Sole Survivor

Sole Survivor                                          6276  (2336)

Saturday, December 16, 2006-1:10 A.M.

Comedy is about survival.  It shouldn't be like that, but it is.

The language about comedy even sounds like a fight for survival....."I killed them, I murdered them, I died, I bombed," and my favorite "I ate it."  I picture the comic as a cheetah or panther chasing down the audience antelope and either killing them or eating it.

But there's also the "making a living" survival thing to comedy....stringing along enough working days and weeks to make enough money to pay your bills, or doing comedy part-time and having a straight job to pay the bills while you pursue your dream.

I've been surviving in both senses of the word.

This week I had a three-day week scheduled courtesy of Hysterical Management, headlining the metropoli of Mansfield, Ohio, Morgantown, West Virginia, and Marietta, Ohio.  Earlier this week, I received notice that Mansfield was canceled as the room is reorganizing.  That's fine and dandy, but I don't know anyone who appreciates having a third of their paycheck disappear with such short notice.  I hold Hysterical faultless in the matter, as they are losing commission money in the deal, and the remaining work is still intact.  Still, I decided to be proactive and use the time off to my advantage.

In Rochester, NY, we're lucky to have a resource called the Comedy Company, run by comic/booker Danny Liberto.  Danny runs three open mics in Rochester on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, each carrying a $50 cash prize for the funniest comic.  I decided to throw my hat in the ring and see if any of those prizes could be harvested.  Even if I won all three of them, it wouldn't have replaced the earnings I lost due to the cancellation, but it would have been money in my pocket and an opportunity to get on stage and pal around with comics and friends from my hometown.

I showed up at Alfano's Italian Restaurant on Tuesday, and things went extremely well.  It's a small neighborhood bar, and I had an advantage over the other comics on the bill as several of the bar patrons seemed to recognize me from my time managing the Comix Cafe, Rochester's full-time comedy club.  I was a regular fixture on stage there during my tenure, and it paid off as I seemed to be the only comic who the audience deemed worthy of their attention.  Regardless, I was awarded the $50 and I was happy to have it.  It was the first week of comedy at the club, and I guess I helped kick things off with a bang, and I'm happy I was there to help.

Wednesday, I met Danny at Slammer's Pub, a sports-themed bar in Greece, NY, north of the city.  The only comics to show up were myself, Joe Cumbo (a very funny young man) and a kid from Buffalo who's name escapes me.  The poor kid went up first with a set list, and basically vapor-locked and bailed without telling even one joke....I felt sorry for him driving a whole 65 miles to stand on stage stammering and not being able to even make a sentence, and then have to drive 65 miles back home.  Joe went up and did very well, and I went up and did a melange of old and new material, working out some bits and using some tried-and-true stuff to keep the flow.  Joe and I wound up splitting the $50, which was fine with me, I'm not greedy.  I then hung out with Joe and Danny and watched them play Quick Draw, and Joe won another $50 on one game, and could have quadrupled it to $200, but he didn't play the bonus option for the extra buck....oh well, live and learn.

Thursday night, Danny asked me to host his open mike at Sneaky Pete's bar in downtown Rochester.  Sneaky Pete's is a tiny little neighborhood bar that is one flight of stairs down and a few blocks away from the Genessee River.  There wasn't much of a crowd, but Joe wound up rocking the eight or nine people there and winning himself the cash prize, and I scooped up the money for hosting.  It was combat comedy to say the least, but it was money in my pocket and I was happy to have the work.

Today I headed down to the Ramada Inn in Morgantown, West Virginia, and long story short, my opening act didn't show up.  I wound up doing the entire show myself, but for no extra funds because the checks were written ahead of time, and if there's any bonusing to be done, it'll have to be done after the fact.  I had a lot of fun with it, but now I'm pretty tired and ready to get some sleep, but have to do my regular "wind down" thing to shake off the adrenalin of the night.  Tomorrow I'll hit the bank, cash my check, take advantage of the free breakfast buffet here at the hotel (yummy bacon and pancakes!) and make my way to the historic Lafayette Hotel in Marietta, Ohio.  It's only two hours away, but then I'm looking at a six hour drive home which I'm not looking forward to, but the weather's nice, and I've certainly driven farther and in worse conditions.

Next week  I've had my entire weekend in Traverse City, Michigan canceled, so I'm back to "survival" mode, and I'll probably hit all the open mics in an effort to make the best of a bad situation.  There's still the possibility that work will arise, but if it doesn't, there's nothing I can do about it.  I'll enjoy the time home with my wife and daughter, celebrate Christmas, and then get back to work...the work of surviving.

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY