Re: Week of March 3rd Time Wasting Thread

Mr. Lucky
Comedy Heaven

Wednesday March 5th, 2008 - Chicago, IL

What a fantastic day! This is as close to comedy heaven for me as it
gets. First, I met up with my former student Vince Carone for lunch.
Vince took my class when he was 19 and he's 25 now and doing great.
He's putting his time in and paying his dues and working all he can
which is exactly the recipe for success. Plus he's a way better
marketer than I am.

His parents owned a sports card shop when he was a kid and he learned
a lot about how business works and he's carried it over into his
comedy career. He's got a great website at a time when that's really
important. He has a DVD out too with a nice package and he has me beat
by light years as to when I got my first product out. He's going to
really do well.

I'm really proud of Vince and just because he took my class on comedy
doesn't mean I can't learn from him about marketing. He was in a band
for a while too and is really good about making sure people know where
he's performing and staying in contact with people too. From fans to
bookers to other comics like me Vince is on top of it and I admire
that.

I need to get better at all those things and it was refreshing to see
how well he is doing. I think of all my ex students he's the one with
the most desire and that's a big part of it. He also has talent which
is another helpful ingredient. I can see bright things for that kid
and I couldn't be happier. He will have a chance to do a lot of things
I missed out on in life.

That's just how it goes. I have had some good chances though and today
was one of the most rewarding ever. I was on a showcase at Zanies to
audition for Eddie Brill who books comedians on the David Letterman
show. He has a new project that sounds fantastic and I am thrilled to
even be considered for it. Bert Haas chose me to be on a short list to
try out.

Eddie is looking for comedians to go to Johnny Carson's hometown in
Nebraska to be a part of a celebration in the summer that includes a
comedy contest. His job is to find who he thinks would be the best 24
and he's going around the country searching for those acts.

I would LOVE to be a part of that event but even more so I wanted to
get my chance for redemption from the last time Eddie saw me. I had a
horrible set and I knew it and having never met him before it was very
disappointing. He's 'the man' as far as getting a shot on Letterman
and I sure didn't do myself any favors my first time in front of him.
I blew it.

There were reasons for it but nobody wants to hear excuses. I pulled
spot number one to go up and that's always tough. The host that night
was from Canada and worked blue and that was also not very helpful.
The audience was stiff and ended up being that way for the whole night
but still I know for sure I'm a whole lot better than what I showed
that night.

Sometimes people only get one shot and that's it. I didn't expect to
get a second chance this early but Bert put me on the show and I'm
extremely grateful for that. I vowed that if I ever got another shot
I'd make up for my last one and show Eddie the real me. He's also a
comic too which makes it a lot easier. He understands how it is and
he's been there too.

I was already in a good mood when I got to Zanies because I felt good
about Vince and all the good things he's doing. I also stopped to get
my mail and had a few fan letters and some stuff I bought on Ebay too.
It was just a good day all around and I enjoyed all of it.

There were two shows at Zanies and I hadn't known that when I got
there. The surprise got even better when I found out the headliner was
Jake Johannsen. Jake is one of my all time favorite comedians onstage
and off. He's a great guy and a super comic and I hadn't seen him in a
while so that was a treat. I enjoyed his show and marveled at his
brilliance.

After his show we drew numbers for the showcase show. The basket came
to me and to my surprise I again drew number one. How could that be?
Mr. Lucky is no gimmick. It is my destiny. Still, I was in such a
great mood I didn't care. Just hanging out with all of my favorite
local guys was worth the drive and Eddie could not have been any nicer
to us all.

The emcee of the show was a woman named Dava Krauss. Dava took my
class a lot of years ago and I hadn't heard from her. It turns out she
moved to LA and is doing comedy full time and it was great to see her.
She did a very fine job of hosting the show and I had a lot more to
work with than the last time I was in this position. I knew I wouldn't
eat it.

I ended up having a very solid set. I took Eddie Brill's advice from
the last time and he really was right in what he said. I knew it when
he said it and I appreciate his taking time to do it. I know a lot of
comedians poo poo it when a booker or especially another comic makes a
suggestion but it's not Eddie's job to kill our dreams. He wants us to
get on TV.

That makes him look better too. Just as it looks good for me to have
students get work. I was thrilled to see Dava get booked and it was a
pleasant surprise to have her be the host of the show I was
auditioning for such a cool event like this. It just all worked
perfectly.

I have been working on what I wanted to do for a showcase set and
tonight it clicked. It may not get me the Letterman show or the Carson
contest but that's not a deal killer. Just the chance to redeem myself
both in Eddie Brill's eyes and with myself meant a lot to me. After
the show he shook my hand and said some nice things and I felt like I
was floating.

Then Jake Johannsen came over and shook my hand and told me how funny
I was and I almost peed my pants. Then Carl LaBove said the same thing
and he's also one of my big comedy heroes. He was Sam Kinison's best
friend for years and just a wonderful guy and spectacular comic.
Dwayne Kennedy was there too. He's been on Letterman before also.

The whole night just let me know that I am on a par with these people
that I so admire. I may never get on Letterman and that doesn't take
anything away from this night. If I do it will be fun but I still
don't think it would be able to top the feeling of satisfaction I
have. I worked a lot of years to get to this point and now I feel like
my idols look at me as a peer.

The ride home was like riding on a cloud. Eddie Brill has me on his
radar and that's the thing I've waited for for years. I'm finally
starting to feel like I'm making good decisions.

http://www.onmilwaukee.com/myOMC/blog/show/1408
.

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