R.I.P. Mike Irwin

Friday July 11th, 2008 - Lake Villa, IL

Very sad news today. I received an email saying a comedian friend of mine Mike Irwin passed away. I knew Mike when I first moved to Chicago in the 80s. He was a few years older than me but always very friendly. He loved sports like I do and we bonded with that and comedy too. Mike was a great hustler and I mean that in a good way. He worked it.

Mike was a heavy set blond haired guy and looked more like John Candy than John did. He used to dress up in a cape and paint his face blue and go to Cubs games as ‘Ultra Fan’ or ‘Super Fan’ or some kind of a gimmick name he came up with. He started to get on TV a lot and that’s when the team put the kibosh on it. They didn’t like the attention he got.

He didn’t give up though. He was always trying some kind of angle and I respect him as much as any comic I’ve ever met for doing that. He had an old Checker cab he bought for road gigs and that became his signature car. He always had a flair for marketing himself.

One of his funniest bits was a character he did called ‘Coach’. It was a parody of an old time football coach giving a pep talk at halftime and it was hilarious. He would say funny and outlandish things and then say ‘Right team?’ The audience would then answer ‘Right Coach!’ It was one of my favorite comedy bits of all time and he really brought it to life.

I got to know Mike pretty well when he was in Chicago. He was also a dented can like most of us are and he opened up a little after we got to know each other. He just wanted a happy life and to hear the laughter and he really did give his all as long as I knew him. He moved out east and I hadn’t seen him for a while but I heard he was teaching classes too.

There’s a guy I’d gladly have shared anything I had with but he never asked. He heard I was teaching in Chicago and he asked if I minded if he did it out east and of course I was fine with it. Mike was a good soul while these other heathen bastards here are scumbags.

This is not a day to focus on the scumbags though. They’ve got their own things they’ve got to answer for some day. Mike Irwin has nothing to be ashamed of whatsoever and I’m sure wherever he is right now he is being welcomed with open arms and he deserves it.

What was really sad was I read he had cancer. It was discovered in his jaw of all places and by the time they discovered it it was already stage 4. Apparently he was in a whole lot of pain and that just rips me apart. He never spent his life doing anything other than trying to RELIEVE people’s pain. It seems so unfair that he would have to suffer even one bit.

I don’t understand this stupid planet and how it works and I never did. I have only very positive memories of Mike Irwin and I was and am saddened still to hear of his passing. It doesn’t seem fair because I don’t think he’s much over 50 if anything at all. It just stinks.

I did manage to get some work done today but none of it seems important right now. I’ll talk about it tomorrow. Maybe. This is a day to reflect on the positive life of Mike Irwin.