Get In The Ring

Get In The Ring                            9006  (2216)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007-4:50 A.M.

Good morning.  I can't sleep, so I may as well blog....also, I'm getting more and more miserable about keeping this journal; life seems to be getting in the way, but that's good, right?

My week started out with a bang, courtesy of a performance at Turning Stone Casino with Great Lakes Productions' cast of Joey and Maria's Comedy Wedding.  Now, I used to perform regularly with this cast and also with the casts of their 25th Anniversary show and also the spoof show "The Soapranos," but haven't done one of these shows in years.  In their heyday, we were doing three shows a week with the wedding, so I know the show pretty well, and once we got into the swing of things, it was easy to drop right back into place, remembering the lines, the bits and the moves.  It was a lot of fun.  I played Enzo Prosciutto, the usher on the end who has a bunch of gold chains pinned inside his coat and tries to hawk them at the wedding.  I had a great time with old buddy Mike Ruiz, who flew in from New York for the show, as well as cast members new and old.  They really had a great bunch of actors working on the show and the corporate client, Kinney Drugs, were a good audience, the only criticism being that they got a little tired toward the end of the show, but that's on us; if we see them starting to flag, then we should be cutting bits and getting to the end.

Special thanks I offer to the cast of Joey and Maria's Comedy Wedding; Ken Rondo (Joey Gnocchi), Jordan Betts (Maria Cavatelli), Allison McCrossen (Viola Vermicelli), Maly Iorio (Mama Nonna Cavatelli), Adele Cuminale (Theresa Tortellini), Bill Repp (Pastor Faggioli) and Mike Ruiz (Giovanni Gnocchi) with Patrick McCann running sound.  They boosted my while I was trying to remember the show that was such a big part of my life for so many years, and I had a blast.  Thank you all!

Wednesday, I substitute hosted at the Comix Cafe for Leo DuFour and Eric Kirkland.  I'd worked with both of these fellows before, but in a managerial capacity, and it was fun sharing the stage with them.  My back and legs were still a little sore from the Joey and Maria's show because of all the running around, but my pulled groin muscle seemed to have settled in my foot, and actually the extra activity seemed to have massaged it out, so I was o.k.  That's the beauty of hosting...you only need to do about 15 minutes up front (if that) and then you can go sit down for half an hour.

Friday morning, after a series of errands, I loaded up the car and headed for the Comedy Zone in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  I really enjoy working this particular club because the gig is in Doc Holliday's steakhouse, and they have the Harrisburg West Conference Center adjoining the building, which means the gig, the lodging and a great restaurant are all within 50 feet of each other.  Also, it's right off of route 83, so I've driven past it so many times on the way to and from other gigs that I don't even need to print out driving directions anymore.

Friday night was excellent, and I shared the stage with headliner LA Hardy and our mc was Rich Carucci, the Comedy Steamroller out of New Jersey.  We clicked as a team and I told both those guys that this was the best show I'd been a part of in a long while.  Rich has an in-your-face style of hosting and his spritzing is definitely his strong point.  LA is a seasoned veteran with a great stage presence and perfect timing, and as for me, well, I should be headlining, so I was knocking it out of the park every show.  I set a personal record for merchandise sales going back to March when I was in San Antonio, and I had to work a seven-show week to beat this week's four-show schedule.  And the money is always helpful, believe me.

Saturday I was up with the birds (those birds that get up at 10 o'clock) and out running errands.  I hit the bank, an office supply store (I won't tell you which one, but they sell staples) and the library where I used the internet while my laptop is in the shop getting de-bugged.  They were having a book sale and I picked up some interesting titles, including some religious and philosophical ones, as well as a copy of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" that I'd never read before but had been promising to get to.  Then I met Rich and LA for lunch and we chattered about the comedy business and our families and I enjoyed some of Doc Holliday's delicious sirloin-tip chili (one of their best items, in my humble opinion).  Then it was back to the room to grab a nap, anticipating two shows and a five-hour drive home.

The shows were great, not as energeticas the Friday early show, but good nonetheless and for our early Saturday show, we were treated to a guest spot by the area's own Sonya King, who clocked in with a quick five.  I hadn't seen here in years, but she's been working steadily all over and she was fun to pal around with.  I added a bit this week that I'd done before, but only as a stand-alone bit, and I figured out how to dovetail it into a core bit that I'd been doing, and it worked great.  And it was clean!  I always impress myself when I can add a new clean bit to the set and have it get a really strong response, which is the prize you get for trusting yourself, I think.  After the second show, the club settled up with me, I went back to my room to pack out and get ready to head home.

I rolled my luggage out to the car, tossed it in, and cursed myself for packing so quickly for this trip as I failed to bring a coat or a sweater because it was so warm during the day, and now it was down around 46 degrees and all I had was a button-up shirt to throw on over a t-shirt.  I got some heat blowing in the car and called my wife, and just before I got on the exit for route 83, I noticed my wedding ring was gone!

I hung up with her and spun back into the parking lot of the hotel/restaurant/club.  I left my room key (one of those credit card swipey numbers) on the bureau so I had to find the night manager, who was totaling up the club receipts, and ask him to cut me a new room key.  I raced back to the room and found.....nothing.  I was really starting to sweat, as I didn't want to end such a good weekend on a downer, and I started re-tracing my steps.  LA was chilling in the lounge and was yelling at me "Why are you still here?" And I told him that my wedding ring was gone and he yelled back "It's in your car!"

I decided he was probably right.  I ran back to the car, flipped on the dome light and got ready to start tearing my luggage apart, figuring the ring must be in my other pants that I had changed out of.  The ring was sitting, clear as day, on the back seat next to my bag.  I put it on, kissed it like I always do when I think about my wife, and got heading home.  What a relief! It had slipped off my finger when I was packing the car, due to two things; one, I've lost a whole lot of weight since I got married, and the ring fits loosely to begin with, and two, the cold makes my fingers shrink, and the ring has slipped off before, but usually I notice it.  I lost about 40 minutes but not my wedding ring, so I was happy to have made the sacrifice.

Today is Pamela's birthday, so if you know her, feel free to drop her a birthday wish, you can also get to her via my MySpace page (she's the first friend in my top 40, so she shouldn't be difficult to find).  She's not old, but she doesn't get carded at bars anymore, much to her chagrin, so don't tease her about having so many candles on her cake that there's only enough room to write HB instead of Happy Birthday!

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY