No Complaint Dept.

Friday June 20th, 2008 - Chicago, IL

Here’s a switch - NO complaints from me today. I know I’ve been yammering on with a laundry list of what’s wrong with my life and career lately but today I won’t ramble down that path because it’s been stomped on enough. Today I was able to just enjoy life a little.

Whatever grandiose hopes I may have of fame and fortune and panties flying toward the stage may or may not ever come true but tonight I was totally satisfied with how it went at Zanies. We had two shows and both of them were off the hook. I was in a major groove.

The early show wasn’t completely sold out but it was pretty close. They were by far the best crowd of the week and I loved every second of it. They were quiet and smart and had come to be entertained. There was even the unheard of well behaved bachelorette party.

I started strong and got stronger because I knew they could handle my energy on stage. I love to hit it hard and pummel an audience and these people could handle it. They loved it actually and those are the audiences I crave. If every night and every show was like this it would be as close to heaven on Earth as I could come. This was the kind of vibe I live for.

There was a plan in place before I went up because I could see they were hot. I didn’t do my typical opener about being from Wisconsin because I know that works. I just went off about how I am Mr. Lucky and why and went right into my Greyhound bus bit which I’ve been doing a lot less lately for whatever reason. Like a musician it’s good to stay in tune.

I also didn’t do my big closer which I also know works very well. I wanted to substitute an alternate closer in case for whatever reason I am not able to do my regular one. I felt as comfortable with the one I chose as the regular one I normally use. They were right there.

Late show Friday can be a nightmare more often than not but not tonight. They were not loud or chatty or drunk and they listened through the entire show. Like the first show I did not do my big closer because I didn’t have to. I had them from the get go and didn’t let up until my time as up and they hung in there the whole time. This was a very strong night.

The amount of actual WLS listeners for both shows was probably pretty low. The city is not a huge listener base and we knew that going in. If and when we get to do some shows out in the suburbs our chances of drawing more will be a lot better. Even still I loved both of these crowds tonight no matter where they came from. These were my people tonight.

If I can get my 100,000 ‘people’ like this like Lenny Bruce talked about I’ll make a nice living and super serve those customers. If they buy a CD or a book or whatever I put out it will be a win/win for everyone. I may have a ways to go but I found a good start tonight.

Of everything I’ve ever experienced in my life being on stage in front of good audiences is what I enjoy the absolute most. Tonight was a whole evening of that and it recharges all of the energy that was drained out earlier in the week. This is exactly what we all needed.