Working For A Living

Working For A Living                                        2545

Saturday, December 10, 2005-3:27 A.M.

Good morning....got another bout of the "can't sleeps," it's been happening all week.  Either the baby's been staying up until an ungodly hour, or waking up a few hours after Pam and I put her down for the evening.  So I'm playing on the internet, watching Ultimate Poker Challenge on my office TV, and monitoring Harmony as she plays with her story blocks.  She stacks 'em up, and then when they fall, she says "Uh oh!"

Just like real life, huh?

This week, I tried to take advantage of being home, resting and relaxing and getting stuff done,  I succumbed to the weather and got a case of the sniffles, and didn't want to do anything except stay in bed, but I still managed to work the phones a little and do some basic business.  I got released from a one-nighter next week in Blacksburg, Virginia.  It's a nice room, but I took it in conjunction with a week of work that I wound up canceling in favor of a better-paying corporate Christmas party.  Luckily, Ray Devito out of New York City had the night open, and just like that, no 9-hour drive for Ralphie.

I'm worried that I'm going to get spoiled....I have no far-away work until second week of January; that doesn't count a week in San Antonio, Texas where I'm jumping on a plane to get there.  I've driven it before, but I'm gonna pass on that this time around.  Actually, I'm working in Missouri and Illinois for New Year's Eve week with Mike Dambra, but we usually split driving, so it's not such a long trip.  O.K., that's actually bullshit...the only time I've ever relinquished the wheel of my car to Mike was when I was too exhausted to drive, and one time I was physically incapacitated.  I'm a control freak about driving...I hate to be a passenger, even for a short drive.  That's an issue I need to deal with at some point.

This week, I started working with long-time comedy buddy Ray Salah on a script.  We've got some really good stuff hammered out, now it's incumbent on me to write the thing so Ray can apply his editing skills to it.  It might be a great vehicle for us professionally, or it might go nowhere, but because it's a largely autobiographical project, it's a labor of love, so it doesn't matter if it flops.  Plus, I've never written a full-length script before, so it'll be a good excercise and practice to write a second script.  You can't write a second script until you write your first one.

Tomorrow (or later tonight, your pick), I'm working a private party for some union folk...my kinda audience.  They're ripe for the picking for some of my left-leaning political humor, and I'm very happy...politics doesn't really play in the red states so much.  I think there's some hurt feelings, for some reason.  Last time I was in Ohio, I was chatting with some folks after a show, and they were commenting that they voted Bush because they thought a Conservative would be best for the economy, and now gas is higher than it's ever been, and they have no jobs in Ohio.  I hate to be an "I toldja so" guy, but what else can you say?  When Ronald Reagan fired the air traffic controller's union back in the early 80's, he pretty much set the template for the Republican party's view and treatment of labor in this country.  It's pretty much a "you'll take what we're willing to give you and jolly well like it" kind of mentality, and that's for the lucky folk who have jobs...the rest of the jobs have been shipped off to China and Mexico and wherever else people work for cheap.  I hope that never happens to standup comedy, because I'm not sure my jokes work in Spanish, much less Mandarin.

I'm working with Mark Wiedmann, who is doing 20 minutes in front of me.  I hope he lands a few solid punches; I haven't seen him lately so I don't know how well-constructed his act his for a set that long.  He got me the gig, so he can do whatever he wants up front, I just don't want to dig out of a hole.  I'll check in tomorrow with a review....he should do just fine.

O.K., another attempt at a good night's sleep.  Have a nice day.

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY