Saturday May 7th, 2011 - Chicago, IL Today was a full day of work, and I can tell I’m getting older. All I wanted to do was go to sleep when it was over, but it was still fun. Three shows in one night takes a lot of hard work, especially in the headline position. By the time it was over I knew I’d given my all. Before the shows tonight I was asked to be a guest on a comedy themed pod cast called ‘Rye Bread Radio’, which I agreed to do. It wasn’t located far from Zanies, but making it into the city was a nightmare due to traffic. I didn’t expect that on a Saturday afternoon. I really can’t stand being late. It bothers the hell out of me, as I feel it’s disrespectful to whomever I’m supposed to meet. If I say I’m going to be somewhere at a certain time, it’s up to me to get there and I try my best to be punctual. When I can’t, it causes major stress. It also depends on who I’m meeting. If it’s someone I know, it’s not so bad. This time it was a nightmare because I hadn’t met these guys before, and I told them I’d be there to do the show at 4:30 as they’d asked. I wasn’t able to get there until 4:40, and then it was in a locked lobby situation and I had no idea which number to press to contact anyone there. I finally tracked them down about 5pm and apologized profusely, but they were all laid back and not worried about it at all. They were setting up the equipment and we went on maybe 5:10 or so. The hosts are two younger comics named Akeem and Jeremy Solomon, and there was a guest comic hanging out named Eric Oren, and we had a very good time. All three of those guys asked very intelligent questions, and we talked about the craft of comedy for about an hour and a half. It was a lot of fun, and they’ve got a good thing with this project. You can check them out at www.ryebreadradio.com to hear other pod casts. Zanies was work tonight. Sometimes Saturdays can be difficult in the city for a myriad of reasons. One is, there are a lot of touristy types just out for something to do in the area. They’re not necessarily comedy fans, but they’ve heard of Zanies and come in to explore. Another is their food situation. In three shows, the early one at 7pm usually has people who are waiting for a reservation at one of the area restaurants. They can be tight and not big laughers, only because it’s the early part of their evening. Then, the last one at 11:15 can be an entirely opposite situation. They’ve eaten and drunk their fill and they’re tired. Name recognition is another factor. It just is. I know I’m not famous, and for someone to pay a big time cover charge in a big city and then pay to park their car, I have to be an absolute home run to make it worth their while. That can put pressure on me in a hurry. I did my best tonight, and all three crowds were happy. I received some nice comments on the mailing list comment cards, and some nice ones in person on the way out too, but I have to say none of these three audiences really captured my fancy. I liked the early week audiences better, but these are the ones who pay the bills. Saturday is the money night.
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