Tuesday In A Tent

Tuesday July 1st, 2008 - Oak Forest, IL

Time for a pleasant comedy surprise and I got one. Tim Walkoe asked me to do a gig at an outdoor festival in Oak Forest, IL which is on the far south side of Chicago. He got the gig because the guy who runs the festival saw him at a Zanies show and wanted to try the idea of adding a comedy night to the week long music festival that books a lot of bands.

He asked Tim for a two hour show and that’s way too long but nobody is going to turn a Tuesday night gig in the summer down so Tim asked me to help cover time. 90 minutes is about the maximum any show should go but especially comedy. Less is more for sure.

Neither one of us knew what to expect but we’ve both been doing comedy for years and have seen just about every situation there is so we were prepared for the worst. Tim is one of the funniest comedians I’ve ever seen and our styles really mesh well. Both of us give a comedy crowd their money’s worth. We talk fast and pack a lot of material into a show.

The people that like us LOVE us and many times we’ve been able to exchange work for each other by telling the people that booked us ‘If you liked me you’ll like him too’ etc. If we are in the right situation it’s hard to beat either one of us in a joke for joke solid show.

We got to the gig a couple of hours early just to beat traffic and find the place. It was in a big tent but it didn’t look bad at all. The only red flag was that there was a midway with carnival workers that looked scarier and more dentally retarded than usual but that was on the other side of the grounds and not directly where we were. Our tent wasn‘t as scary.

We were supposed to go on at 8pm and go until 10. A band went on at 7 and decided to play longer so we didn’t mind at all. By the time they broke down and the sound guy set it up for us it was just about 8:30. That would leave us a 90 minute show and that’s perfect.

Tim also hired a local guy named Pat McGann. He’s about 30 and coming up the ladder in town and doing very well. He is originally from the south side and he did a nice opener set of about 20 minutes. Tim and I could tell the audience was into it and knew we would at least be able to do our time and get paid. That’s always a plus in a festival situation.

I got up there and just let it all go. The sound system was like a Kiss concert and that’s a key in a tent situation. Any and all hecklers could be drowned out but there weren’t any. I could tell this was going to be fun in the first few minutes and I was right. They had come to laugh and picked the right night to do it because Tim and I are a very strong twosome.

I did my big closer and it got a huge response. Then I brought Tim up and he picked up where I left off and it was wonderful to watch. I’m a big fan of his and laughed at his stuff all over again. He and I are both rhythm comics and when we’re on nobody can touch us.

Working a show like this is an electric experience. Tim and I gave them a lot more than they expected and they’re already talking about having us next year. I sure hope they do.

On the way down to Tim’s house I had lunch with Marc Schultz. He took me to a place I had heard about for years called The Gale Street Inn. They have a reputation for having some of the best ribs anywhere and I’d heard about it for years but had never eaten there.

Today was the day and they didn’t disappoint. The whole experience was great from the ambience of the place to the friendly wait staff to the still warm home baked Italian bread. I already liked it before the ribs came and when they did that took it to a whole new level.

These are the kinds of experiences that make life worth living and I want to write about it all so when I’m having a down day I can remember days like today. Marc is a very good person and we’ve become really good friends over the few years I’ve known him and he’s also been very helpful in comedy because he books corporate stuff I don’t normally get.

He’s been a great help and was even more today as I told him how I thought I needed to find a new direction because clubs weren’t what I needed to be doing. He offered up a lot of ideas and between eating ribs and making the waitress laugh we made good progress.

I know I want to take my life in a new direction and it’s a little scary because I’m really not sure exactly what to do right now. I know I want to build some kind of future that has at least a little security and normalcy to it but I’ve never had that before so it’s pretty new.

Staying in one place and building a business is something I think would be great and if I can do it with Uranus Factory Outlet I’d be thrilled. I’m going to do my best but I have no guarantees on when I can make that profitable. I need to pay my bills until then and doing comedy is my best way to do that. Today was fun but it’s not always like that these days.

I would also really like to have my own family. I’ve always wanted that but now I really do. If I’m going to get off the road I want to have people around me I enjoy. I’d love it if a wife and kids were in my future and they don’t even have to be my kids. I am usually able to bond with most kids as a rule and develop a relationship. I love to be a mentor figure.

If I don’t start actively pursuing that I’ll never get it so I am putting a list together of all the women I know that I would be interested in and seeing where it goes. It’s like a list of potential draft picks and I’ll do my research and see who’s left on the board when I draft.

There is a former student of mine named Amy who I’ve always really liked. She is Irish and has dark brown hair and a gorgeous face that reminds me of Courtney Cox. Actually I look at Courtney Cox and think of Amy. We kept in touch for years and I really enjoyed a relationship not only with her but her two kids who are both very well behaved and nice.

Amy works part time in an Irish pub in the city and I stopped to see if she was working. I don’t know why I thought of her but I did and since I was close I took a chance. When I walked into the place she was behind the bar and came running around and gave me a hug and a kiss and her face lit up and she said ‘I was just thinking about you!’ She‘s still very sweet and very good looking and we exchanged numbers so now we‘ll see where it goes.