Thursday February 5th, 2009 - Memphis, TN
It was a balmy 3 degrees as I got up at exactly 3am to pack my car for the drive down to Memphis this week. One of my comedy friends is having marriage hiccups and wanted to get out of the house for a few days and asked if I minded if he came along. I kind of did as I wanted to use the time to think and plan but he was pretty insistent so I just said yes.
What’s a guy to do? I guess I could have said no but then there are bad vibes. It doesn’t really matter if anyone rides along or not since it’s my car and I decide when we leave or stay and I make that very clear before anyone gets in. I don’t like to waste my work time.
That’s what I’ve learned to make my long drives too - WORK time. I rotate between an hour or so of listening to educational or motivational materials followed by maybe jotting down some raw thoughts or trying to outline a comedy bit or movie scene or class lesson.
Maybe I’ll do a crossword puzzle or listen to a comedy recording of a friend or fun stuff that appeals to ME. Having to hear about someone’s marriage problems or how great that new serpent in the white house is can tend to put a strain on any friendship for 668 miles.
He really is a nice guy and I’m sorry he’s having a rocky marriage but that’s not my job to be anyone’s marriage counselor. As a friend I can listen and I really try to be a quality friend but sometimes it gets to a point where the best steak in the world couldn’t hide my bad taste for sitting and getting sniped at by certain people’s problems. It beats me down.
This isn’t a time to be beaten down. This is a time to recharge my life and make my run at the big time and God forbid have lots of….f-f-f….f-f-f…uh…er…ah ..oh yeah…..fun! I’ll suck it up this weekend because it’s only three days and hopefully I can get to some of my projects that are holding me back from living how and where I want to live my life.
We pulled into Memphis about 6pm. The weather got better as we drove south and it’s downright pleasant right now. There’s no snow anywhere to be seen and it’s like a mini spring break in a way. We took our coats off and cruised through town like we were in a parade. We had windows down and big smiles and we waved at anyone who’d look at us.
The show tonight at Comedy Tennessee was KILLER. There was a small house but it’s never an issue when they are this good. I did about 50 minutes and didn’t break a sweat. It flowed from within me and I didn’t let a long drive with little sleep stop me from doing a great show. I knew I needed to have a solid set and they appreciated it so that made it fun.
The guys who own this club are two of the nicest guys I’ve ever met who run a club or a steady comedy venue. They’re both comics themselves and really try to treat us like we’re someone rather than many other clubs who treat us like a disposable diaper after it’s full.
This is the part of comedy that grinds on us all. Yes, the money is nice and making it is a thrill but getting up at 3am to drive 668 miles to Memphis isn’t. I will earn my money.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Gettin' Ready To Rumble!
Wednesday February 4th, 2009 - Lake Villa, IL
Here it comes! I can feel a rumble in the distance in my life like never before and I just know things are about to start shaking and baking. My phone is ringing off the hook and I am even farther behind on emails than I usually am but they’re all positive and I know it’s all leading to something big - well, bigger than I’m used to anyway. This is payoff time.
How long that time will last I don’t know but this is it. I’ve worked for years at a lot of different things and they’re all coming together as one. My circle of contacts has not been the ones most others have made but they’re now getting positions of power and they have put me on their list of people to call. I couldn’t be more flattered and I’m ready to DO it!
I saw the movie ‘The Wrestler’ with Mickey Rourke a few days ago and loved it. I have lots of experience in pro wrestling from my years of ring announcing and TV play by play work and eventually promoting my own shows to mixed results. I thought Mickey Rourke nailed the character he played and I know several guys personally who remind me of him.
The associate producer of the movie is a guy I met years ago because of comedy classes. He managed a wrestler named ‘Luscious Johnny’ Valiant who wanted to be a comedian. I remember paying to see Johnny Valiant and his ‘brother’ ‘Handsome Jimmy’ when I was a kid so I knew who he was. Johnny and I became friends and that’s still cool even now.
The manager is a good guy too and he’s got a lot of irons in the fire and is working on a new movie project and has his own radio show too which I’ve been on a few times. He is a fan of mine and now he’s got some heat. Who knows where any of this could lead but it feels good knowing someone I know personally is having a hot streak. I’m happy for him.
My friend Bull Pain gave me a call today too. I was so busy running around with all my errands I didn’t call him back but I will. He of anyone can relate to the movie because he is a lifer in the wrestling business just like the ‘Randy The Ram’ character was. That’s not a bad thing at all though. At least he has passion plus he’s really good at it. Bull is a pro.
I’m the same way in comedy too. I’m a lifer. I’m sick of the road in many ways but I’m not sick of the shows. I love them now more than ever. Hearing the crowd pop with a big laugh never EVER gets old and the louder it is the more it soothes all of my inner hurts.
Those are really starting to go away now as I get older. The young angry buck is giving way to the wise old geezer but I’m not all the way there yet. There’s still a little gas left in my tank for one more run and I know I’m right at the cusp of it right now. Getting on TV is the first step and I can’t blow that and I won’t. I’ll show up in L.A. and get my set in.
It’s a lot more than that though. Getting publicity for a run of the mill white boy doing a four and a half minute comedy set on late night television is no small task. I have contacts in media both in Milwaukee and Chicago and I will use them to my advantage. I need this to get me on the map with some people and then I need to keep the momentum growing.
I have all the ingredients to build that great life I’ve always dreamed of and now it’s my combination of choices in the next little while which will determine if I actually do it how I planned it or not. I’m sure there will be a few surprises along the way. There always are.
The main thing I can feel is the lack of bitterness I have right now compared to before. I admit I was one pissed off salty dog about a lot of things and looking back on my life I’m probably justified in a lot of it but that anger cost me a lot of opportunities. I didn’t know how to deal with it and other people were afraid of it and it was not helping me advance.
Sure I’m still a little miffed about a few things but it’s not the all consuming rage I have felt in the past. I just don’t care anymore. Most of the people I’ve had my tiffs with aren’t even in a position to hurt me now and they mean nothing to me. I‘ve grown. They didn‘t.
Dave Luczak is an example. He’s a morning DJ in Milwaukee and has never been nice to me. In fact he’s gone out of his way to keep me off his radio show even though he has comedians on every week. We had a falling out over a comedy bit I did years ago and he has never had me back on since. That used to really hurt but now I couldn’t care less.
I remember he and I standing in his studio alone and he looked at me and said ‘There’ll come a day when I will tell people Dobie Maxwell used to beg me to be on my show and nobody will believe it. But I’ll never have you on so don’t even ask.’ Wow did that hurt.
In the subsequent years I’ve really tried to patch it up and make it right and at least stop the hostility but he never would answer my letters and that bothered me. Today I saw he’s attempting to do comedy himself at some theatre gig in Racine I did last year and I looked at the ad in the paper and laughed. He hasn’t paid his dues but he wants to be a comedian.
Who doesn’t? It’s FUN to be on stage getting laughs when everyone is enjoying a show. It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life but it comes with a price. He’ll probably have a nice crowd there who will love him and that’s great - but they know him from the radio.
Take a ride two hours in any direction where they don’t know the radio show and then it becomes a whole different story. I’ve spent 20 plus years earning the right to go up at any comedy club, juke joint, honky tonk, hell hole or anywhere else that has a mike and kick a room full of strangers in the ass and take no prisoners. THAT is an exhilarating feeling.
I don’t hate Dave Luczak. I don’t wish him any bad. I don’t care anymore. He doesn’t affect me at all and he’s nothing to me. There was a time when all I wanted was to be part of that show just like all the other comedians in town were but I got kicked off and treated like a soiled pair of undies and it really hurt to my inner core. Now I just shrug it all off.
I’ve worked in bigger markets than Dave Luczak and played bigger audiences and that’s what I want to focus on from now on. Those past demons are dead and I don’t want to put one ounce of energy into even looking into where they went. This is my time to shine and I am going to enjoy every single fraction of a second of it. THAT is what true success is.
Here it comes! I can feel a rumble in the distance in my life like never before and I just know things are about to start shaking and baking. My phone is ringing off the hook and I am even farther behind on emails than I usually am but they’re all positive and I know it’s all leading to something big - well, bigger than I’m used to anyway. This is payoff time.
How long that time will last I don’t know but this is it. I’ve worked for years at a lot of different things and they’re all coming together as one. My circle of contacts has not been the ones most others have made but they’re now getting positions of power and they have put me on their list of people to call. I couldn’t be more flattered and I’m ready to DO it!
I saw the movie ‘The Wrestler’ with Mickey Rourke a few days ago and loved it. I have lots of experience in pro wrestling from my years of ring announcing and TV play by play work and eventually promoting my own shows to mixed results. I thought Mickey Rourke nailed the character he played and I know several guys personally who remind me of him.
The associate producer of the movie is a guy I met years ago because of comedy classes. He managed a wrestler named ‘Luscious Johnny’ Valiant who wanted to be a comedian. I remember paying to see Johnny Valiant and his ‘brother’ ‘Handsome Jimmy’ when I was a kid so I knew who he was. Johnny and I became friends and that’s still cool even now.
The manager is a good guy too and he’s got a lot of irons in the fire and is working on a new movie project and has his own radio show too which I’ve been on a few times. He is a fan of mine and now he’s got some heat. Who knows where any of this could lead but it feels good knowing someone I know personally is having a hot streak. I’m happy for him.
My friend Bull Pain gave me a call today too. I was so busy running around with all my errands I didn’t call him back but I will. He of anyone can relate to the movie because he is a lifer in the wrestling business just like the ‘Randy The Ram’ character was. That’s not a bad thing at all though. At least he has passion plus he’s really good at it. Bull is a pro.
I’m the same way in comedy too. I’m a lifer. I’m sick of the road in many ways but I’m not sick of the shows. I love them now more than ever. Hearing the crowd pop with a big laugh never EVER gets old and the louder it is the more it soothes all of my inner hurts.
Those are really starting to go away now as I get older. The young angry buck is giving way to the wise old geezer but I’m not all the way there yet. There’s still a little gas left in my tank for one more run and I know I’m right at the cusp of it right now. Getting on TV is the first step and I can’t blow that and I won’t. I’ll show up in L.A. and get my set in.
It’s a lot more than that though. Getting publicity for a run of the mill white boy doing a four and a half minute comedy set on late night television is no small task. I have contacts in media both in Milwaukee and Chicago and I will use them to my advantage. I need this to get me on the map with some people and then I need to keep the momentum growing.
I have all the ingredients to build that great life I’ve always dreamed of and now it’s my combination of choices in the next little while which will determine if I actually do it how I planned it or not. I’m sure there will be a few surprises along the way. There always are.
The main thing I can feel is the lack of bitterness I have right now compared to before. I admit I was one pissed off salty dog about a lot of things and looking back on my life I’m probably justified in a lot of it but that anger cost me a lot of opportunities. I didn’t know how to deal with it and other people were afraid of it and it was not helping me advance.
Sure I’m still a little miffed about a few things but it’s not the all consuming rage I have felt in the past. I just don’t care anymore. Most of the people I’ve had my tiffs with aren’t even in a position to hurt me now and they mean nothing to me. I‘ve grown. They didn‘t.
Dave Luczak is an example. He’s a morning DJ in Milwaukee and has never been nice to me. In fact he’s gone out of his way to keep me off his radio show even though he has comedians on every week. We had a falling out over a comedy bit I did years ago and he has never had me back on since. That used to really hurt but now I couldn’t care less.
I remember he and I standing in his studio alone and he looked at me and said ‘There’ll come a day when I will tell people Dobie Maxwell used to beg me to be on my show and nobody will believe it. But I’ll never have you on so don’t even ask.’ Wow did that hurt.
In the subsequent years I’ve really tried to patch it up and make it right and at least stop the hostility but he never would answer my letters and that bothered me. Today I saw he’s attempting to do comedy himself at some theatre gig in Racine I did last year and I looked at the ad in the paper and laughed. He hasn’t paid his dues but he wants to be a comedian.
Who doesn’t? It’s FUN to be on stage getting laughs when everyone is enjoying a show. It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life but it comes with a price. He’ll probably have a nice crowd there who will love him and that’s great - but they know him from the radio.
Take a ride two hours in any direction where they don’t know the radio show and then it becomes a whole different story. I’ve spent 20 plus years earning the right to go up at any comedy club, juke joint, honky tonk, hell hole or anywhere else that has a mike and kick a room full of strangers in the ass and take no prisoners. THAT is an exhilarating feeling.
I don’t hate Dave Luczak. I don’t wish him any bad. I don’t care anymore. He doesn’t affect me at all and he’s nothing to me. There was a time when all I wanted was to be part of that show just like all the other comedians in town were but I got kicked off and treated like a soiled pair of undies and it really hurt to my inner core. Now I just shrug it all off.
I’ve worked in bigger markets than Dave Luczak and played bigger audiences and that’s what I want to focus on from now on. Those past demons are dead and I don’t want to put one ounce of energy into even looking into where they went. This is my time to shine and I am going to enjoy every single fraction of a second of it. THAT is what true success is.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
My Date Is Here!
Tuesday February 3rd, 2009 - Chicago, IL
March 10th, 2009 - a date which will live in infamy. Or mystery. Or sodomy. That is the locked in taping date for me in Los Angeles for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I received word today after a long process of going back and forth and I’m very excited to finally have it locked down. It’s been a long time coming and I’ve earned my opportunity.
Having even one shot on national television adds credibility to a lifetime of struggle but it sure doesn’t guarantee anything other than being on TV for four and a half minutes. It’s not a guaranteed career maker and it’s not even a guaranteed money maker. I have to foot my own bill to get out there but I knew that was part of the deal when I signed up for this.
This is a chance to get a nice up to date tape from a show that’s currently on the air and that should be used to up my price in doing more corporate type or theatre shows. A lot of comics have credits on shows that have long gone off the air like ‘Comedy On The Road’ or ‘An Evening At The Improv’ or ‘VH1 Standup Spotlight’ or any number of others.
Comedy shows come and go on television and I never got into that mix. I never pursued it because I never felt I was ready for it but now I totally am. I’ve learned my craft and am sure of who I am on stage and even though I probably passed up some good money at the time I’m glad I didn’t do any shows back then because I would have looked like an idiot.
I won’t look like an idiot on March 10th. I know what I’m doing. I might not change the face of broadcast media forever but I won’t lay butt dumplings in my shorts either. I know how to do four and a half minutes of standup comedy and I have a month to prepare for it.
To be honest I don’t even remember what I sent in the set I submitted. I remember I did go back and forth a few times with the talent booker but only on the use of references that mentioned corporate brand names. Sometimes that’s part of the joke even without being a negative but those are the rules and that’s what I have to follow. I’m not worried about it.
I’ll dust off the set I sent in and start working on it immediately. I have a month to work on it and polish it and that’s exactly what I’ll do. I will be ready when the red light flashes on the camera and I won’t blow it. I’m going to enjoy every second of the experience and just have fun. I’m not at all over my head and nervousness is not an issue. I can DO this.
I would love to be in great physical shape and tan and look good on camera and dress in hip trendy sexy clothing to make every MILF housewife in America want to mail me their underwear but none of that is realistic. I’m a 45 year old white guy from Milwaukee with bad genetics who’s lucky to be still standing after all I’ve been through. I’m not Brad Pitt.
But I have to believe Brad Pitt can’t get an audience to laugh and if there’s one thing I’ll be able to do it’s that. I’ve been on local and regional TV many times before and I haven’t embarrassed myself then and I don’t plan on doing it now. I will show up in L.A. with my four and a half minutes ready to go and hopefully get my chance to finally start a career.
This is a whole new era in how entertainment works. It used to be a comedian got a shot on national television and it opened up doors. The Tonight Show was the king of them all and if Johnny liked you that was it. Overnight you’d be in a new league and bookings and money would roll in like drunks out of the cold in winter. It doesn’t work like that now.
With the dawn of the internet it now seems to be every comic for his or her self and that isn’t necessarily a negative thing at all. On one hand it gives talented people a chance at a larger audience but on the other it gives hacks a chance to pollute the market and water it all down. Any frat boy with a camera daddy bought him can paste his puss up on the net.
There were always hacks and non talents in comedy but they weren’t as able to get seen by a mass audience as they are now. It really does come down to marketing though. I wish funny was the only currency for who gets rich in comedy but that’s never going to be true. I can’t waste my time worrying about it though. I have to hustle up my own batch of fans.
Examples of other people I think have really done this well are Brian McKim and Traci Skene who have an online publication called “Shecky Magazine”. It’s a website about all things comedy that’s been going for years and they bust their ass doing it and are fair and balanced reporters of what’s going on in the comedy world. They’ve built a good name.
The site is www.sheckymagazine.com and they were onto the internet game years ago. Kudos to them for doing it right. Another site I just discovered yesterday is one co-owned by Bruce Baum called ‘The Outernet’. What a great name. Why didn’t I think of that? It’s a site about comedy and comedians and I found out about it through a myspace bulletin.
That’s another thing comedians need to be aware of now that wasn’t an issue years ago. All the social networking sites like myspace.com and facebook.com and the rest of them are all being inundated with comedians looking to give free tickets away for the late show Friday in Wichita. Still, a lot of people have really built followings through these sites.
How do I stand out from every other comedian good or bad? I used to think it was to be funnier than most of them but that isn’t necessarily the case anymore. It’s becoming a big viral marketing campaign and I can either fight it or accept it. I choose to accept it and am going to approach this as a contest to see how many people I can get to come see me live.
Bruce Baum is a guy who I admired when I started because I used to watch him back in the ‘70s on the show ‘Make Me Laugh’. I met him a couple of times when I lived in Utah and he was very nice and very complimentary of my show too. He’s very smart by being a part of the evolution of comedy and starting his website. It’s at www.theouternet.com.
If I’m going to be a player at all I have to keep cranking out comedy and also keep up to speed on my social networking and regular networking too. Being on television doesn’t at all hurt me in that area so I’ll knuckle down and get ready to go out to L.A. and do my set.
While I’m there I also want to meet with the Jeff Foxworthy management people and start a relationship with them too. This is my time to shine and I couldn’t be any more excited.
March 10th, 2009 - a date which will live in infamy. Or mystery. Or sodomy. That is the locked in taping date for me in Los Angeles for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I received word today after a long process of going back and forth and I’m very excited to finally have it locked down. It’s been a long time coming and I’ve earned my opportunity.
Having even one shot on national television adds credibility to a lifetime of struggle but it sure doesn’t guarantee anything other than being on TV for four and a half minutes. It’s not a guaranteed career maker and it’s not even a guaranteed money maker. I have to foot my own bill to get out there but I knew that was part of the deal when I signed up for this.
This is a chance to get a nice up to date tape from a show that’s currently on the air and that should be used to up my price in doing more corporate type or theatre shows. A lot of comics have credits on shows that have long gone off the air like ‘Comedy On The Road’ or ‘An Evening At The Improv’ or ‘VH1 Standup Spotlight’ or any number of others.
Comedy shows come and go on television and I never got into that mix. I never pursued it because I never felt I was ready for it but now I totally am. I’ve learned my craft and am sure of who I am on stage and even though I probably passed up some good money at the time I’m glad I didn’t do any shows back then because I would have looked like an idiot.
I won’t look like an idiot on March 10th. I know what I’m doing. I might not change the face of broadcast media forever but I won’t lay butt dumplings in my shorts either. I know how to do four and a half minutes of standup comedy and I have a month to prepare for it.
To be honest I don’t even remember what I sent in the set I submitted. I remember I did go back and forth a few times with the talent booker but only on the use of references that mentioned corporate brand names. Sometimes that’s part of the joke even without being a negative but those are the rules and that’s what I have to follow. I’m not worried about it.
I’ll dust off the set I sent in and start working on it immediately. I have a month to work on it and polish it and that’s exactly what I’ll do. I will be ready when the red light flashes on the camera and I won’t blow it. I’m going to enjoy every second of the experience and just have fun. I’m not at all over my head and nervousness is not an issue. I can DO this.
I would love to be in great physical shape and tan and look good on camera and dress in hip trendy sexy clothing to make every MILF housewife in America want to mail me their underwear but none of that is realistic. I’m a 45 year old white guy from Milwaukee with bad genetics who’s lucky to be still standing after all I’ve been through. I’m not Brad Pitt.
But I have to believe Brad Pitt can’t get an audience to laugh and if there’s one thing I’ll be able to do it’s that. I’ve been on local and regional TV many times before and I haven’t embarrassed myself then and I don’t plan on doing it now. I will show up in L.A. with my four and a half minutes ready to go and hopefully get my chance to finally start a career.
This is a whole new era in how entertainment works. It used to be a comedian got a shot on national television and it opened up doors. The Tonight Show was the king of them all and if Johnny liked you that was it. Overnight you’d be in a new league and bookings and money would roll in like drunks out of the cold in winter. It doesn’t work like that now.
With the dawn of the internet it now seems to be every comic for his or her self and that isn’t necessarily a negative thing at all. On one hand it gives talented people a chance at a larger audience but on the other it gives hacks a chance to pollute the market and water it all down. Any frat boy with a camera daddy bought him can paste his puss up on the net.
There were always hacks and non talents in comedy but they weren’t as able to get seen by a mass audience as they are now. It really does come down to marketing though. I wish funny was the only currency for who gets rich in comedy but that’s never going to be true. I can’t waste my time worrying about it though. I have to hustle up my own batch of fans.
Examples of other people I think have really done this well are Brian McKim and Traci Skene who have an online publication called “Shecky Magazine”. It’s a website about all things comedy that’s been going for years and they bust their ass doing it and are fair and balanced reporters of what’s going on in the comedy world. They’ve built a good name.
The site is www.sheckymagazine.com and they were onto the internet game years ago. Kudos to them for doing it right. Another site I just discovered yesterday is one co-owned by Bruce Baum called ‘The Outernet’. What a great name. Why didn’t I think of that? It’s a site about comedy and comedians and I found out about it through a myspace bulletin.
That’s another thing comedians need to be aware of now that wasn’t an issue years ago. All the social networking sites like myspace.com and facebook.com and the rest of them are all being inundated with comedians looking to give free tickets away for the late show Friday in Wichita. Still, a lot of people have really built followings through these sites.
How do I stand out from every other comedian good or bad? I used to think it was to be funnier than most of them but that isn’t necessarily the case anymore. It’s becoming a big viral marketing campaign and I can either fight it or accept it. I choose to accept it and am going to approach this as a contest to see how many people I can get to come see me live.
Bruce Baum is a guy who I admired when I started because I used to watch him back in the ‘70s on the show ‘Make Me Laugh’. I met him a couple of times when I lived in Utah and he was very nice and very complimentary of my show too. He’s very smart by being a part of the evolution of comedy and starting his website. It’s at www.theouternet.com.
If I’m going to be a player at all I have to keep cranking out comedy and also keep up to speed on my social networking and regular networking too. Being on television doesn’t at all hurt me in that area so I’ll knuckle down and get ready to go out to L.A. and do my set.
While I’m there I also want to meet with the Jeff Foxworthy management people and start a relationship with them too. This is my time to shine and I couldn’t be any more excited.
Groundhog Deja Vu
Monday February 2nd, 2009 - Chicago, IL
Groundhog Day. I hadn’t seen that movie in I don’t know when so as corny as it sounds I popped the DVD into my computer and watched it again today. I totally loved it when it first came out and recently I found the DVD at some thrift store cheap so I snapped it up.
Bill Murray just blows me away. What a fantastic talent he is in my opinion. I can’t say enough about his performance in a lot of films but this one really showcases his brilliance on a lot of levels. He can play it straight or funny and in this role he nailed both of them.
The whole movie just fits together perfectly. The rest of the cast is also outstanding and I think it falls into one of those rare movies that can be called a true modern classic. There aren’t that many films that I can think of that belong there but I think this one surely does.
‘The Shawshank Redemption’ is another one in that category as is ‘This Is ‘Spinal Tap’. There are a few more that pop into my head like ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Fargo’ and ‘Full Metal Jacket’ in the beginning when they’re in boot camp. I could watch a movie like that many times and never get sick of it and I felt that way as I watched Groundhog Day over again.
‘Caddyshack’ is like that for me and so is ‘A Christmas Story’. ‘Back To The Future’ is another one. Wait a minute. I guess the classics aren’t as rare as I thought. Or maybe they are. Even with these several titles there are still countless other movies that are total duds.
I’m talking about a movie I can sit down and watch all the way through and enjoy it and not have to fast forward through any scenes to get to the one or two good ones. It’s a little like a music CD. There are many with one or two or even three good songs but how many sustain a good solid flow and keep a listener interested all the way through? Not many.
Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ does that in my opinion. There isn’t a bad song on the disc and it still sounds great today. Personal opinions of Michael Jackson aside that’s a world class recording. I think ‘Saturday Night Fever’ is too. It may be dated to some but I think that whole double album set is outstanding from beginning to end. But what do I know?
Not a whole hell of a lot and I admit it. My taste is stuck somewhere between Caucasian boring and Wisconsin hick but I like what I like and I’m getting a better handle on what it is as I get older. I may not like what the masses like but I do have a pretty defined palate.
I like things that are smart and well done and polished into a slick package. ‘Groundhog Day’ was a movie that did all of those things and since I hadn’t seen it in a while I totally enjoyed it all over again. Some parts I remembered but some I didn’t so it was new again.
I also hosted the rising star showcase at Zanies in Chicago tonight. I’ve got one on each Monday of the month and that’s going to add up and almost pay next month’s rent so I’m not complaining at all. I have a notebook full of new jokes to work in so I’ll use this time to keep growing and getting better. Hopefully I can create a classic of my own someday.
Groundhog Day. I hadn’t seen that movie in I don’t know when so as corny as it sounds I popped the DVD into my computer and watched it again today. I totally loved it when it first came out and recently I found the DVD at some thrift store cheap so I snapped it up.
Bill Murray just blows me away. What a fantastic talent he is in my opinion. I can’t say enough about his performance in a lot of films but this one really showcases his brilliance on a lot of levels. He can play it straight or funny and in this role he nailed both of them.
The whole movie just fits together perfectly. The rest of the cast is also outstanding and I think it falls into one of those rare movies that can be called a true modern classic. There aren’t that many films that I can think of that belong there but I think this one surely does.
