Working For The Weekend

Working For The Weekend                            5053  (1103)

Wednesday, July 19, 2006-12:10 P.M.

It was a hard night on the couch here in the condo of the Cleveland Improv.  I'm travelling with headliner Mike Dambra (www.myspace.com/picklesplace) and we're joined by old Rochester standby Jeremy Schachter (www.myspace.com/standupjeremy) .  Mike and I play Grand Rapids, Michigan on Thursday, but he had two nights of headlining at the Improv, so I tagged along, looking to do a showcase spot or two.

We made it to the club and picked up keys to the condo, which is only a short walk across the parking lot, and hooked up with J-Shack at the condo.  We caught up on gossip, stories and the like, and then got changed into our show clothes and headed over to the club.

Mario, the club manager, graciously offered me a guest spot, which I enthusiastically accepted.  I had showcased for Mario many moons ago, but never quite caught up with him on the phone or e-mail to schedule work.  Finally, a month or two ago, I scheduled some work in September.  I still wanted to go up and do a spot, just to keep myself fresh in everyone's mind.  Also, the spot I did way back when was mottled with hecklers and really didn't allow me to show off my set in it's best light.

Well, long story short, the show went great, and I wound up getting some more work out of the deal.  The wisdom is true, if you want to be a comedian, go perform in comedy clubs.  I sometimes poo-poo the notion of doing unpaid spots because I've got a family to support and I really can't just pick up and go work for free, but this instance showed that sometimes you have to bite the bullet and go show the decision-makers what you've got.  I'm glad I did it, and that circumstances allowed me to do so.  It's gonna be a little rough surviving on what little money I've got (only did one one-nighter last week) and I'm not looking at any real pay until Saturday night, unless merchandise sales save my ass Thursday or Friday, but I should be o.k.

In other news, the comedy wheel keeps spinning around; I lost a weekend in August down in Johnson City, Tennesee, but I picked up a full week inSeptember in North Dakota and Minnesota.  So, net/net, I'm up for the day.  Still, it was pretty demoralizing to lose work right out of the gate, and then have it "replaced" a few hours later.  No wonder I have high blood pressure!

I'm surprised I slept at all last night.  Young Jeremy, Michael and I stayed up and talked comedy business until 2:00 in the morning.  I think we all would have talked longer (well, Shachter and I would have), but we ran out of gas.  I slept on the wretched condo sofa, staring out the untreated factory-style window of the condo, looking out onto the Cleveland "Flats" and the lights of the western part of the city, knowing full well that the morning sun was going to wake me long before I was ready for waking.

It did.

I remedied the situation by turning my face toward the back of the couch, putting the thought of all the asses that have parked there out of my mind, and woke a few hours later after the sun had risen and baked me to perfection.  I was so hot I woke up!  Tonight, I'm going to definitely try to tack up a sheet or something to cover that window, because I've got driving to do Thursday morning, and I'm not interested in doing it on 4 hours of sleep.

Here's hoping your week is restful and cool.

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY