On St. Cloud Nine

Friday January 2nd, 2009 - St. Cloud, MN

I broke in 2009 on a high note and was also able to help someone in the process. That’s how life should work all the time in my opinion. It feels good to have something work out this smoothly when it could have been a lot worse. It still could but for now I’m on a roll.

There was a short notice fallout in St. Cloud, MN this weekend and I took it for several reasons even though I’m trying to weed gigs like this out of my schedule. Long drives for short pay have their place in the comedy business for those starting out but I’m a veteran.

That being said I still said yes this time because that little inner voice we all have said it would be better to have a few bucks to start off the year than to stay home and not make a nickel. This is a tricky weekend to book because New Year’s Eve was just a few days ago and many clubs are slow this weekend. Whatever the case I had an opening and I filled it.

The bookers of this gig are a very honest couple named Doug and Dana MacGraw who used to be out of Omaha but moved to Florida. Doug is a comedy hypnotist and they have kids and are just trying to make an honest living. I’ve worked for them before and they’ve always been very fair and easy to deal with. Those are people I always try to help if I can.

Their gigs aren’t the greatest and the pay is pretty low and the drives between the shows are long and grueling. They’ve got gigs in places like Dickinson, ND and Laramie, WY or is it Sheridan? Either way those are LONG hauls from Chicago and they don’t come with any perks or fluff. They are what they are and Doug and Dana earn every dime they make.

This is all a part of paying dues in comedy and if someone really wants to be a comic he or she will shut up and make the drive. I’ve done those kind of drives for many years so it doesn’t phase me anymore but I’d still prefer to stay closer to home and earn higher pay.

Wouldn’t we all? It boils down to an opening on the calendar. I had a choice and had I said no Doug and Dana wouldn’t have been angry and they’d have found somebody that would have done it and nobody would have been angry. I knew what I was getting into.

I drove 462 miles to get here but gas prices are low at the moment and I brought my E. Joseph Cossman mail order seminar I bought last year and re-listened to it from beginning to end. It was very productive and I soaked my brain in knowledge the whole trip up here.

I could have sat home and listened to the tapes so why not do it in the car on my way to a place that will pay me to tell jokes? It might not be great pay but if all goes as planned I will come back with $250 profit after gas, food and expenses. Right now I can use $250.

Tonight’s show was an unbelievably pleasant surprise. Wow what a group! The opening act is a good guy out of St. Louis named Chris Smith and we’ve worked together a couple of times before. He’s easy to deal with. Chris liked them but I went up and really plugged into their wavelength and had a kick ass show to open 2009. This made it worth my drive.