Time To Amputate

Sunday April 6th, 2008 - Wabeno, WI/Lake Villa, IL

Ugh. This whole ugly situation with my ex comedy class partner and his new protégé is NOT going away. Today he sent out some rambling email to my mailing list saying how I ‘need help for my anger issues’ and how everyone needs to ‘support Dobie at this time.’

Bill Gorgo got a copy of it as did some other people who called me all day before I had a chance to see it. This whole thing is insane. First someone I thought I trusted as a friend flat out stole my money. Yes I gave him control of the bank account but he had to sign up students and I was always gone on the road somewhere. I couldn’t do it all by myself.

Now he’s grasping at straws and sending this email making me look like a total psycho to my ex students and comedy friends. I don’t understand his motivation and it’s a pain in the shorts but I am forced to have to deal with it so I can amputate myself from these two.

I’m really sorry it had to come to this. It’s like a bad divorce. We were friends for a long time and yes he did some nice things for me during that time but I did a lot in return also. One thing I didn’t do was embezzle money from our business and that’s the first big thing to drive a wedge in the friendship. The second is using my mailing list to restart a class.

Let him get his own list of people. The comic he is having teach the classes is a middle act at best who isn’t really all that funny and never was. Is he qualified to teach a class? It is such a subjective thing that I guess I’m not qualified to answer. In my mind a teacher is someone who has DONE something and can show others the ropes. Maybe I’m wrong.

There are all kinds of non talents and wannabes starting up ‘classes’ to try and make the quick (and undeserved in my opinion) buck and it makes me puke to see them not only do it but see idiots give them their hard earned money. I have NEVER taught classes just for money and in fact that was an afterthought. Turns out it was a big mistake. I got burned.

The email apparently went on and on about how I have ‘trust issues’ and ‘anger issues’ and I don’t doubt any of that. YES I sure do. My mother abandoned me when I was five months old and my father was a biker and an evil ogre. I bounced around as a kid and had a lot of trouble fitting in not just in comedy but in life too. Of course I’m a little bit crazy.

A lot of creative types were and are nuts and I almost think it’s a requirement to be any good at anything. I for one am not denying my faults or dents but anyone who knows me (including those who can’t stand my guts) will have to admit that I know my way around a joke and a comedy stage and I’m good at what I do. My real students all know that too.

This is a temporary bump in the road but an unexpected and unpleasant mess to have to clean up at this time. I have a lot of good things going and this isn’t something I wanted at this or any other time but it’s here and I have to deal with it. How can I handle it the best? I don’t know. I really don’t. I can ignore the email and move on but that doesn’t allow me to amputate myself from these guys. I’ll let it stew for a while and then make a decision.