‘The Shawshank Redemption’ is another one in that category as is ‘This Is ‘Spinal Tap’. There are a few more that pop into my head like ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Fargo’ and ‘Full Metal Jacket’ in the beginning when they’re in boot camp. I could watch a movie like that many times and never get sick of it and I felt that way as I watched Groundhog Day over again.
‘Caddyshack’ is like that for me and so is ‘A Christmas Story’. ‘Back To The Future’ is another one. Wait a minute. I guess the classics aren’t as rare as I thought. Or maybe they are. Even with these several titles there are still countless other movies that are total duds.
I’m talking about a movie I can sit down and watch all the way through and enjoy it and not have to fast forward through any scenes to get to the one or two good ones. It’s a little like a music CD. There are many with one or two or even three good songs but how many sustain a good solid flow and keep a listener interested all the way through? Not many.
Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ does that in my opinion. There isn’t a bad song on the disc and it still sounds great today. Personal opinions of Michael Jackson aside that’s a world class recording. I think ‘Saturday Night Fever’ is too. It may be dated to some but I think that whole double album set is outstanding from beginning to end. But what do I know?
Not a whole hell of a lot and I admit it. My taste is stuck somewhere between Caucasian boring and Wisconsin hick but I like what I like and I’m getting a better handle on what it is as I get older. I may not like what the masses like but I do have a pretty defined palate.
I like things that are smart and well done and polished into a slick package. ‘Groundhog Day’ was a movie that did all of those things and since I hadn’t seen it in a while I totally enjoyed it all over again. Some parts I remembered but some I didn’t so it was new again.
I also hosted the rising star showcase at Zanies in Chicago tonight. I’ve got one on each Monday of the month and that’s going to add up and almost pay next month’s rent so I’m not complaining at all. I have a notebook full of new jokes to work in so I’ll use this time to keep growing and getting better. Hopefully I can create a classic of my own someday.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Brunch And A Hunch
Sunday February 1st, 2009 - Milwaukee, WI/Kenosha, WI
My phone rang this morning way too early for me to know it was too early for it to ring. I’ve been hitting it hard lately and not sleeping as much as I probably should be and I was deep in a coma when it rang. Usually I have it near my bed but today it was in my pants.
I was so tired from yesterday I never took it out of my pocket when I took my pants off so I crawled out of bed and answered it just to see who it was. It was my cousin Brett and we had made plans to get together today and he wanted to know if I was still up for that.
I always love to see Brett and we hadn’t done it for a while so I told him I’d dust off my carcass and head up to Milwaukee for a brunch at Pandl’s in Bayside. That’s a place both of us love so it wasn’t difficult to get motivated to get out of bed to have top shelf chow.
The whole atmosphere is great about that place. The food is world class but the people are nice too. That’s a very well to do part of town and somewhere my family never even considered going when we were kids so that makes Brett and I enjoy it even more. We’re both trying to move past our childhood and salvage a good life and this helps us do that.
There are people of all colors and backgrounds eating there for one reason - the food is REALLY good. They are usually well dressed and no matter what color they are they are laid back and polite and have class and manners and don’t cause trouble. It’s refreshing.
Everyone is in a good mood and those who are there know it’s going to be an out of the park home run dining experience. I was waiting for my omelet next to a black woman and a man from India and we were all commenting on how lucky we were to be having such a wonderful meal on such a beautiful day and we were right. Pandl’s does it the right way.
After the meal I dropped Brett off and headed back home to take a nap. I slept so long it almost made me miss my Mothership Connection radio show on WLIP in Kenosha. I had my Toyota up to about 90 through the back roads trying to make it to the radio station on time and right when I turned on Highway C in Kenosha I got stuck behind a pig trailer.
What are the chances of that? It’s Super Bowl Sunday and roads are empty like a scene from the movie Omega Man where Charlton Heston is the last man on earth. I thought I’d have no problem making it to the station but that idiot in front of me kept slowing down.
I ended up making it to the station at 8:04 but my co-hosts were ready and started it off without me which made me feel great. This is a group that really works together well and I hope we can both stay together as a group and stay on the air too. We all enjoy this a lot.
My hunch is we’ll either find a way to syndicate the show and take it much higher or we will go through more personnel changes before long. It’s tough to ask anyone to do a long running show without offering any pay but right now I can’t pay anyone including myself. It’s a fun thing and getting more fun by the week. I can feel our chemistry really growing.
That’s great in a way but in another way it scares me. Every other radio show I’ve had that has had chemistry growth in a positive way like this has ended ugly with a bad firing. The last one was the Loop in Chicago. We were getting a really strong chemistry in place and that’s when the station was sold and we got blown out the door by the new snakes.
WLS was very similar. Jerry Agar was getting good and borderline great ratings on his show and then lost his job to a situation which still makes no sense to any logical person in or around radio. Just because a show is sounding good doesn’t mean it won’t be axed.
Every week I come to the station in Kenosha and hope we’re still on the air. I know my friend John Perry is the operations manager of the station and wants us on the air but I’m still a little gun shy from all my other radio situations where I’ve been yanked off the air.
Anything and everything could bring this one to an end too and I know I need to keep a positive attitude but after all that’s happened I can’t help thinking of what could go on in this whole scenario. John Perry could get another job or be gone for whatever reason and then I’d be left dangling in the trees. The new person may or may not like the show at all.
Also, the station could be sold or they could sell my time to a brokered show who buys the time every week and run their own psychotic ramblings about the wonders of all their penis enlargement formulas or machines to remove unwanted stains from your mattress.
I’m coming up on a year in early March and those kinds of thoughts keep creeping up at this time because that’s when all my other shows blew up. What really concerns me is the loss of the current panel though. Lara Shaffer has been a fantastic replacement for the loss of Scott Markus who moved to Los Angeles to work in the film industry. He was a whiz.
Lara is turning out to be even whizzier in many ways and she just fits in perfectly. She’s also an aspiring model and actress and has some ins on jobs and TV shows and any week I expect her to tell me she’s leaving to pursue those things. Just like with Scott I wouldn’t be angry or upset but it would put the show in another rut until we found someone else.
Another new part of the show is ‘Dr. Destruction’ who has a growing role. He’s a really interesting guy and a total character and he very much adds to the mix of everything. He’s a Kenosha resident and has a TV horror movie show which apparently has a big audience and a cult following. He’s settling in nicely with us and hopefully we can cross over fans.
My comedian friend Gary Pansch is also fitting in very well to the mix. He does a funny weekly bit called ‘The Mothership Hall Of Fame’ with weirdos and nut bags from across all time and time zones. Living or dead he picks out a unique character every week for his segment and little by little all of this is falling together and becoming a busy fun show.
Lara or Gary or Dr. Destruction could easily come to me at any time and tell me they’re not able to hang around anymore and there could be a lot of legitimate reasons for that so who am I to tell them no? All I can do is enjoy it while they’re here and I am. It’s a blast.
