One More

One More                         5926  (1986)

Wednesday, October 25, 2006-3:30 P.M. CDT

I'm in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, getting ready for the big show at Fratello's Restaurant tonight, on the shores of Lake Winnebago, just a stone's throw from legendary Lambeau Field and home of the Green Bay Packers.

I finished up last weekend with Michael Winslow of "Police Academy" fame, doing two shows....it was a flip-flop of the night before; first show was good, second show crowd was listless and unresponsive.  I did my time and got the hell out of there, Michael was doing an hour and fifteen minutes every show!  I cut my time to seven minutes and feature act Sal Demilio was doing about fifteen to twenty, if that.  We had a good time, and we talked at length about the club he's running in Wyandotte, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.  I managed to get a booking out of him, and I'm going in March, at which time I will also do a little consulting, offering what club advice I can give from my vast experience running such a place.  I'm looking forward to it, Sal's good people, and this is the perfect remedy for my falling out with Billy over at Chaplain's, the club that wouldn't let me sell my CD's after the show this past spring.  I'd rather work for people that are nice and amenable than a guy with the demeanor of strip club owner going through a tax audit with a porcupine halfway up his ass.  It was fortunate that I got canceled in Harrisburg this past weekend, that I could take the mc work in Rochester and reconnect with Sal and get this opportunity.

Pam and I chilled out this weekend, and I started work on buttoning down the house so my two week tour of Wisconsin wouldn't weigh too heavily on her.  We went shopping (much easier with both of us, someone can watch the baby while the other juggles all the coupons) and when we got home, I knotted things up, did some basic housecleaning and got Pam to a clean slate.  I think I do all this out of guilt that I'm leaving her with the baby while I'm out eating in restaurants, watching movies, sleeping in big, luxurious hotel beds and enjoying the low-pressure life of complete freedom.

I got about three hours of sleep before I had to hit the road for Rockford, Illinois.  I stayed up getting my luggage packed, printing out driving directions and checking hotel reservations.  I went to bed at 2:30, fell asleep at 3:30, and woke up at 6:30.  Thankfully, all I had to do was shower and dress and load luggage into the car at that point. I used to always forget one thing when I packed, and it was always different.  Usually it was never a disaster, but one time I did forget to pack a pair of slacks, and did my show in a jacket and jeans.  That's a good look for Jeff Foxworthy, but not me.

I had to mind my p's and q's to the Pennsylvania border because my New York State inspection sticker on my car was out of date.  Once I got out of New York, I didn't care, because other states don't have the jurisdiction to ticket me for such an offense.  I have a couple of repair issues that I have to attend to before I get the inspection, and I couldn't afford them due to three weeks of unemployment and underemployment, so I basically became an official member of the criminal underground.  Poverty leads to crime, my Sociology major friends, it's not an inborn trait.  Anyway, I have one tire that's going bald, and I found out how important something like that is, when I was leaving a gas station just outside of Cleveland and felt the back of the car completing a turn that I hadn't made yet....a little scary, for sure!  I'll try to get repairs done here in Wisconsin as I make the money, and get a new sticker when I get home.

I made it to Rockford about an hour before showtime, just enough time to shower up and make it to the club.  I'm working with Chris "Boom Boom" Johnson, a Rockford native, and LT's was packed, with quite a few people coming to see him.  I had a strong set and sold a good bunch of CD's after the show, and for a few minutes, I was disoriented because I forgot what it was like to have money.  Chris killed, and then I left him with his family who came out to the show, and I headed back to the hotel to get some rest.

Tonight's a late starter, 9 PM Central time, so I've got about 5 hours to kill.  I have a big audition on Monday, and I'll write more about that later, but it's going to require a little preparation on my part.  Maybe I'll start picking apart my act and figure out what material I'm going to showcase....or maybe I'll take a nap.  I'm still pretty tired from the big drive, and I've got five days to prepare.

And oh, that big fluffy bed looks sooooooo inviting....

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY