Help When I Need It

Thursday February 12th, 2009 - Lake Villa, IL/Franklin, WI

Good friends are by far my biggest asset and right when I need them most the best ones are coming through for me. I put the word out a few days ago I could use a little input on my TV set and I sent a copy out to my closest comedy friends I thought could be of help.

The replies have been rolling in from everywhere and they’ve all had a lot of excellent suggestions I can use to make the set even better. That’s why I asked them to look it over in the first place. It’s good to have ‘fresh eyes’ look something over especially when I am so close to it. I am breaking new ground with this method so a little help goes a long way.

I’ve helped countless people myself over the years so I don’t feel guilty about this at all. Many comedians especially of the newer generation would never think of using writers or help from other comics but that’s not how I think at all. If I can make my set better I will.

Gene Perret was Bob Hope’s head writer for many years. He and I have been friends for many years and I always value his opinion. He’s a true comedy master and I never abuse a favor with him. He knows if I ask for something it’s special and I asked him to take a fast peek at my set and tell me what he thought. He wrote back today with some SOLID notes.

He wrote routines for Bob Hope in the Vietnam jungle so he understands the concept of what pressure and deadlines are better than most. I explained that I wanted to be prepared for my shot and he agreed that I was doing the right thing. He changed a little of my word rhythm to flow better and after looking at it again it absolutely does. He knows his stuff.

Bill Gorgo also did some editing on the set and smoothed out a few more areas that had some extra words. That’s what makes it better and I appreciated the effort. I also got some useful suggestions from Kevin Burke and Richard Halasz and Jerry Agar had a very good suggestion on how to shorten up one of the lines. I’ll take these and rework the set again.

The talent coordinator for the Late Late Show has been very supportive. She gave me an opportunity to rework it one more time before she sends it in for the final submission so it can be reviewed by the network censors apparently. I’m not worried at all now. It’s a very solid set with some nice jokes and a good flow. I can make a good impression if I nail it.

I have no reason to believe I won’t. I will finish it up and then work on it until I am sick of it and then I’ll work on it some more. This is what I need to do to get on television and there is NO excuse as to why I shouldn’t do this. Fear and nervousness are out the door.

I kept up my walking today in the Gurnee Mills Mall. I’ve been going there so much the security guards are starting to get to know me. They nod when I walk by and I’ll nod back but I don’t stop walking and today I worked up a full sweat and took two laps in the mall.

Little by little all this is coming together. It’s only a month away but I’m training for it a day at a time. Three days down - twenty five to go. I’m going to give this my full effort.