My phone rang this morning way too early for me to know it was too early for it to ring. I’ve been hitting it hard lately and not sleeping as much as I probably should be and I was deep in a coma when it rang. Usually I have it near my bed but today it was in my pants.
I was so tired from yesterday I never took it out of my pocket when I took my pants off so I crawled out of bed and answered it just to see who it was. It was my cousin Brett and we had made plans to get together today and he wanted to know if I was still up for that.
I always love to see Brett and we hadn’t done it for a while so I told him I’d dust off my carcass and head up to Milwaukee for a brunch at Pandl’s in Bayside. That’s a place both of us love so it wasn’t difficult to get motivated to get out of bed to have top shelf chow.
The whole atmosphere is great about that place. The food is world class but the people are nice too. That’s a very well to do part of town and somewhere my family never even considered going when we were kids so that makes Brett and I enjoy it even more. We’re both trying to move past our childhood and salvage a good life and this helps us do that.
There are people of all colors and backgrounds eating there for one reason - the food is REALLY good. They are usually well dressed and no matter what color they are they are laid back and polite and have class and manners and don’t cause trouble. It’s refreshing.
Everyone is in a good mood and those who are there know it’s going to be an out of the park home run dining experience. I was waiting for my omelet next to a black woman and a man from India and we were all commenting on how lucky we were to be having such a wonderful meal on such a beautiful day and we were right. Pandl’s does it the right way.
After the meal I dropped Brett off and headed back home to take a nap. I slept so long it almost made me miss my Mothership Connection radio show on WLIP in Kenosha. I had my Toyota up to about 90 through the back roads trying to make it to the radio station on time and right when I turned on Highway C in Kenosha I got stuck behind a pig trailer.
What are the chances of that? It’s Super Bowl Sunday and roads are empty like a scene from the movie Omega Man where Charlton Heston is the last man on earth. I thought I’d have no problem making it to the station but that idiot in front of me kept slowing down.
I ended up making it to the station at 8:04 but my co-hosts were ready and started it off without me which made me feel great. This is a group that really works together well and I hope we can both stay together as a group and stay on the air too. We all enjoy this a lot.
My hunch is we’ll either find a way to syndicate the show and take it much higher or we will go through more personnel changes before long. It’s tough to ask anyone to do a long running show without offering any pay but right now I can’t pay anyone including myself. It’s a fun thing and getting more fun by the week. I can feel our chemistry really growing.
That’s great in a way but in another way it scares me. Every other radio show I’ve had that has had chemistry growth in a positive way like this has ended ugly with a bad firing. The last one was the Loop in Chicago. We were getting a really strong chemistry in place and that’s when the station was sold and we got blown out the door by the new snakes.
WLS was very similar. Jerry Agar was getting good and borderline great ratings on his show and then lost his job to a situation which still makes no sense to any logical person in or around radio. Just because a show is sounding good doesn’t mean it won’t be axed.
Every week I come to the station in Kenosha and hope we’re still on the air. I know my friend John Perry is the operations manager of the station and wants us on the air but I’m still a little gun shy from all my other radio situations where I’ve been yanked off the air.
Anything and everything could bring this one to an end too and I know I need to keep a positive attitude but after all that’s happened I can’t help thinking of what could go on in this whole scenario. John Perry could get another job or be gone for whatever reason and then I’d be left dangling in the trees. The new person may or may not like the show at all.
Also, the station could be sold or they could sell my time to a brokered show who buys the time every week and run their own psychotic ramblings about the wonders of all their penis enlargement formulas or machines to remove unwanted stains from your mattress.
I’m coming up on a year in early March and those kinds of thoughts keep creeping up at this time because that’s when all my other shows blew up. What really concerns me is the loss of the current panel though. Lara Shaffer has been a fantastic replacement for the loss of Scott Markus who moved to Los Angeles to work in the film industry. He was a whiz.
Lara is turning out to be even whizzier in many ways and she just fits in perfectly. She’s also an aspiring model and actress and has some ins on jobs and TV shows and any week I expect her to tell me she’s leaving to pursue those things. Just like with Scott I wouldn’t be angry or upset but it would put the show in another rut until we found someone else.
Another new part of the show is ‘Dr. Destruction’ who has a growing role. He’s a really interesting guy and a total character and he very much adds to the mix of everything. He’s a Kenosha resident and has a TV horror movie show which apparently has a big audience and a cult following. He’s settling in nicely with us and hopefully we can cross over fans.
My comedian friend Gary Pansch is also fitting in very well to the mix. He does a funny weekly bit called ‘The Mothership Hall Of Fame’ with weirdos and nut bags from across all time and time zones. Living or dead he picks out a unique character every week for his segment and little by little all of this is falling together and becoming a busy fun show.
Lara or Gary or Dr. Destruction could easily come to me at any time and tell me they’re not able to hang around anymore and there could be a lot of legitimate reasons for that so who am I to tell them no? All I can do is enjoy it while they’re here and I am. It’s a blast.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Class In Kalamazoo
Saturday January 31st 2009 - Kalamazoo, MI
My comedy classes are expanding their traditional boundaries and I’m thrilled about it. It’s something I have wanted to do for a while now and today I took a big step by teaching two back to back two hour mini seminars at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
They were set up by a website called www.rooftopcomedy.com who caters mainly to an all college age market with video clips of comedians from all over. I hooked up with them at Zanies in Chicago where I hosted a couple of comedy contests they sponsored between colleges. I’d suggested a class and they apparently have decided to run with the concept.
I had intended to maybe sell a DVD version of my course on their site but they wanted a live class and sold it to the university. Then they hired me to teach it for a fee and had me bring an up and coming Chicago comedian along to do a set for the class and then get my professional critique. He was paid too out of the fee and all in all it went extremely well.
Bryan Berrey was the comic I brought and he really took to the whole program. He’s 24 and just out of college himself and has a bright future in comedy. He’s one of several new fresh and funny up and coming faces on the Chicago comedy scene like Hannibal Burress and Vince Carone and Pat McGann and Adam Burke and Juliana Forlano and others too.
I get to see these people on a regular basis since I host the Zanies rising star showcases on Mondays and it’s good for me to keep my energy in the mix. I’m the old fart but it’s a win/win experience because they can learn from me just like I learned from my mentor in Milwaukee C. Cardell Willis. I can also keep my finger on the pulse of what’s coming up.
Teaching at a university level is a different experience because previously I’ve taught to faculty and not students. I did a great one day seminar at Marquette University back a few years ago now with my friend Lynn Miner who is a professor there. This was a new twist.
