California Dreamin'
Well I'm back in good ol' St. Louis and what can I say? It's rainy and hot. I haven't cut our lawn in almost two weeks and with all the rain, Elsa and I have a nice stretch of Everglades in our back yard. I had to hurdle an aligator when I took the trash out this morning. Other than that, things have been real good. Elsa and I are getting ready for the big deal which will occur this summer. More about that later in a future blog. That's right my 4 bored and lonely readers, there's more to come. Just like the "Sopranos", I might even have a season blog finale, I'm just that warped. (Unrelated Note: the season finale for the Sopranos is this Sunday and I can't wait. I love the show, everytime I watch it, hours later I'll be saying to Elsa "Why are you busting my balls?" It really pisses her off. Ah good times.)
As far as my week in Irvine, I've been thinking about how I want to talk about it. Do I just want to give a quick one paragraph synopsis for the whole week or do I want to be a huge tool and give a synopsis for every day? I decided to go for the overkill and give the day to day synopsis. My apologies in advance.
Wed - I flew into LAX early and got to my hotel. I had heard horror stories about the traffic but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I hung out at the hotel, worked on my set and watched some tv. Got a small taste for what it's like to be on the road. Later on I headed down to the club, I left real early because I was worried about rush hour traffic, but again it wasn't too bad. The club's located in the Irvine Spectrum, which is this huge outdoor mall. It's really nice. For people here in St. Louis, the Spectrum is like a much larger and nicer Westport Plaza. When I got to the club, I checked in with the sound guy and met some of the other staff. The club's really nice. When you walk in, the walls are filled with large pictures of some of the great comics who have performed there. People like Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock. I met both Kristian Vallee (he was the feature act.) and Daniel Tosh. Both guys were real nice. I went up and did my time and felt I had a real good solid set and defintely held my own. Of course both Kristian and Daniel did great. I'd never seen either one live and watching them, I defintely learned a lot. A couple of co-workers of Elsa's came out to see me. Afterwards the show we went to a bar across from the club and had a few drinks.
Thurs - I got up and hit a local restaurant for breakfast. Afterwards I hung around the hotel and worked on my set. I got down to the club early and walked around the plaza. Tell you what, I know I'm married and trust me Elsa doesn't have to worry, but I don't remember seeing an ugly woman in Irvine. Not just an ugly woman, but any ugly person for that matter. I started thinking about how much I stood out and how I was surprised nobody asked what I was doing there, like they'd want to see my papers or something. The show was fun. My set went really well and I tried a couple of new things out that seemed to work. Afterwards I had several people come up to me and tell me how much they enjoyed my set ask if I was based in Los Angeles and where I was going to be performing next, etc. That meant a lot.
Fri - Elsa flew in to LAX and got to the hotel right before I left for the club. We met up with a friend of ours who was in town shooting the Ducks/Oilers playoff game before the show and had dinner. Both shows went great. Elsa stayed and watched the late show from the VIP table in the back. The club was packed for both shows. I felt I did a very good job and again several people came up afterwards and complimented me.
Sat - Elsa and I woke up and met with one of my mom's cousins, who lives in Annaheim. We had lunch together and had a great time. We got to the Spectrum early and had dinner before the show. When I got to the club, I found out that the 11pm show had been changed. Instead of it being Daniel Tosh, it was going to be a new show with three different comics (Brad Williams, Eric Schwartz and Kyle Cease). To make up for it, there'd now be two Sunday shows. I double checked with the sound guy and made sure I wasn't supposed to host the 11 o'clock show. Turns out I wasn't, so my night was shorter than expected. Instead of three shows, I'd only be doing two.
The feature for the two shows was Danny Bevins. I remember when Danny was at Westport earlier in the year. I wanted to go see him but was unable to. So when I found out he was featuring, I was looking forward to seeing his act. He did an incredible job and there's no question that both he and Kristian are two comics who are on the verge of breaking through to that next level. Elsa and I hung out with Danny and his wife during the show. Both were very nice.
As far as how I did, I'm not trying to brag but I felt I did great both sets. The audiences were really good and I felt those two sets were the best sets I've had in a while. What was nice was I added on some new stuff to my marriage material and it got a really good response. Danny and his wife gave me some nice compliments afterwards. After the 9pm show, Elsa and I left the club and met up with some co-workers of her's at a local bar. It was a lot of fun.
Sun - We got up and took a tour of Annaheim. Since everything's spread out in LA, we really didn't have too much time to go see a lot of things. Also I wanted to make sure I didn't get too tired before the show. I really wanted to make a good impression with the club. So we just walked around Irvine. God walking around there, I felt like I was in an OC episode. I'm telling you, there are no ugly people there. It's apparently illegal. Again we went to the Spectrum before the show and had dinner. I wasn't sure what to expect. The thing is, with Sunday shows you can never tell how it's going to go. Most of the time you have small crowds because everybody has to work the next day. However this was Memorial Day weekend, so who knows. When I got to the club, I saw that Kristian was featuring again. We ended up having two big crowds and both shows went well. I felt I did a nice job ending the week. Afterwards I got paid and ended up breaking even on the trip, which isn't too bad since I paid for the rental car and the airplane ticket. I talked to the staff before we left, and they had some very nice things to say and they told me they hoped to see me back. So we'll see. Elsa and I said goodbye to Kristian and Daniel who were great to work with. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at "In and Out Burger". No way I was going to leave LA without going to one.
