Fly Like An Eagle

Fly Like An Eagle                                            2810

Redemption comes hard, and no harder than on the comedy stage.  I performed last night at the Comix Cafe to 160 of the comedy club faithful, with Porter Matthews and Mike "Shake 'n' Bake" Glosek in tow.  My mission, as I chose to accept it, was to wash away the stink of the Friday late show (chronicled elsewhere on this journal....look down, I think it's the entry before this one).

So our show, billed as an 8:00 P.M. start, promptly started at 8:15, as a courtesy for the folks who thought the show would start at 8:30....I know, I didn't quite understand either.  It's not like we didn't have a good crowd, I just didn't think the delay was necessary.  But hey, it's only 15 minutes, right?

Porter Matthews took the stage, and drew some boo-birds from some hoodlums at a table in the back.  I hate hecklers, I just don't understand how some people have no clue how to act at a public performance.  Come to find out, Porter had seen these guys at another bar the night before, swinging fists and causing trouble.  Security was alerted before the show, which consisted of the club manager, Tony, who couldn't be confused with a bouncer by any stretch of the imagination, and me.

So Porter didn't really have the opportunity to get things rolling, and turned things over to Shake 'n' Bake.  Now, Mike Glosek is a really nice guy, but he suffers from a malady that is very difficult to overcome for any performer...he just doesn't get on stage enough to stay polished.  As a result, he shoots from the hip with his material, and goes very blue, which can turn some people off.  He also juggles in his act, and does the bit where you eat the apple while juggling it, and to show you that preparation isn't his strong suit, he wound up eating a tomato.

So after 45 minutes of merciful pounding, I took the stage.  I was ready for the worst, but happily, it went extremely well.  I drew deep into the reservoir of local material, which set things up nicely, did some new material, some classic material, and took a small break to talk about the Buffalo Bills (my favorite NFL team) in a way that wasn't hilarious funny, but engaging.  I finished up at the 50 minute mark, everyone was happy, I shook hands and kissed babies in the lounge after the show, and the monkey from Friday was off my back.  Excellent.

I leave later tonight with comedy buddy Mike Dambra for our New Year's Eve week of shows that will take us to Carbondale, Illinois, St. Joseph, Missouri, and finally, St. Charles, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis).  Afterwards, I come home, and have a few days off before flying to San Antonio, Texas.  I'm relieved, because Plan A was to drive out to Missouri with Mike, then catch a bus to San Antonio (24 hours and $169), and then fly home from Texas after the gig.  I was having trouble finding a cheap enough airfare to make it to Texas.  Luckily, after a red-eyed night of internet searching, I found a good flight out of Buffalo, NY, only 65 miles to the west, that was HUNDREDS of dollars cheaper than flying out of Rochester.  I hate my hometown in that respect; traveling from here is too expensive.

So I get to drive home with Mike, spend a few carefree days at home with Pamela and Harmony, and be the big jet-set comic, flying to my gig in the Lone Star State.  I think this month of being home has made me greedy for time with my family, and I hope it doesn't start turning me into a lazy comic, trying to stay close to home at the expense of what I do for a living.  I think it will mostly just give me a better sense of balance between work and family life.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY