Tears of a Clown

I hadn’t written a blog since shortly after the New Year, while I was still on the return to Idaho leg of long road trip…

Finished one last week and the voices in my head have been telling me they had more to say…

In last week’s blog I spoke of an older woman who approached me after a show… I won’t re-hash the story again here… If you missed it you can read it here…

But the voices are telling me there are other recent acquaintances who asked some interesting and thought provoking questions…

While discussing my life as a comic… And describing life on the road… I was met with this comment… “It sounds like a lonely life.” Yes, yes it can be… I will refer you an earlier post made by my friend and fellow comic Stu McCallister …

Yes, it can be lonely… But to me… There is no better feeling in the world than coming on stage…

Hey… Don’t judge me!!! It’s exciting on stage!!!

But then just last week… Someone I had met just days earlier looked me in the eye and asked… “Do you ever cry???”

Huh??? Another thought provoking question…

“Do you ever cry??? Do comedians ever cry??? Comedians tell jokes… Are you ever sad???”

I would hope that most of you who know me already also know the answer to that question… But I find the posing of the question in the first place very interesting… Many of you may have already read this – But I offer it here again in response to that question…

While also adding this story with an addendum from this past weekend…

Though it’s a story I thought I had written about before… I can find it nowhere… I know I have told it to at least a few of you… Including the person who asked me if comics cry…

Easter week 2013 I returned to NY for the first time in three years…

Unfortunately, it was to attend the funeral of a beloved uncle… It was good to see family and friends despite the circumstances…

Fortunately, I was also able to visit with the parents of my best friend of 40 something years… A friendship that has survived my years in the Navy… Distance… And time… Paul’s dad had suffered a stroke shortly before my visit… But he was up, alert and very much able to visit… Blessed by the visit… I knew in my heart when I shook his hand and said goodbye that it truly was…

Returning to Idaho… I was visited a few months later… Towards the end of May… By that little voice… Telling me to call Paul… I repeatedly used the 2hr time zone difference as an excuse not to call… Deep inside, I knew… But I didn’t want to hear it…

Last Memorial Day, having spent the day grilling and listening to baseball… I settled in front of my computer about 11pm… Again using the 2hr time zone difference as an excuse not to call… A phone call 30minutes later bringing me to my feet… It was Paul… It was 130am in New York… Exchanging some hellos and a how are you??? In mid-sentence on another subject, Paul shared the news… I already knew…

Tears now streaming both our faces… I told him I had known days earlier… Despite our tears, we marveled again at our connection that despite the 2000mile separation, after 40 something years was as strong as ever…

Both lifelong Baltimore Orioles fans… Paul’s not a Facebook guy… So I looked forward to calling him Sunday from Target Field in Minnesota to say I was at the Orioles/Twins game…

And then it happened again… Checking the box scores a day earlier… Paul said, he had thought of the many hours we spent through the years… Playing, watching and talking baseball… A day later I called from the game…

Yeah, comics cry… But sometimes they are happy tears… Grateful for a friendship that has survived the challenges of distance and time to be as strong as ever… 

Deep Thoughts From My Hammock...

Comedy IS good medicine…

Mildly called to task this morning for “Mormon Bashing” which led to an interesting discussion… Deep thoughts… And sharing of a recent post show happening…

First, I make no apologies for any “religion bashing” that may occur during any exchange with me… Be it face to face… Text… Instant Message… Or comments on a post…

The “Rules” of all religions have certainly done more harm thru the centuries, than any help they may have provided… Yes, I bash Mormons… Most of the audiences I play to now have had it up to their eyeballs with them… 

Personally, I have had it up to my eyeballs also with their sense of moral superiority and knowledge of right and wrong…

But after 12 years of Catholic School… I don’t have a whole lot of good to say about them either… Unfortunately, because I’m currently living in Idaho I don’t get to use that material on stage as often as I’d like… The only Catholics I find here… Only speak “Canadian”… At least they tell me that’s where they are from when they find out I am from Neuva Jork…

But I digress… Recently I did have an opportunity to do some “Catholic Bashing” during a show not in Idaho… The Catholic School material was easily accepted and light heartedly laughed at… Or so I thought… Until coming off stage…

Standing at the bar greeting people after the show… I was timidly approached by an older woman who with tears in her eyes… Felt the need to thank me for “Bashing the Catholics” as she then proceeded to share with me the mental mistreatment she suffered at the hands of Catholic School nuns… 

For at least 50 years she had been carrying that pain around… I was more than a little stunned… All I could think to do was hug her…

“Catholic Bashing”… “Mormon Bashing”… “Religion Bashing”… 

Call it whatever you like… I call it talking about things people have tried to hide in the closet of a Penalty Box (confessional) for too long… Talking about things they were told not to talk about… Talking about things they were told not use their supposedly god given brain to question…

