an issue so I guess it could be worse. I am going through a bump in the road right now and tomorrow I’m back on the road for a couple of days out west. I wish I could blow it off and just hang out but I need to go do it.

The best way to approach all this is with the mentality of the dung beetle. I push my ball of dung across the desert all day and hope the lizards don’t kill and eat me for lunch. If I make it to the end of the day I can hope to get a fresh ball of dung to push tomorrow. I’ll hopefully live to tell another tale and write another blog and hopefully I won’t hit a nerve.

That’s unlikely though. Usually I have a knack for getting reactions out of people on one level or another. When it’s good it seems to go away quickly but when it’s bad it lingers. I don’t want any trouble with John Yoder or Tom Sobel or Shecky Magazine or anyone but it usually doesn’t work that way for me. I didn’t want any trouble with my partner either.

The one thing I can hold on to through all of this is that I have paid my dues and can go up on a stage at a comedy club and blow away most audiences. I have spent a lifetime of learning painful lessons and making sacrifices to get this skill and I know I’ve earned it.

A lot of other people want that but they don’t have it. No matter who I piss off or who’s jealous of me or who bans me from working their club they can’t take that away from me.