A Hollywood Hiccup

Wednesday January 28th, 2009 - Lake Villa, IL

I hesitated to write yesterday about getting an email from the talent booker of the Craig Ferguson show because I didn’t want to jinx it. I hadn’t heard from her in a while and the thought did cross my mind that I’d been overlooked but she told me a while back that I’d been accepted and would eventually be on the show. I was just waiting for a taping date.

She has been nothing but professional and a very nice lady to boot so there is no reason for me not to believe her. I didn’t want to bother her or keep asking when I would get my date so I just let it go. I know how things can change and there are zero guarantees at all.

Would I like to be on the Craig Ferguson show? YES! Of course I would. It would be a national television credit and I could use one of those right about now. It would add to my credibility immeasurably and would hopefully open doors and lead to other opportunities.

I’m ready for this and I can do four and a half minutes of standup comedy in my sleep. I just want to go out there and nail the set and have it in my arsenal of promotional items to include for future bookings. The material that was approved wasn’t my traditional opener or closer so I won’t be burning my best stuff right out of the shoot. I’m doing it correctly.

I’ve heard a lot of stories of comedians getting television shots and blowing all of their best bits in the first appearance or two and then they fade away because they don’t have a deep arsenal to go to for the long run. I’ve been slugging it out for so long I’ve got a very deep inventory of material I can go to at any time. When I get my shot I’ll be SO ready.

The email yesterday asked if I could do a date in early March. I said I could and she got back to me with the solid date of March 3rd. I said I could definitely do the date and until I heard differently from her I’d mark it on my calendar and start making my travel plans.
Today I heard differently from her. That didn’t take long. I received an email saying that there was a ‘slight hiccup’ in the schedule and the date might not be solid after all. It’s not cancelled but it’s not in stone either. She told me she’d get back to me later on this week.

What can I do? Nothing but wait to see if the date sticks. Am I disappointed? Not really but it would be nice just to get a date and go do the show. I know I can do this and it’s an outstanding opportunity I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I want to prove it to myself.

The best part is I don’t feel the need to prove it to anyone else anymore. It used to be so important to me to show the people who doubted me or blew me off that I could do what I said I’d do but that doesn’t have any appeal to me now. My father’s dead and he never got it anyway. Why do I want to waste my time trying to impress anyone else? This is for me.

It’s finally my chance to start building a comedy CAREER rather than just having a job. It isn’t easy to make strangers laugh but I’ve done it consistently for 25 years. It would be nice to have something to show for my lifetime of effort. I’ll get my TV shot. Eventually.