There is a campus comedy group at Western Michigan run by a student named Darnell Anderson who is a very sharp guy. He’s the one who bought the seminar and was to serve as my contact for the day. I didn’t know what to expect other than I needed to fill two two hour sessions. I can do that in my sleep so I wasn’t worried at all but it turned out great.
Darnell is an aspiring comic as were most of the attendees. We had about 16 at the first session and some of them stayed for the second which was about a dozen. We covered as much as I thought they could handle and they were very open to it. It was packed with fun and positive energy and I could tell they wanted to get better. It was worth the long drive.
Bryan did his set and I ended up doing one too to demonstrate technique and it was fun to see the respect and awed look on the faces of the students. To them I’m what they want to do and I can relate. If I’d started and met a headliner I’d be in awe too. I appreciated all the attention and respect but they also had some very good comedy instincts and wanted a way to let their creativity out. I would love to teach more of these in the very near future.
My comedy classes are expanding their traditional boundaries and I’m thrilled about it. It’s something I have wanted to do for a while now and today I took a big step by teaching two back to back two hour mini seminars at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
They were set up by a website called www.rooftopcomedy.com who caters mainly to an all college age market with video clips of comedians from all over. I hooked up with them at Zanies in Chicago where I hosted a couple of comedy contests they sponsored between colleges. I’d suggested a class and they apparently have decided to run with the concept.
I had intended to maybe sell a DVD version of my course on their site but they wanted a live class and sold it to the university. Then they hired me to teach it for a fee and had me bring an up and coming Chicago comedian along to do a set for the class and then get my professional critique. He was paid too out of the fee and all in all it went extremely well.
Bryan Berrey was the comic I brought and he really took to the whole program. He’s 24 and just out of college himself and has a bright future in comedy. He’s one of several new fresh and funny up and coming faces on the Chicago comedy scene like Hannibal Burress and Vince Carone and Pat McGann and Adam Burke and Juliana Forlano and others too.
I get to see these people on a regular basis since I host the Zanies rising star showcases on Mondays and it’s good for me to keep my energy in the mix. I’m the old fart but it’s a win/win experience because they can learn from me just like I learned from my mentor in Milwaukee C. Cardell Willis. I can also keep my finger on the pulse of what’s coming up.
Teaching at a university level is a different experience because previously I’ve taught to faculty and not students. I did a great one day seminar at Marquette University back a few years ago now with my friend Lynn Miner who is a professor there. This was a new twist.
There is a campus comedy group at Western Michigan run by a student named Darnell Anderson who is a very sharp guy. He’s the one who bought the seminar and was to serve as my contact for the day. I didn’t know what to expect other than I needed to fill two two hour sessions. I can do that in my sleep so I wasn’t worried at all but it turned out great.
Darnell is an aspiring comic as were most of the attendees. We had about 16 at the first session and some of them stayed for the second which was about a dozen. We covered as much as I thought they could handle and they were very open to it. It was packed with fun and positive energy and I could tell they wanted to get better. It was worth the long drive.
Bryan did his set and I ended up doing one too to demonstrate technique and it was fun to see the respect and awed look on the faces of the students. To them I’m what they want to do and I can relate. If I’d started and met a headliner I’d be in awe too. I appreciated all the attention and respect but they also had some very good comedy instincts and wanted a way to let their creativity out. I would love to teach more of these in the very near future.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Jokey And The Bandit
Friday January 30th, 2009 - Milwaukee, WI/Chicago, IL
I feel like a cross between a NASCAR driver and a trucker with all the hard miles I put on my car today between Milwaukee and Chicago. Lake Villa is right in the middle of the two cities and today I made the rounds and completed a full circuit. I had business in both places and was pressed for time so I ended up starring in my own one man chase movie.
I half expected to see Jackie Gleason chasing me in a police car and Burt Reynolds and Sally Field running interference in a black Trans Am. I was all over the place today but it needed to get done. My first stop was to get breakfast at my favorite Red School Diner on US 45 right over the Wisconsin border. It was right on the way and I felt kind of hungry.
Just when I got there everyone was very stone faced because apparently some guy at the counter almost choked on a big piece of ham. He swallowed it and it got stuck and he was not able to get it out. By all accounts it was very scary and nobody thought he would live.
Two minutes later I walked in and could feel the eerie vibe. I heard the story about eight times from every angle but it must have been a close call because everyone who spoke of what happened all had a quiet somber tone in their voices. The guy was lucky to survive.
I was lucky to be there on a day when my favorite cutie waitress was working but she’s not a blondie anymore. She had dyed her hair apparently and now it’s back to her natural brown. She still looks great though and she flirted with me for a while which I enjoyed at the time but I don’t think we’ll ever hook up. She’s in her own world and it isn’t mine.
Plus I really find myself liking the woman in Milwaukee I’ve known forever. She’s very smart and funny and it just feels right when we’re together. We’re very comfortable being with each other and the last few times we went out it’s gone really well. She’s got her son to take care of so I’m not going to put pressure on her but for now we are hitting it off.
The reason I had to go to Milwaukee was to drop off a copy of my raw recordings of the week of shows at Zanies in Chicago I recorded last year. I thought my ex partner had kept them but I ended up finding a copy and my heart raced with joy. That was a lot of work.
I remember having some hot shows and switching bits around so I bet there’ll be enough for two or three projects. I paid money out of my pocket to have a sound engineer come to Zanies and set up for the recording and losing all that work would have been devastating.
Donna Gurda produced my friend Tom Green’s CD projects and she knew of a guy she trusts to cut up the bits and clean them up and edit them down into a CD format so I’ll be able to release at least one new CD if not two or three. I can really use some new product.
After I dropped off the master I dropped off a hamburger for the woman I like. She was working all day and I wanted to give her a treat and she loved it. That made my day to be able to bring some unexpected happiness to someone’s life but especially her. She’s great.
Then I hot footed it down to Chicago intending to be on WLS where Jerry Agar filled in for Roe Conn‘s afternoon show. For a guy who just got fired he’s working on the air a lot more than some of those that are actually working there. He’s their main go to fill in host.
Jerry knows what he’s doing on the air and he should have a full time job. Period. He is good at what he does and has ratings to prove it in Chicago so why he’s only doing fill ins is a mystery to both of us. He’s smart to take the work though. It keeps his name out there so program directors of other stations can hear him. I think he should have a job by now.
So does he. We talked about it today but the other stations in town haven’t made him an offer. The same thing happened to my partners and me when we got torched at the Loop. I would have thought we’d get at least a couple of phone calls from SOMEONE but we did not get a single one. That blew my mind and still does. I’d have thought we’d get a call.
Radio is like that though. Sometimes someone gets branded with a station and that’s the way that person is seen. It’s tough to change stations even though many have done it. I’ve never done it in the same town other than going from the Loop in Chicago over to WLS.
