Hope In Hobart

Saturday April 19th, 2008 - Hobart, IN

After all these years of trying to figure life out today proved I’m still a flaming idiot. It’s still a mystery and I don’t feel any closer to figuring it out today than when I was growing up. I’ve had one unexpected thing after the next jump up on my path and dealing with it is not always pleasant but today was a welcome exception. I expected a kick and got a kiss.

I was booked to do a one nighter in a restaurant in Hobart, IN tonight. That right there is enough to make me feel like driving my car into an oncoming train but I already made my money for the week with the country club gig I did for Marc Schultz on Thursday so I had no real pressure on me other than to make it through Chicago traffic so I could get there.

Ken Sevara inherited this gig from someone and tonight was their third show. He could have easily asked any one of a hundred or more comedians to do it but he asked me and I gratefully said yes. Comedy work is getting more and more scarce and I don’t ever take it for granted that the world owes me a living. It was nice to be asked so I said I would do it.

Is my first choice after a lifetime of paying dues to work in the basement of a restaurant in Hobart, IN? Of course not. I want to be working to sold out houses at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas but they didn’t call me this week. Ken did. Las Vegas will have to wait. Again.

I had a hellishly long drive through construction, fog and rain to get to Ken’s house way down in Frankfort, IL. It’s about 95 miles door to door from my place to his and I thought about turning around more than once as I was stuck in another pocket of traffic hell but it started creeping along again and I hung in there for almost three hours until I got there.

Ken’s wife Laurie is very nice and she came with us and we had a fun visit in the car all the way to Hobart. I was in a much better mood then and when we got to the gig we were fed a delicious meal of home made food and that was another unexpected perk. We all sat and ate before the show and the other act was Vince Vieceli who I always got along with.

I must say I was a little concerned about the show. It was in a dining room area next to a portable salad bar on one side and a fireplace on the other. There was no stage of any kind and there were poles all over the room. This had nightmare written all over it in red paint.

Ken hosted the show and did a few minutes and brought up Vince who couldn’t get his rhythm going because some goofus with a Blue Oyster Cult t-shirt and a shaved bean had it in his head that he needed to be part of the show. We all saw trouble there and Vince is about as mild mannered and polite as it gets. He did his best to ignore it but he couldn’t.

Vince took my bullet tonight. Usually it’s me in the trick bag but tonight he did what he needed to do and did his time and then I went up and powered right through that idiot and he didn’t have a chance to get to me. I wouldn’t let him. Plus, the rest of the audience all wanted to laugh and they ended up catching fire immediately and I was able to hit a nice stride and have a strong show. I didn’t expect this to be fun but it totally was. Go figure.