Delight In Detroit

Saturday June 13th, 2009 - Southgate, MI

Detroit has always been one of my favorite towns. Really. People laugh when I say that but I really mean it. There’s a vibe about Detroit that I really like. It’s obviously about as blue collar as it gets but those people dig me and vice versa. There’s a realness to them.

The mix of car mania and rock and roll and having Canada right across a bridge makes a unique vibe and whenever I come here I sync up with it instantly. I always thought that I could have lived here and believe it or not I still do. I’m not looking for a radio job but if I got one in Detroit I’d take it. There’s just something about here and me that matches well.

The rust belt in general is perfect for what I do. Mr. Lucky is an ideal persona for those who struggle because it releases tension. Plus it’s comforting to know someone else has a tough road too. Places like Pittsburgh and Toledo and Buffalo need a chuckle these days.

My friend Bill Mihalic lives in the suburbs and he’s one of my favorite people. He came to a one day seminar I taught in Ann Arbor years ago and we’ve been friends ever since. I really respect his work ethic. He works as hard as anyone I’ve ever met writing jokes and I wish I could help him more. Check out his daily jokes at www.highimpacthumor.com.

Bill is a car guy and has worked in the business his whole life but he loves writing jokes and would love to be a sitcom writer. He’s always taking seminars or trying to meet some person in charge who can get him in the door somewhere. I’ve always tried to support his efforts and I really respect his persistence. Plus I think he’s a funny guy too. But it’s hard.

This whole business is difficult. The worst part of it is it’s run by people of all levels of insanity and incompetence but there are still a few in the mix that are brilliantly sane and extremely competent. Those are the ones I’m trying to find as is Bill as are everyone else. It’s like a giant game of keno or musical chairs or bingo or some other game of chance.

Bill took me out for lunch at a great place called Miller’s Bar in Dearborn. Here’s what they have on their menu: hamburgers and cheeseburgers and French fries and onion rings. I’ve been all over North America in the better part of three decades and I have to say I’ve never had a better cheeseburger in my life. It was delightfully splendiferous. And rare too.

Not often do people cook my steaks or burgers how I want them but Miller’s did it with no fanfare. I told the waitress how I wanted it and she brought it right back exactly right. I was really impressed by not only the place itself but the high degree of gorgeous women I saw sitting around eating and drinking and distracting me from my own fantastic meal.

The place has a website at www.millersbar.com it’s about as simple as their menu but if you’re ever in the Detroit area do yourself a favor and check it out yourself. You won’t be sorry. It’s delicious red meat with friendly blue collar people and in my world there isn’t a whole lot better. Bill was also very helpful in getting me on the right track mentally as his specialty is big picture planning and organization on a corporate level. I sure can use that.

Wayne Dyer has always been one of my favorite self help author/speakers and he’s said on many occasions ‘When the student is ready the teacher will appear.’ I’m sure someone else has said it too but that’s where I remember hearing it and I think Bill can really help a left handed scatterbrain like me to organize myself and get to where I’m supposed to be.

After lunch I was supposed to be in Southgate, MI so that’s where I headed to check in at my hotel. It was only a few minutes away from Miller’s and I had some time before the show so I decided to get my oil changed because I was past due. I found a place right near the hotel that had an Elvis theme of all things. It was the goofiest thing I’ve seen in ages.

The guy who changed my oil looked like an escaped convict. He had a shaved head and piercing eyes and if I saw him on the street I’d protect my wallet. He seemed nice enough so I was nice to him and went inside to check out all of the Elvis memorabilia on the wall.

A few minutes later the guy comes in and tells me my radiator needs a flush. I thought I had it done already but he said I needed it so I tried to cut the guy some slack and said yes so I could do my part to spend a few bucks in Detroit in tough times. After I paid my bill I went back to the hotel and as I was unpacking the car I noticed a green puddle under it.

I took it back and now the guy was behaving how he looked. He told me I needed to get some of the gunk that plugs radiators from an auto parts store and I told him it was totally fine until he worked on it and after going back and forth for a while he agreed to send one of his flunkies out to get some of that fix it stuff and they ended up installing it for free.

The trouble was it took almost two extra hours for this to play out and I was planning to get a nap in before the show but I didn’t. Plus now I’m 300 miles from home with a leaky radiator that I wasn’t sure would make it around the block. This is part of the road life I’m really sick of at this point. How many more times do I have to endure this kind of torture?

I got to the show at the Portofino early so the car wouldn’t be an issue. It was more than a couple of miles from the hotel and way too far to walk so I wanted to play it safe. That’s the smart way to do it so at least I could do the show and get paid to help pay for the car.

The show was in a banquet room of a nice restaurant but it was set up very well in every way. Sal Demilio is a Detroit comic who also books the shows and he made sure all bases were covered. There was a nice stage and good lighting and an excellent sound system as well. The people were seated as they came in and it was a full house. Sal knows the game.

He’s focusing on doing group fundraisers and that’s very smart. We must have had 200 or so people and they were an electric audience. Wow, what a fantastic group. Sal did the feature spot and is very funny and there was an opener named Phil do did a fine job also.

These are the kind of gigs I’d love to do all the time because they really got it and there were no weak links anywhere. Sal ran it correctly and I love that because it’s a treat to do a show for people who enjoy it. Now I hope my car makes it back to Chicago tomorrow.