That’s a little different though. I was only a regular guest on WLS with Jerry’s Kidders. I was a co-host of the morning show on the Loop. BIG difference. For one thing I got paid on the Loop. Jerry’s Kidders was a lot of fun but we’re still doing it for free. Not good for the career especially since we weren’t able to stay on long enough to draw for live shows.
Jerry called this morning and asked if I would come down to the station to do a Kidders bit to close out the show. Ken Sevara was iffy but Tim Slagle could definitely make it out so it sounded good in theory but I wasn’t able to make it on time. I got stuck in traffic and ended up having to do a phoner as did Ken Sevara. Tim Slagle was the only one in studio.
Jerry said it went well even though two of the three Kidders weren’t there live but that’s the mark of a pro. He pulled it off flawlessly as did we and we gave the best we could in a short notice situation. The audience never knew and we still managed to nail some jokes.
I got to the station downtown just as the show ended but Jerry and Tim and I kept up an ongoing Kidders tradition of an after show meal. We shot around ideas like we usually do and everyone agreed it’s a bizarre situation to still be on from time to time after we’ve all gotten the heave ho. Jerry got gassed and that should have meant the end of all of this.
But alas we’re still alive. We did our year end special which all of us loved doing and it was all of our thoughts that would be our last go round on WLS but today we did it again even if it was in an altered form. We were on the air doing jokes about the news on WLS.
Not a lot of comedians or radio people can say that and it still is a thrill for me to say it. I respect the history of radio and knowing I have been on such a legendary station is a real honor I don’t take lightly. Every time I can do it I will and today I did even if it was only a phoner. Today was a lot of driving and a lot of stress. This isn’t a habit I want to develop.
I feel like a cross between a NASCAR driver and a trucker with all the hard miles I put on my car today between Milwaukee and Chicago. Lake Villa is right in the middle of the two cities and today I made the rounds and completed a full circuit. I had business in both places and was pressed for time so I ended up starring in my own one man chase movie.
I half expected to see Jackie Gleason chasing me in a police car and Burt Reynolds and Sally Field running interference in a black Trans Am. I was all over the place today but it needed to get done. My first stop was to get breakfast at my favorite Red School Diner on US 45 right over the Wisconsin border. It was right on the way and I felt kind of hungry.
Just when I got there everyone was very stone faced because apparently some guy at the counter almost choked on a big piece of ham. He swallowed it and it got stuck and he was not able to get it out. By all accounts it was very scary and nobody thought he would live.
Two minutes later I walked in and could feel the eerie vibe. I heard the story about eight times from every angle but it must have been a close call because everyone who spoke of what happened all had a quiet somber tone in their voices. The guy was lucky to survive.
I was lucky to be there on a day when my favorite cutie waitress was working but she’s not a blondie anymore. She had dyed her hair apparently and now it’s back to her natural brown. She still looks great though and she flirted with me for a while which I enjoyed at the time but I don’t think we’ll ever hook up. She’s in her own world and it isn’t mine.
Plus I really find myself liking the woman in Milwaukee I’ve known forever. She’s very smart and funny and it just feels right when we’re together. We’re very comfortable being with each other and the last few times we went out it’s gone really well. She’s got her son to take care of so I’m not going to put pressure on her but for now we are hitting it off.
The reason I had to go to Milwaukee was to drop off a copy of my raw recordings of the week of shows at Zanies in Chicago I recorded last year. I thought my ex partner had kept them but I ended up finding a copy and my heart raced with joy. That was a lot of work.
I remember having some hot shows and switching bits around so I bet there’ll be enough for two or three projects. I paid money out of my pocket to have a sound engineer come to Zanies and set up for the recording and losing all that work would have been devastating.
Donna Gurda produced my friend Tom Green’s CD projects and she knew of a guy she trusts to cut up the bits and clean them up and edit them down into a CD format so I’ll be able to release at least one new CD if not two or three. I can really use some new product.
After I dropped off the master I dropped off a hamburger for the woman I like. She was working all day and I wanted to give her a treat and she loved it. That made my day to be able to bring some unexpected happiness to someone’s life but especially her. She’s great.
Then I hot footed it down to Chicago intending to be on WLS where Jerry Agar filled in for Roe Conn‘s afternoon show. For a guy who just got fired he’s working on the air a lot more than some of those that are actually working there. He’s their main go to fill in host.
Jerry knows what he’s doing on the air and he should have a full time job. Period. He is good at what he does and has ratings to prove it in Chicago so why he’s only doing fill ins is a mystery to both of us. He’s smart to take the work though. It keeps his name out there so program directors of other stations can hear him. I think he should have a job by now.
So does he. We talked about it today but the other stations in town haven’t made him an offer. The same thing happened to my partners and me when we got torched at the Loop. I would have thought we’d get at least a couple of phone calls from SOMEONE but we did not get a single one. That blew my mind and still does. I’d have thought we’d get a call.
Radio is like that though. Sometimes someone gets branded with a station and that’s the way that person is seen. It’s tough to change stations even though many have done it. I’ve never done it in the same town other than going from the Loop in Chicago over to WLS.
That’s a little different though. I was only a regular guest on WLS with Jerry’s Kidders. I was a co-host of the morning show on the Loop. BIG difference. For one thing I got paid on the Loop. Jerry’s Kidders was a lot of fun but we’re still doing it for free. Not good for the career especially since we weren’t able to stay on long enough to draw for live shows.
Jerry called this morning and asked if I would come down to the station to do a Kidders bit to close out the show. Ken Sevara was iffy but Tim Slagle could definitely make it out so it sounded good in theory but I wasn’t able to make it on time. I got stuck in traffic and ended up having to do a phoner as did Ken Sevara. Tim Slagle was the only one in studio.
Jerry said it went well even though two of the three Kidders weren’t there live but that’s the mark of a pro. He pulled it off flawlessly as did we and we gave the best we could in a short notice situation. The audience never knew and we still managed to nail some jokes.
I got to the station downtown just as the show ended but Jerry and Tim and I kept up an ongoing Kidders tradition of an after show meal. We shot around ideas like we usually do and everyone agreed it’s a bizarre situation to still be on from time to time after we’ve all gotten the heave ho. Jerry got gassed and that should have meant the end of all of this.
But alas we’re still alive. We did our year end special which all of us loved doing and it was all of our thoughts that would be our last go round on WLS but today we did it again even if it was in an altered form. We were on the air doing jokes about the news on WLS.
Not a lot of comedians or radio people can say that and it still is a thrill for me to say it. I respect the history of radio and knowing I have been on such a legendary station is a real honor I don’t take lightly. Every time I can do it I will and today I did even if it was only a phoner. Today was a lot of driving and a lot of stress. This isn’t a habit I want to develop.
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