Upper Crust Rust

Thursday May 22nd, 2008 - Vernon Hills, IL

I’ve only been off of my usual grind of doing a lot of shows for a couple of weeks but I already feel the rust starting to form. It doesn‘t take long. I worked a fundraiser tonight at Vernon Hills Zanies and I could feel it squeak the first couple of minutes. After that I was fine and actually had a strong show but I did notice a lack of touch in the very beginning.

Jimmy McHugh put the show together with his friend Rick Young who has a ton of big connections in the corporate world and is between jobs right now. He and Jimmy are on a good road trying to get corporate types to have fundraisers for various causes. It’s a smart idea to try to sell something to people with money to pay for it. This bunch was loaded.

We did the show with four of us instead of the usual three. Besides both Jimmy and me there was Mike Preston and Patti Vasquez which is a strong show. We each did twenty or so minutes and that’s like a night off. I went on last of the four and had to hit them hard.

Shows for benefits can be a little dead. Many of the people don’t really go to see shows much and are just here to help the cause. It took a while to get them in the groove but we did eventually and the show closed very strong. These shows are not for the squeamish. It can be very daunting to go up and try to jump start a cold rich indifferent charity crowd.

After the show there was a couple who came up and said how much they enjoyed all of us and the woman nonchalantly mentioned that her father invented Viagra. WHAT? That guy has to be carrying his wallet in a wheel barrow by now. I was very disappointed that she didn’t laugh at all when I said ‘I bet your mom was thrilled!’ I thought it was witty.

These people just don’t think that way. Why do they need comedy? They’ve got a lot of other things to think about…like where to spend her father’s millions. They were actually both very down to earth friendly people but the vibe in there tonight was one of money.

There was a mix of three different charities and there were a lot of doctors and lawyers in that mix. We stood around afterward and shook hands and took pictures and had a ton of flattering compliments from the audience. The show was definitely big a hit with them.

I really did learn something tonight though. People’s need for sharp, fresh and clever is a lot less than most comedians think. This is why Adam Sandler is a star. The majority of the audience tonight had never been to see live comedy before and didn’t behave at all as comedy regulars do. They had a lot fewer demands of us and I for one don’t like it at all.

I want a crowd who challenges me in a good way. They’ve seen a lot of comedy and are hungry to hear something they haven’t heard before. When they get it they laugh hard and it’s a total feeling of accomplishment when it happens. San Francisco crowds are like that as are New York City audiences. There’s an electricity as far as comedy goes and I love to work in places like that. Doing shows like tonight is not like that at all. Knowing where to separate the two takes years of experience. I learned well and was able to correctly read it.

There is a very subtle difference but it’s definitely there. Newbie crowds need to have a few minutes to adjust to what they’re experiencing. They need to be talked to and told the rules and brought along slowly. It’s like being with a child. The level of experiences they have is a lot less than an adult and they need to be treated differently. It’s a learned skill.

The child is a lot more tolerant and a lot less expectant than the adult. A kid can go nuts over something very simple like a bug or a shiny penny and it can keep the kid enthralled indefinitely whereas an adult needs mental meat to chew on. It’s completely different and to know when to give what to who takes a lot of time to learn. Tonight I read them well.

It was a great warm up for the week of shows at the downtown Zanies next month with Jerry’s Kidders. WLS is not known as a comedy station and most of those who will come out then will be like the people tonight. They will be curious and not really know what to expect and if we just welcome them and make them feel comfortable they will LOVE us.

We’ll shake hands and take pictures and sign autographs and everyone will leave happy. I may not be creatively satisfied but that’s not what that week is for. It’s to get ourselves a start doing live shows and let word start to get out. The audience needs to be trained as to what to expect and they will be. I’ve seen it happen time after time. THEN it will be fun.

It’s all building to something and I’m glad I experienced tonight. I never did like taking any time off from comedy and I still don’t but it’s good because it will keep me totally on my toes. I’ll have to focus and concentrate if I want to bring my ‘A’ game and I totally do.

I’m not worried about being ready in June because I’ve got some work lined up and will be back in more of a steady groove like I have been for my entire adult life. Taking two or more days off in a row is not what I want to do much less two or more weeks. I like work.

I got some nice work accomplished earlier today when I had lunch with my web person Shelley. She has been bummed out lately because she lost a good job she had working for Godiva Chocolates. The company sold out and they closed her store. Just like radio it was nothing she did but she lost her job anyway. She’s got a husband and a couple of kids too.

We haven’t been in contact lately because we’ve both been busy but I felt it was time to get rebooted and start working. I need to get my personal website and the Uranus site up ASAP and we set a goal of Friday the 13th of June. The main thing I want is to get Uranus going. I’ve come this far and to let it drift like this is unacceptable. I need to get it in gear.

I got up early and took my walk and thought of ideas. Then I sat down and drew up the list of bullet point goals as to what is needed for Uranus Factory Outlet, my personal site and comedy classes too. I’m getting inquiries to teach and I am not ignoring them at all.

I got up early and stayed up late and again put some good time in on several projects. It did feel good to get back on stage though. Of all the things I do that’s my very favorite. It never gets old and I never get sick of it. I’ve got my fix to last me through the weekend.