Tuesday May 15th, 2007 - Chicago, IL

Right back at ground zero again. Today started out pretty good and went progressively into the toilet as the day went on. Right now it’s raining, I’m hungry and I’m ready to beat or kick someone into a cerebral palsy. Other than that things are pretty much hunky dory.

I did get a chance to do something nice today so that’s a plus. Tim Slagle is a comedian I have known for over twenty years. He is a few years older than me but we worked in the same circles for years. He’s originally from Michigan and I’m from Milwaukee but we’ve both settled in the Chicago area and made it our home. Tim is a fan of Jerry Agar and said so a few weeks back when we crossed paths at Zanies so today I arranged a lunch meeting so Tim and Jerry could meet. It might not have been the big thrill that I got when I had the meeting with George Clinton but it meant something to him and I was glad to set it up.

Bert Haas from Zanies has been extremely good to me lately by throwing fallouts in my direction so I wanted to say thanks to him as well. He knows Jerry so I invited him to join us and we had a really fun time. There is a good Middle Eastern restaurant on Wells St. in Old Town called Old Jerusalem. We hung out and had a delicious meal and many laughs.

I thought I had done my good deed for the day but then it started to get worse. I am way behind on my emails and went through them all today. I got one from Kerri Coates who is Tom Sobel’s ace right hand superstar down in Louisville at the Comedy Caravan. I hadn’t known that Tom had an operation to remove some skin cancer and was sad to hear of it.

Anyone who has done road comedy knows who Tom Sobel is. In my opinion he is THE most caring and classiest booking agent I have ever worked for. Some comics like to joke about how he likes to talk a lot and he does but he is a very intelligent guy and can speak on a number of subjects. Personally I love the guy and have always had only total respect for him. He has treated me more than golden over the years and I recorded my first CD at the Comedy Caravan. In my book there is nobody I’d work harder for than he and Kerri is a sweetheart too. I have always had a great experience there and I would love to go back.

Why does HE have to get cancer? From what I read he will make a recovery and I know life isn’t fair but to read that really took the wind out of my sail. I don’t know what if any gift I could send would cheer him up but I will find something and send it to him while he recovers. Of all the guys I’ve ever worked for he has probably been the classiest. There is just an added touch of class with all his work and if nobody else appreciates it I surely do.

Whenever I work with Louisville comics I always notice how well developed they are. I know that has a lot to do with how they were treated coming up the ladder. Tom has been a champion of comedy for years and years and I think he doesn’t get the credit he should.

Part of that is because he’s in Louisville. People think Kentucky is a hell hole and that’s SO not true. Louisville is a great town and I would move there without hesitation should I ever have a reason to. I was really sad to hear of Tom’s illness and hope he bounces back.

That bummed me out and I was scheduled to have dinner up in Milwaukee tonight with my cousin Brett. He’s another good guy who is getting shafted at his job and he has a bad relationship with his father like I had with mine. They haven’t talked in years and it’s all a big mess much like my father and me were. His father had cancer and it’s gone…for now. Brett has been feeling low lately and getting together is always good therapy for us both. I have been cheered up by him many times when I have been at my lowest and hopefully it has worked both ways. He’s seven years younger than me but we are very close. He’s way closer than my full blood brother Larry and we are both on the same wavelength. He and I are both left handed and a little wacked but we understand each other and it works for us.

The bad weather made traffic hellacious in Chicago and I couldn’t make it out of town. I was stuck in the city and called Brett and told him we’d have to postpone and he was ok with it but it still would have been nice to see him. I am feeling ok for once and I feel like I owe him some cheering up for all the times he’s done it for me. Hopefully it’ll be soon.

Then I got home and it stopped raining and I asked Warwick if he wanted to grab some food and talk over our comedy class marketing strategy. Just as we got a couple of blocks from the apartment walking it started to pour and we both got soaked to the bone. We did not get to have our meeting and instead trudged through the downpour and went home.

It seemed to be one thing after another but I felt pretty good so it didn’t bother me. Then I got a call from Bert Haas telling me that the headliner for this week’s plane was delayed and he needed me to fill in at the last minute. I only had less than 30 minutes to get to the club so I got dressed and jumped in my car and again traffic was slow and not flowing.

I made it to the club with about three minutes to spare. There were about 30 people who weren’t laughing much. The feature act was pretty dirty and I figured I could change their mood but when I got up there I found out that I couldn’t. They were stiff so I had to really back up and charge at them like a battering ram to wake them up. I had to work HARD.

I don’t mind working hard and in fact I like it at times but tonight was not one of them. I wasn’t in a mindset of having to fight and didn’t expect to even work tonight but that is NO excuse. I am a professional and should have been ready and this took me off guard.

Where it really went south was one of the waitresses struck up a chat with two younger women right in the front who were already chatty. I couldn’t believe it. I’m usually pretty easy going but she stood there and talked in a loud voice during the show like I wasn‘t up there trying to entertain them so they‘d tip HER. I really think she is too stupid to get it.

I have had trouble with her before as she interrupted my comedy class more than once. She doesn‘t get that she is not the focus of attention and this was just plain over the line. I tried to explain to her that she needed to be quiet and she copped a MAJOR attitude with me. This is a delicate situation. I could have gotten nasty but I am a regular there and that isn’t cool. I left immediately to avoid a screaming match but I am fuming right now. This could have gotten ugly in a hurry if I hadn’t shut my mouth but I did. I’m getting better.