Hard Work Working Harder

Thursday February 26th, 2009 - Vernon Hills, IL

I didn’t think I was obsessive or compulsive but I’m starting to think I’m turning over a new leaf. I can’t keep my paws off this TV set and I’m finding myself getting really into it more than I have about anything in a long time. The more I work on it the more I want to.

It’s like a big puzzle and I love puzzles. Which jokes should I keep? Which ones should I cut? In what order should they go? Is Dear Abby a dated reference? Is Dr. Phil funnier? I am going back and forth not only on what I think but what my trusted comedy inner circle thinks too. We’re exchanging our opinions and I’m listening to see if I agree or disagree.

No matter what happens this is a wonderful shot in the arm for my comedy in general to be working this hard on one single four and a half minute set. I’m connecting with a lot of talented comic minds and also forcing myself to improve and work at the highest level.

I thought I had a tight set yesterday and I did but today I took it even farther. I sent out a bunch of emails requesting input and that’s exactly what I received and I loved it all. I am taking notes and making changes as I see fit and it’s a funnier set today than yesterday.

I’m to a point now where I have to just SEND IT IN and that’s it. I took my chances and asked for input and I received a lot of useful things and some that weren’t so useful at this time but I can totally see myself playing with later. This was a very smart way to do this.

It’s making me knuckle down and do my due diligence as a comedian and WORK on a smooth polished set crafted into a flawless routine that an audience doesn’t have to think about anything other than just enjoying it. It’s a slow process but I’m loving every bit of it and I feel like I’m finally putting 100% effort into my craft. Before I just kind of drifted.

A good comparison would be a musician who can’t or doesn’t read music but still has a way of being in the business anyway. I’ve read about quite a few people who did exactly that. Jerry Reed was one allegedly. Barry White too. Neither one supposedly could read a note of music but both of them had fantastic careers anyway. Music was just in their soul.

Comedians are very similar. I know I am. I was cracking jokes back in grade school and I got in trouble often but I couldn’t stop myself. I still can’t. It’s in me. I do this and that’s what I do. It’s part of my inner makeup and I’ve been able to make a living at it my whole life just like a Barry White or a Jerry Reed. Now I feel like I’m taking it to the next level.

What I’m doing now is long term maintenance much like a homeowner does. I’m fixing my comedy furnace and blowing out the gunk and changing the filters and tightening nuts and bolts that may have come loose from heavy use and preparing myself for another run.

Homeowners are never done with maintenance on something and I won’t be either. Just when the furnace is fixed the roof needs attention. Then after that the paint is peeling and it’s time to do that. Then it’s the yard. Then the garage can use some fixing. Same here.

I spent many years on the road learning the craft of comedy itself but I never really was good at the business part. Mastering the on stage part was difficult enough. I was a young buck and bullet proof and time was on my side. I could eat anything I wanted and hadn’t a care in the world other than working on my craft and I thought that would never go away.

Now I have learned my craft but not without severe cost. I chose not to be married and I spent a lot of lonely years trying to figure out my own problems without having a nagging wife telling me to get a real job or a backseat full of bed wetters telling me to be their dad.

I was able to get by with my natural ability but I didn’t work as hard as I could have just for that reason - I was able to get by with my natural ability. I was always dabbling in lots of other things like radio and sports cards and pro wrestling announcing and anything else I found fun. I thought I had plenty of time to come back to comedy but now it’s different.

My youth is fading fast and old age is getting close enough to think about more than as something way far away. It isn’t. I’ve got a few more solid years If I’m lucky and then I’ll need to find something else to pay my bills. Comedy clubs aren’t for gray haired old farts unless they own it. I never wanted to be a club owner so I’d better find an income source.

That’s the long term plan here. Getting on TV is a very nice accomplishment and I think it’s long overdue but I haven’t gotten it until now because I haven’t FOCUSED on it until now. Is part of this a law of attraction thing? Yes, I think it is. I let my furnace go unlit for way too long. Before the dead of winter hits I still have a chance to get it lit and this is it.

That’s why I’m taking this TV shot so seriously. It will be very important in helping me finish strong in the game I’ve been playing for so long. It elevates me to a level the public sees as being a legitimate entity. What’s the first thing any stranger asks when it becomes known I’m a comedian? ‘Ever been on TV?’ Now I‘ll be able to smile and shout ‘YES!’

My goal is to blow people away when they come to see me. I want to make them laugh so hard they can’t breathe and are turning purple in their chairs. I want to start from right when I hit the stage to the second I walk off. I want it to be an experience that changes all their lives in a positive way and is something they will think about on their dying day.

That’s a pretty lofty goal but that’s what I want. I’ve seen George Clinton live probably fifty times. Some shows are better than others but when he and Parliament/Funkadelic are on their game, NOTHING I’ve ever seen can match that pure raw funky energy groove.

I’ve had lots of moments where I was firing on all cylinders on stage and I have rocked my share of rooms all over North America in my day and it was great fun. Now if I can be even better and more structured and prepared I will be like Godzilla going through Tokyo.

I’m glad I took the time to put this much effort into this set. No matter how it turns out I have come out ahead before I even go to L.A. because it’s started me on the road to doing this to my entire act. I’m going to rip it up and remodel and have a whole new structure.