Friday March 6th, 2009 - Vernon Hills, IL

It’s getting down to crunch time now and I can feel the pressure starting to build. I have always liked challenges and this will be a big one for sure. Can I pull off the scorching set I’m hoping for on Tuesday? I won’t know until then and it’s starting to gnaw at my guts.

It won’t matter how nice a guy I am or how many people I’ve helped in my life or if I’m there to make my grandpa or hometown or Zanies proud. All that will matter is if I’m able to make the studio audience laugh enough times in four and a half minutes to have it air.

I also need to avoid doing anything controversial or severely off color but that won’t be an issue. I’m not that kind of comic and that’s not what I’m looking to be known for but it also doesn’t mean something won’t happen out of the blue that won’t change my world.

The Bob and Tom radio show incident is a perfect example. For whatever reason I blew it with them apparently forever by doing something I totally didn’t expect to do and they way overreacted in a way I also totally didn’t expect and now I am wiped off their radar.

I didn’t plan for it and in fact I had planned on having them as an asset but alas it wasn’t in the cards. I still don’t think I did anything wrong but it really doesn’t matter what I may think because it’s not my call. In their eyes I wronged them and no matter how much I’ve tried to make things right they won’t hear anything of it and they continue to ignore me.

How can I change that? I can’t. I can keep trying to find my groove and find people who get what I do and hopefully forge relationships with them and move on. Craig Ferguson is a funny guy and I like his style a lot. I wouldn’t mind at all being associated with him and his show and this is my chance to see if that will be a possibility. I’m being very careful.

The last thing I want to do is go out there and piss off anyone important. No, that isn’t it at all. I don’t want to piss off ANYONE. Period. All I want is to go out and nail a tight set and get some solid laughs and make a few contacts so I can go back and do it all again.

Today I took another three laps in the mall and I used the time to visualize not only this particular set but what I need to do when I get back from L.A. I need to completely start at ground zero and begin to build my career. I haven’t contacted a lot of bookers lately and it won’t hurt to inform them all I just did a national TV spot. It will be a point of contact.

That will keep me busy as will the Uranus Factory Outlet idea. I still want to develop an income from mail order and between that and a comedy course I’ll have my hands full for a while. There won’t be any shortage of things to do when I get back but I still need to get my set ready or I won’t be going back any time soon. I’m still a little unsure of the order.

I went up at Zanies in Vernon Hills tonight for both shows. I forgot a couple of jokes on both occasions and I’m still not 100% there yet. It’s getting better and smoother and I will keep on working it until next Tuesday. After that it’s up to the audience if they’ll buy it.