Mon - Elsa and I flew back to St. Louis where our little part of the Everglades was waiting for us along with all the things we need to do to get ready for the summer. More on that later.
As far as my week in Irvine, I've been thinking about how I want to talk about it. Do I just want to give a quick one paragraph synopsis for the whole week or do I want to be a huge tool and give a synopsis for every day? I decided to go for the overkill and give the day to day synopsis. My apologies in advance.
Wed - I flew into LAX early and got to my hotel. I had heard horror stories about the traffic but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I hung out at the hotel, worked on my set and watched some tv. Got a small taste for what it's like to be on the road. Later on I headed down to the club, I left real early because I was worried about rush hour traffic, but again it wasn't too bad. The club's located in the Irvine Spectrum, which is this huge outdoor mall. It's really nice. For people here in St. Louis, the Spectrum is like a much larger and nicer Westport Plaza. When I got to the club, I checked in with the sound guy and met some of the other staff. The club's really nice. When you walk in, the walls are filled with large pictures of some of the great comics who have performed there. People like Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock. I met both Kristian Vallee (he was the feature act.) and Daniel Tosh. Both guys were real nice. I went up and did my time and felt I had a real good solid set and defintely held my own. Of course both Kristian and Daniel did great. I'd never seen either one live and watching them, I defintely learned a lot. A couple of co-workers of Elsa's came out to see me. Afterwards the show we went to a bar across from the club and had a few drinks.
Thurs - I got up and hit a local restaurant for breakfast. Afterwards I hung around the hotel and worked on my set. I got down to the club early and walked around the plaza. Tell you what, I know I'm married and trust me Elsa doesn't have to worry, but I don't remember seeing an ugly woman in Irvine. Not just an ugly woman, but any ugly person for that matter. I started thinking about how much I stood out and how I was surprised nobody asked what I was doing there, like they'd want to see my papers or something. The show was fun. My set went really well and I tried a couple of new things out that seemed to work. Afterwards I had several people come up to me and tell me how much they enjoyed my set ask if I was based in Los Angeles and where I was going to be performing next, etc. That meant a lot.
Fri - Elsa flew in to LAX and got to the hotel right before I left for the club. We met up with a friend of ours who was in town shooting the Ducks/Oilers playoff game before the show and had dinner. Both shows went great. Elsa stayed and watched the late show from the VIP table in the back. The club was packed for both shows. I felt I did a very good job and again several people came up afterwards and complimented me.
Sat - Elsa and I woke up and met with one of my mom's cousins, who lives in Annaheim. We had lunch together and had a great time. We got to the Spectrum early and had dinner before the show. When I got to the club, I found out that the 11pm show had been changed. Instead of it being Daniel Tosh, it was going to be a new show with three different comics (Brad Williams, Eric Schwartz and Kyle Cease). To make up for it, there'd now be two Sunday shows. I double checked with the sound guy and made sure I wasn't supposed to host the 11 o'clock show. Turns out I wasn't, so my night was shorter than expected. Instead of three shows, I'd only be doing two.
The feature for the two shows was Danny Bevins. I remember when Danny was at Westport earlier in the year. I wanted to go see him but was unable to. So when I found out he was featuring, I was looking forward to seeing his act. He did an incredible job and there's no question that both he and Kristian are two comics who are on the verge of breaking through to that next level. Elsa and I hung out with Danny and his wife during the show. Both were very nice.
As far as how I did, I'm not trying to brag but I felt I did great both sets. The audiences were really good and I felt those two sets were the best sets I've had in a while. What was nice was I added on some new stuff to my marriage material and it got a really good response. Danny and his wife gave me some nice compliments afterwards. After the 9pm show, Elsa and I left the club and met up with some co-workers of her's at a local bar. It was a lot of fun.
Sun - We got up and took a tour of Annaheim. Since everything's spread out in LA, we really didn't have too much time to go see a lot of things. Also I wanted to make sure I didn't get too tired before the show. I really wanted to make a good impression with the club. So we just walked around Irvine. God walking around there, I felt like I was in an OC episode. I'm telling you, there are no ugly people there. It's apparently illegal. Again we went to the Spectrum before the show and had dinner. I wasn't sure what to expect. The thing is, with Sunday shows you can never tell how it's going to go. Most of the time you have small crowds because everybody has to work the next day. However this was Memorial Day weekend, so who knows. When I got to the club, I saw that Kristian was featuring again. We ended up having two big crowds and both shows went well. I felt I did a nice job ending the week. Afterwards I got paid and ended up breaking even on the trip, which isn't too bad since I paid for the rental car and the airplane ticket. I talked to the staff before we left, and they had some very nice things to say and they told me they hoped to see me back. So we'll see. Elsa and I said goodbye to Kristian and Daniel who were great to work with. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at "In and Out Burger". No way I was going to leave LA without going to one.
Mon - Elsa and I flew back to St. Louis where our little part of the Everglades was waiting for us along with all the things we need to do to get ready for the summer. More on that later.
posted by JG at 9:31 AM
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