Dusting Off Uranus

Thursday June 11th, 2009 - Chicago, IL

In my distant half baked brief study of numerology I can remember the 11th and the 22nd of each month are supposed to be the power days. Whether it’s true or not I felt a creative surge today so no matter where it came from or what caused it I’ll take it and be grateful.

Marc Schultz called and wanted to have a lunch so I could meet another guy he likes to book named Kevin Adair. Kevin is originally from Chicago but moved to the Dominican Republic of all places to start a ‘Geotourism Ecovillage’. That sounds impressive even if I have no idea what it is and I really don’t but he does and Marc wanted us both to meet.

The reason he did was because he said we are both entrepreneurial and work way harder than most of his other acts and he thought it would be good if we crossed paths. We had a very enjoyable lunch and Kevin’s story is very interesting. He’d worked in the Dominican Republic at a resort and loved it and ended up moving down there to start this business.

Marc had told him a little about my Uranus Factory Outlet idea and he really loved that as well. I gave him an ‘I (Heart) Uranus’ bumper sticker and he laughed out loud. It made me cringe because I really haven’t been working on that idea like I should and it bugs me.

After lunch I went into Chicago to get my mail and I got a call from Jerry Agar who had stayed late at WGN to finish up some work. I told him I was in the city and picked him up to have someone to talk to on the ride home. Traffic was brutal and we were marooned.

Since it was so late getting home Jerry invited me to stay for dinner. I love hanging with his whole family and his oldest son Tanner brought it up out of the blue that he still gets a ton of kids in his school asking when they can buy King of Uranus merchandise. He made a class project video a while back and he was the King of Uranus. He had a blast with it.

He put on a cape and a crown and got some of his friends to be in it with him and at the very end there was a cut to all of them saying in unison “Thumbs up Uranus!” It was very funny and I was thrilled to see that not only did he run with it but that the kids liked it too.

We ended up sitting around after dinner and brainstorming ideas for a long time. We all came up with Uranus jokes and it made us laugh until we had tears in our eyes. It’s just an endless string of fart, butt, and poop jokes and puns and double entendres and it even had Jerry’s daughter Kaelin howling and she’s 10. I knew then that I need to refocus on this.

Jerry’s sons Tanner and Cooper are 16 and 13 and Kaelin is 10. Jerry’s wife Ann is very intelligent and although I like her very much as a person our senses of humor have tended to go in different directions over the years. Not this time. Everybody loves this concept.

I’ve never ever had anything I’ve done that has gotten that kind of reaction from such a broad audience. Just about everyone I’ve told so far has had a light go on when I tell them about it but I keep finding ways to not do it. That stops TODAY. The messages are clear.

I don’t know why I’ve been letting this lapse for so long. I make all kinds of excuses as to why I don’t have time and yes I do get busy but this is my new dream and passion or so I thought it was. It’s something I can build from scratch and nobody else can do it like I’ll be able to, at least that’s what I truly believe in my deepest of being. This is my new baby.

I can use a lot of what I did in my entire life to this point and I intend to do just that. I’m still interested in comedy and teaching classes and radio and I think all of those things can be a part of this new ideal. What I’m creating is a new persona and world for it to live in.

J.K. Rowling did that with the Harry Potter books. She created a franchise that made an impact worldwide. George Lucas did the same thing with Star Wars. He came up with his own characters and world to put them in and shaped it into something that still thrives.

George Clinton did it in music. He created his own thing to set himself apart and put his band in outer space. It eventually worked and is still working today. He went in a new and different direction and it was ballsy as hell as were George Lucas and J.K. Rowling too.

I’m at a point where I need to do something different. WAY different. Maybe I’ve been afraid of that fact or of success or failure but whatever it is I know that today is the day of reckoning and I know I’m on the right path. I may not be successful right away and I may have some people think I’m crazier than I already am but I can feel this is what’s right.

I’ve had this feeling before but then for some reason I’ll just let it fade away without an explanation. I don’t even know why I do it but if I keep spreading the word to people like Jerry’s family I’ll keep having them ask about it and if it hurts when they ask maybe I will get off my asteroids and DO something so I’ll have a good answer the next time they ask.

This is going to take hard work and a steady effort but I am so up for the challenge right now. My bookings as a comic aren’t the greatest but they are still there and I can exist as I work on putting this concept together. I have all kinds of half baked ideas that need to get fleshed out in detail and written out and put in a three ring binder I carry with me always.

I need to have a business plan written with goals and deadlines and budgets. I also need a list of products to begin with but also a master list of things for down the road too. I like the idea of selling funny trinkets and baubles and doo dads but that’s not my main goal in all this. I want to CREATE at least some of those things and also include performing too.

The concept of Uranus Factory Outlet is still too fuzzy but at least I’m forcing myself to think about it and dust off the cobwebs. It won’t get done if I don’t at least try something and now is that time. Bumper stickers and t-shirts are ok and I’ll be learning all about the finer points of those two things and more very shortly but I’m thinking a whole lot bigger.

I want to create an entertainment powerhouse that people look at years from now with a twinkle in their eye and a smirk on their face when they say “Remember that guy who did the King of Uranus gimmick? Who’d have thought THAT would have been so popular?”