Missouri Loves Company

Friday July 10th, 2009 - Hannibal, MO

I think I’m about seventy years too late. Had I headlined the Star Theatre in downtown Hannibal, MO on this date in 1939 I probably would have been bathing in success. It’s a beautiful place and back in the heyday of theatres it was evidently a very hopping joint.

There wasn’t much hop left tonight. I was just thankful to be paid. We had a turnout of maybe 40 people in a room that could comfortably seat 400. Not good for the bottom line and even worse for the ego. Tonight really raised some major red flags about my future.

Summers have always been a slower time for comedy, at least in the rust belt. People in the north have had to suffer through a long brutal winter and when it gets warm they want to be out barbecuing red meat and watching baseball games and camping. I totally get that because I grew up in the north. I want to be outside in the summer too, not in a night club.

Still, the clubs don’t shut down completely and in the old days we used to get what was called ‘summer money’. That meant the pay was lower because the expected crowds were going to be lower and it was just part of life. Comics always used to complain and I could never understand that as I was coming up the ranks. I understood that it was a slow time.

I’m not saying I liked it, but I did understand. Many comics used to joke about having a ‘summer act’ with less jokes in it and that’s funny but we all were familiar with that term. I trace it back to John Yoder who owns the Funny Business Agency in Grand Rapids, MI.

He was famous for getting that concept into the comedy mainstream even though I have had other bookers use it too. It was probably a good sales gimmick to whip out back then to get clubs to keep running shows in the summer when many would have liked to close.

It is what it is and of course everyone would like to be paid top dollar but summer had a good side too. Since there were less people in the clubs and less pay it was a great way for acts to move up the comedy ladder. I know that’s what I did. Getting a booker to bump up a comic to the next position is slightly less difficult than establishing lasting world peace.

I was able to advance from opener to feature and feature to headliner by working weeks at clubs in the summer and I’m very thankful for that opportunity. We all have to get that break somewhere and mine came in the heat of Michigan summers. Thanks John Yoder.

Tonight was sparse. Hannibal, MO is a nice little town of about 17,000 maybe 20 miles from Quincy, IL which has about 40,000 people. I’ve worked in Quincy several times and it was good. There was a club that did packed shows on the first Friday of every month.

I didn’t know Hannibal was so close. Comedy has been at the Star for six months and it worked well until summer hit. I hate to see anyone lose money, but especially me. It isn’t my fault they chose to keep going but I took the gig so part of it is on me. I just wanted to work and even though the pay was low I could use the money too. I’m trying to survive.

The couple who bought the theatre really did a great job of renovating it. I talked to the husband and he said it was about a five year project. They do weddings and parties and it seemed to be paying off for them but I still felt bad about the small turnout for tonight.

They ripped the theatre seats out and put in nightclub style tables and chairs instead. It’s fine that they did that but the first row of tables was way far from the stage so it was very hard to establish any intimacy with the audience even though there were so few of them.

I’ve been in every situation imaginable and I usually know how to compensate but it’s a tough sell to bond with an audience when the first row of tables is 40 feet away. It makes a hard job harder but I know they didn’t do it on purpose. They just weren’t experienced.

Thankfully I was able to bring my own opener. I chose Jim Flannigan from Chicago for several reasons, one of which was his dependable car. The main one was that I really like this kid and think he has a very bright future. He’s sharp and funny and his desire level is right up there where mine was when I was in my 20s. His enthusiasm kept me upbeat.

Jim is 28 and really starting to come into his own as a comedian. I was there once and I know right where he is in his development. He’s been working good gigs like with me up at the Skyline Comedy Café in Appleton, WI but he also has a day job and that takes up a lot of his time so he can’t work every week. I understand and that’s part of the game too.

The tiny audience in a big venue is something I’ve seen all too much but Jim hasn’t and I could see by the look in his eye he wasn’t thrilled about it. Nobody is but that’s how life works if you’re in show BUSINESS. Sometimes business isn‘t good and that‘s how it is.

That doesn’t mean the show can’t still be good. I’ve learned to work a small audience in a big venue or any venue just because I’ve had to. Those people came out and it isn’t their fault the place is 90% empty. They deserve a show and I always try to give them my best.

Jim went up and did his show but I could see his heart wasn’t in it. He did fine for these circumstances and he’s a funny guy but he wasn’t thrilled with it after he came off stage. I shook his hand and told him I was proud of him because I really was. It’s not easy to have to stand 40 feet away from 35 people for 30 minutes and entertain them all by yourself.

Not many people would even be willing to try it much less pull it off but he did as good as one could in that situation and I told him that. I went up and had to do 60 minutes so it would be a 90 minute show so we’d get paid. That didn’t make it easier but I still pulled it off. That’s part of being a pro and it’s taken a lifetime of gigs like this to be able to do it.

I was drenched with sweat as I walked off stage and knew I had given my absolute all in this situation. What I have to do now is find a way to make better situations. This isn’t the place I want to be at this stage of my life and career. I could just as easily give my all to a packed theatre or a TV audience. My show is there but my business isn’t. It’s a story that needs to change if there is to be a happy ending and I need to start writing it immediately.