Head Start

Thursday April 24th 2008 - High Hill, MO

I decided to get a jump on my driving and left a day early for Topeka. I haven’t been out on the road in a while and my chops are a little rusty so I didn’t want to force myself to do that hellacious drive on the day I’m supposed to perform. I’ve done it way too many times before and it’s never pleasant. I seem to remember having a problem last time I was there.

It all runs together after a while but I do distinctly remember having a major time hassle issue getting to this particular gig. Topeka is a lot farther than it looks and I remember the clock ticking as I wondered if I’d make the show or not. I did make it but not by much.

I’m not in the mood to be doing that this time around or ever again if I can help it. Forty bucks for a hotel room isn’t going to make or break me so I decided to invest it and insure my peace of mind. Usually I can find a one nighter or two somewhere but not this week.

There were a few stops to make on the way today. I had lunch with Marc Schultz but he didn’t have my check from the gig I did for him last week at the country club down on the south side in Orland Park. He thought it would be there by now but it wasn’t. It was still a fun lunch as it usually is and the check will get there eventually. He won’t let it get away.

After lunch I stopped at Zanies in Chicago to film a few random bits for a crew that was filming as many comics as they could find. I think it was for the Chicago Tribune but that could be wrong. I guess I should’ve asked more details but Zanies said show up so I did. I don’t think they’d put me in the trick bag and there were apparently others who did it too.

I was the last one of the day and the filming crew laughed out loud so I must have done something at least halfway funny. I just rattled off a few of my bits that I could remember off the top of my head and went until they told me to stop. They ran out of film and that’s how it ended. They shook my hand and thanked me for coming and I was back in the car.

My good friend Max is in Springfield and I hadn’t seen him in a while so I stopped for a few minutes to see how he’s doing. He’s still working at WYMG doing mornings but that isn’t thrilling him. He’s buying up real estate which is thrilling him and he now has upped his total of rental units to 11. Not bad for someone just starting out but he’s not done yet.

We talked about how life is changing all around us on many levels. Gas is higher than it has ever been and food is starting to go up and there are rumblings all around us of things that don’t look pleasant. He’s trying to find security for him and his family and I can’t say I blame him. He’s working harder than almost anyone I’ve ever seen but it will pay off.

Max LOVES the idea of Uranus Factory Outlet. He gave me some catalogs with listings of all kinds of shirts and prices that he got from his printer who does all his station stuff. I will buzz through it and see if I can get some shirts printed as a start so at least I’ll have a line of products on my site to sell. It’s always good to see Max and the trip was worth it at that point. I kept driving and found a cheap motel in High Hill, MO. 474 miles for today.