Thursday May 21st, 2009 - Appleton, WI

   Good vibes are bouncing off the walls this week and I’m not complaining. I’m enjoying the spring weather and everything else about my experience here in Appleton so far. If the whole comedy business was like this we’d all be in a much better place. They get it here.

   The audience tonight was even hotter than last night’s crowd if that’s possible. This was about as fun as it can get because I was in charge from the first ten seconds and I was able to take them anywhere I wanted. I was having fun and so were they and the time flew by.

   I relaxed and put it on cruise control but I still punctuated my punch lines and acted out my bits and just had a blast on stage. I felt like a kid doing yo yo tricks and I was totally at home because these people were cheese head Wisconsinites just like me. I’m one of them and I knew what to say and when to say it. On a scale of 1 to 10 I give them a perfect 10.

   I’m usually an extremely harsh critic and especially hard on myself but tonight I loved it  and felt great from start to finish. I could tell by the firm handshakes after the show that it resonated with the audience like I thought it did and people asked for autographs and also pictures so I felt like a big star. I shook every hand and thanked them and I really meant it.

   Earlier in the day I was ecstatic to see the first draft of my CD cover that Pedro Bell and his crew of artists are working on. It’s exactly how I pictured it to be and I’m thrilled that I spent the money and did this. I realize most people who might like me have no idea who Pedro Bell or George Clinton are or what a Funkadelic album cover looks like but I do.

   That’s all that really matters. It surely will stand out even to those who have no idea and I’ll be able to enjoy it as long as I live. WAY worth the investment to me and if I had it to do over again I still would do it. It looks great and this is only the pencil draft. There will be lots of bright colors in the final version and I’m sure it will look even better. I love it.

   I’m also loving working with Emily Galati and Jim Flannigan this week. They’re really easy to deal with and the show builds like a comedy show should. Emily is still a tiny bit green but she’ll be fine and she already showed improvement from last night to tonight.

   Jim Flannigan is impressing the hell out of me. He’s a close friend of one of my former students Vince Carone who also impresses me greatly. They’re both as hungry to succeed as I was when I was their age and it’s a pleasure to watch them both develop into full time professional comedians. They’re both good people and I’m very proud of both of them.

   Jim has a day job in sales and is excellent at it but it’s also helping his comedy develop. I see the huge progress he’s made and he will only get better. He did a fine job tonight as he did last night and we also had a good time hanging out this afternoon. This kid rocks.

   All in all this week is low pressure, just like I wanted it to be. Tomorrow I have to be on a couple of radio shows to promote the weekend but that’s fine with me. I’m having fun.