Richard Pryor changed this country by talking about racism… I make no claims to ever have the same effect… 

But comedy IS good medicine… If by making jokes… Yes, even by “Bashing”… I can cause a few people to stop… To think… To question… To change… Then hopefully they in turn can make a few others stop, think, question and change… 

And then maybe as John Lennon said… Maybe then we can “Imagine”…

The only heaven… The only hell… Is what they chose to create here… Maybe, maybe… Just maybe I can get them to think about creating more heaven on earth… And a lot less hell…   

Fuck… Too Deep… 

Life Lessons from the Road

Ok…I’m six weeks into this big adventure and it’s time I shared some thoughts and some thanks… Life Lesson # 1… Gratitude…

To the clubs and bookers who have given me an opportunity to chase this crazy dream… And of course a thanks in advance for future work…

To the fellow comics I have shared stages with these past six weeks… It has been an honor to do what we love together…

In no particular order… Steve McInelly, Kelsey Coles, Brett Crandall, Brent Podosek, Jeff Albright, Eric at Loonees, Ron Ferguson, Owen Straw, Chris Speyrer, Steve Caminiti, John “Gonzo” Means, Dan Conlin, Mike Gardner, JF Harris, Nate Bargetze, Vinnie Paulino, Brian McBride, Artie Fletcher, Tom Anzalone, Doug MacCraw, Entertainment Max, Eric Yoder, Joel Pace, Mike Walter and Tribble Run…

To the people who attend comedy shows… Thank you… Your laughter is why we do this…

Of course, I won’t forget to send a big “High” Five to the people of Colorado…

To the Denny’s in Denver… Thanks for nothing… The nothing that was left in me after two days of battling food poisoning… 

Life Lesson # 2 & 3… Never trust a fart miles from a roadside rest stop and never eat at Denny’s anywhere again… When I need gas I’m pullin’ up to the “Full Service” Pumps… #kum&go

To my beautiful twin sister, Michele and my brother in-law Tom… Thank you for everything… It was a great 3 days… Let’s not wait three years to do it again… Stay warm I know it’s snowing there now…

To my family and friends in Rochester, NY… Tracey, Jeff, Mike, Linda, and Paul, my best friend of 43 yrs… It was only two weeks… But the best two weeks of the whole trip…

To Ted and DeeDee… Thanks again for loving and caring for my boys… The hardest part of this trip has been missing them…  

Life Lesson # 4… Friends and Family are Forever…

Tracey, thanks for the bottle of wine… It made being snowed in on NYE quite enjoyable…

To “Old Man Winter” thanks for making the drive a real adventure at times…

Life Lesson # 5… Always pack food, a blanket and long underwear…  

To “Juan Valdez” thanks for picking those coffee beans… You know you've had too much coffee when you stop to pee and have to go again by the time you walk back to the car...

To my Facebook Friends… Some of you I’ve met… Some of you I have not… Some of you are family… Some of you are not… Thanks to all of you for following along… Texting you, reading and replying to your status updates and comments while driving has helping make the many hours alone in the car not seem so alone…

Life Lesson # 6… Take a chance… Send a friend request to someone you’ve never met… You never know who you might meet…

That’s all for now folk’s…

Overture, curtains, lights,
This is it, the night of nights
No more rehearsing and nursing a part
We know every part by heart
Overture, curtains, lights
This is it, we'll hit the heights
And oh what heights we'll hit
On with the show this is it

Tonight what heights we'll hit
On with the show this is it

Come See a Show...

Up coming December shows:

Friday/Saturday December 6 & 7 Mason City Limits Comedy Club 8pm
Thursday December 12 Laugh Comedy Club Bloomington, IL 8pm 
Friday/Saturday December 13 & 14 Laugh Comedy Club 7 & 930pm
Friday/Saturday December 20 & 21 Joke Factory Comedy Club - Rochester NY 8pm

Thankful Shout Outs Along the Manifest Destiny Tour

With my boys safely in the loving care of Uncle Ted and Aunt Dee Dee Williams in Port Orchard, WA… I’m thankful for Dee Dee’s daily text updates and pics…

I’m halfway through my second week on the road and it’s time for an update… And a thankful shout out to those who are following along…

My retirement comedy show Friday, November 22^nd at the Idaho Falls Elks was a rousing success with over 100 in attendance… Many thanks to all those who came out to the show… I won’t say I’m missing Idaho Falls… But I am looking forward to sharing some laughs with friends and former co-workers when I return...

On the road the following Sunday… For what turned out to be a “Mile High” week in Denver…  With shows at The East Coast in Fort Collins, The Lobby in Denver and Loonee’s in Colorado Springs… Many thanks to comedy buddy Brett Crandall and his extended family for the holiday hospitality… 

It was great to meet some of the Denver area’s local comics… Brent Podosek and Jeff Albright to name a few… Fun and interesting, “interactive” audiences in Colorado last week…

I have already documented with Facebook updates the lousy two days following breakfast at Denny’s on my way out of Denver… Feeling stronger and again heading east, the unseasonably warm weather cooperating… I spent two nights road comic camping on my way to Mason City, IL where I will be featuring for Steve Caminiti this weekend (Fri/Sat) at Mason City Limits… Another thankful shout out to fellow comic and club owner Chris Speyrer…

An appearance last night at Donnie B’s an hour south of Mason City in Springfield, IL and another tonight an hour north in Peoria, IL at the Jukebox… It feels great to be on stage almost daily… Finally doing what I was born to do… With the cooler December weather finally beginning to catch up to me today, it feels great to stand in the warmth of the stage lights again…  

Taking my car in for a brake check up tomorrow… Then heading east again no later than Monday with a stop in Champaign, IL to see my twin sister… She’s the good looking one… I’m the funny one…

Then heading to NY for my Comedy Homecoming shows at The Joke Factory in Rochester, NY December 20 & 21… It will be great to laugh with family and old friends again…  

Yes, this blog read is boring… But life has never been more exciting…  

Stuck Inside of Mullan with the Idaho Blues Again

Starting a long, but uneventful drive with the boys approximately 6pm Thursday evening from Idaho Falls to Port Orchard, Washington… Including two one hour stops for naps, we arrived 15hrs later tired but no worse for wear… Though the car is FULL of dog hair… 

Spent Friday reminiscing with an old shipmate and catching up on the last 30 years… The boys are safe and happy with Uncle Ted, Aunt DeeDee and Cousin Tilly… 

After a great dinner, a goodnight’s rest, coffee and a nice breakfast… I said my thank you to Ted and DeeDee and my goodbyes to the boys, while DeeDee cried… Stopping soon enough to almost immediately start sending me pictures and updates… I sincerely appreciate the quick emotional attachment… The boys have that way about them… I know they will be loved… ;)

Not sure what time I hit the road this morning… But the ride through the Cascade Mountain passes was clear and easy… Making great time and a command decision to stop for something to eat in Northern Idaho, still west of Missoula… The great time evaporated quickly evaporated as snow began to fall… Interstate 90 shut down for all intents and purposes with traffic backed up for miles… I was not going to spend this night camping in my car… Exiting the highway in Mullan, ID… I am spending the night at the Lookout Motel… Happy to have found a room… It’s clean and warm… I am grateful… Though the bed seems to have backache written all over it…

Thus my Facebook status update… Note to self… Next road trip pack booze… There isn’t much nearby and I’m not about to go out in the lousy weather looking for some… Given the situation a nightcap or two or three would have certainly been enjoyed…

Hoping I will wake to clear skies and an open road tomorrow… I’m grateful to have a portable internet hotspot and my laptop with me… So I can surf Facebook and write this blog…Though it might have been fun to write it drunk…

There’s more I wanted to say… But now the rest seems like maybe it should have its own blog… Sleep may not come easy tonight…

A Dog Tale...

Many years ago in a galaxy far, far away… Fall 1977 Rochester, NY…

As I sat with friends in the cafeteria of Monroe Community College I mentioned in passing that I was considering enlisting in the Navy… Someone I had never met… But sitting within ear shot of the conversation… Interrupted… Yes, it’s been many years… I remember only one detail of the ensuing conversation about his time in the service… “If you do… You will make friends that will last a lifetime.”

  

A few weeks later, I did enlist… And many years later it continues to be proven true…

This week I posted on FB that I needed a temporary home for my three dogs… That same day I received a FB message from a friend I haven’t seen since 1982, when I left the boat in San Diego…

We can marvel at the wonders of the Internet and FB making it easy to stay in touch… But even that is relatively new… A lot of years had passed between us before it was even possible…

I prefer to marvel at the generosity extended, when he and his wife offered to take my boys for me while I am on the road for the next two months… Now living in Port Orchard, WA with his wife and their 9 yr. old yellow lab… Who will be getting three wonderful playmates to share 2.5 acres of woods with… The boys will be happy and safe… I didn’t have to break them up to find them homes… I didn’t have to do the unthinkable and condemn them to death by dropping them at the shelter… There are a lot of wags left in those tails…

So next Thursday afternoon the boys and I will load up for a car ride to the coast… A 12 hr drive according to Google that will most likely take at least 15 with gas stops, pee breaks and most likely a nap in the car for me somewhere along the way… The adventure of life continues…

Thanks, Ted, for making this a happy tale…