Monster Mash

Monster Mash                                         2134

Saturday, October 29, 2005-1:20 A.M. (Tuesday Morning)

Another fine week on the road is over for your buddy Ralph, and I eagerly await returning home, heat or no heat.

Pamela and Harmony accompanied me on my roadtrip to Jr.'s Last Laugh Comedy Club in Erie, Pennsylvania.  This marks Harmony's first trip out of state, and the furthest west she has ever traveled in her young life.

We packed as light as possible, and did a pretty good job; we didn't wind up leaving anything important home.  Of course, the fact that Erie has a Wegman's grocery store (Rochester's finest) helped out when we needed to fill in some odds 'n' ends.

We didn't wind up doing anything fun, just going out for lunch as a family, and then I would abandon the girls in the hotel room while I walked down the street to the club.  The Ramada Inn, formerly the Holiday Inn, is just a short walk from the club, which is a great advantage.  We did get a little shopping done, taking advantage of Pennsylvania's tax policy that declares clothing and food as necessities and therefore non-taxable.  Pam bought some nice shirts, and we saved a bunch of money, which is always nice.

This week's shows were interesting, to say the least.  There were folks dressed for Halloween at every show, with much more participation on Thursday than on Friday, and more on Friday than Saturday.  I guess if I rented a costume, I'd want to get as much mileage out of it as possible.  There was one gentleman they rolled in on a guerney, and I thought he had the best Halloween costume, but as it turns out,  was just disabled.  Who knew?  I'm glad I didn't say anything.  His party brought him up to the headliner and me after the show to say hello, and I think he liked us because he blinked twice.  That's a standing ovation, as far as I'm concerned.

This week, I worked with headliner Joby Saad, who was filling in for Derek Richards, whose Florida home was damaged by Hurricane Wilma, and Dominic Dierkes, a funny lad from Tennessee who now lives in New York City.  We had fun all week, although with the family in tow, I wasn't much for hanging around during the day.  Jeremy Schachter, an old friend from Rochester, was in town doing a college show, and he stopped by for the late show tonight and did a guest spot/audition set.  I felt bad for the guy, he comes by to showcase his wares, and he winds up pulling the lousiest attended show to prove what he can do.  We all fought like dogs, but it wound up being one of the loosest and most satisfying shows of the week (for me, anyway).

Now it's time to take advantage of Daylight Savings Time and get an extra hour of sleep, and then pack up the caravan for the trip home to Rochester.  Next week is South Bend, Indiana, and a return to the Funny Bone, which I am very much looking forward to.

Happy Halloween, and don't eat too much candy!

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY