Now Appearing in an Extended Engagement! Join Dave Robison as he takes you into his world and his daily life of reviving a stand-up comedy career. Prepare for side trips exploring Public Relations, marketing and business ethics. Enjoy some frequent detours describing his observations on life. Read the exploits of this self-proclaimed Renaissance-man and blooming blogger as you go
On The Road With Dave.
I was checking my email Saturday night and I checked on one of my Google Alert emails on the topic of ventriloquism. In case you didn't know you can set up Alerts with Google and they will email you a list of links for the day of websites mentioning your topic.
In the email, I discovered Mark Betcher's blog, "Art Work by Manic Mark". Manic Mark collects old vinyl LP Albums in the niche market of private labels, vanity press, and self-produced albums. Not only does he find the recordings and the production of the albums of value, but also the accompanying album covers and artwork.
Mark explains,
"About vinyl collecting and my reviews. Producing a record for most artists was a costly undertaking. Without label support, artists had to pay for studio time and many extras to help engineer a recording. Artists then had to pay for pressing the record and the cost of creating the album jacket. And the cost of printing, even a low-end, one color jacket was very expensive! Certainly there was no budget for marketing. There were no fashion consultants, make-up artists or professional designers working on these projects. These private press, off or no label, vanity LPs were "expensive" undertakings in the most low budget way. I treasure them because I get the artist's vision... not the marketing department vision! It's the unvarnished truth!"
I'm not harshing on Mark's hobby--I think it's kinda cool. But Mark reviewed an album that is near and dear to my heart and although he said some good things about it, he sort of dissed the subject matter and the effectiveness of the album.
The album was Jimmy Nelson's "Instant Ventriloquism and Ventriloquism For The Beginner". Jimmy Nelson was a famous ventriloquist in the 50s and the 60s and brought to life his partners, Danny O'Day and Farfel, for millions on TV. Nelson's commercials for NESTLES chocolate ingrained in every child's mind of that era with the clever jingle, "N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestle makes the very best...chocolate." Nelson also licensed the likeness of his dummy, Danny O'Day to be sold as a beginner ventriloquist doll to boys and girls all over the USA through JCPenney's and Sears' Christmas catalogs. My first ventriloquist doll was a Danny O'Day doll received on my 9th Christmas along with an LP vinyl album called "Jimmy Nelson's Instant Ventriloquism and Ventriloquism For The Beginner"
Manic Mark says,
"I wonder how many people actually got anywhere learning the art of ventriloquism using this instructional LP? Not many, I suspect. The same deal applies to the instructional books you might buy as a comic book reading youngster to help you muscle up so that bullies would stop kicking sand in your face at the beach."
But Mark we must disagree. Not only did I learn ventriloquism from that album, but I performed all over my little city with that doll with nothing more than Nelson's instructions. Of course, my interest in the art sparked more reading, more training, and even more practicing; but that little doll and that recording was more than effective. Over the years, I've had conversations with other ventriloquists that had similar experiences.
Mark, you have found a piece of history for a lot of ventriloquists and I'm glad you found it worth collecting. (I still have my copy) Thanks for mentioning it, for saving it and for preserving it.
Thanks to Manic Mark you can listen to a small sample of the recording, and enjoy your first lesson in Ventriloquism from a Master--Jimmy Nelson.
I woke up today with the intention of starting to build my newest ventriloquist partner, "Cecil". As I explained before, Cecil will be a reincarnation of a previous puppet I once crafted. The project's beginning required a paper-mache' paste. The original used a wallpaper wheat paste powder mixed with warm water. It seems over the last 30 years or so that wallpaper wheat paste has been replaced by chemical glues and adhesive-backed vinyl wallpaper. I visited local craft stores, Hobby Lobby and Michael's Crafts with no luck in turning up the mix.
After searching the vastness of Google, I did find many recipes for wallpaper wheat paste that required wheat flour, sugar, salt, boiling water, and cooking with a double boiler and stirring; not exactly a length I want to travel. I did find the elusive mix online, but in bulk amounts too much for my small project. Finally, I found Golden Harvest that sells a small 3-pound amount that will be suitable for my needs. First I will shop at my local Ace Hardware and Lowes', since they were mentioned as distributors of the product and if that fails, I'll place an order online. In any case, this weekend will not see any progress on the project.
On a related puppet improvement project; I have rescued another old ventriloquist partner from the depths of my storage building. "Oliver" was a small red bird purchased from Maher Studios back when I was 15 or so. He helped perform at local library shows and birthday parties. Oliver had flapping wings, moving feet, winking and blinking eyes, and a spitter that could shoot a stream of water about 8 feet.
Oliver later became a "toy" for my kids and suffered quite a bit of damaged before being locked away under a mountain of boxes in a storage unit. A few days ago I contacted Clinton Detweiler of Mr D's Daily Ventriloquist Journal and "retired" proprietor of Maher Studios to see if "Oliver" could be rescued from the ravages of time and neglect. I'm awaiting the prognosis.
If anybody can put this bird "back in the air" or at least back on stage, I know Clinton is the fellow to do it. Looking at the figure at its worst now, should only make the final refurbish and repair all the more satisfying when it happens. It's hard to believe that the remarkable figure started out with a can as it's head and a bleach bottle as a body. I've read recent comments from other ventriloquists that are searching for this rare bird at auction sites. The Crazy Bird is no longer commercially available. I should have realized what I had a long time ago. Such is youth.
For my loyal readers, you know that I generally keep my word or have a good excuse why I couldn't. I have a pretty good record of living up to any public commitments I make through this blog. When I made the decision to quit multilevel marketing, I agonized over my decision and was reluctant to quit when I did not reach my goals, but it set in motion an eventual departure from that business.
One commitment I have not been able to keep over the years is a commitment to quit smoking. I've looked at it from a financial perspective; I've tried the nicotine patches and tapering off, and cutting back, and twice I tried "cold turkey" for about six hours. Truth is, I like smoking. I know the health risks, the damage to my lungs, teeth, throat, etc. I also know that it affects my breathing and stamina while performing. Professional ventriloquists rarely interrupt their acts to cough and hack up a piece of lung. Also as a comedian, I can't cancel a gig because I'm suffering from my almost yearly bout of winter bronchitis.(Knock wood, didn't happen this year)
But I truly like lighting up. I smoke when I write, I smoke, when I drive, I smoke while watching TV, I smoke when I wake up, I smoke after I eat, and I smoke after...nevermind; I like to smoke.
Of course in light of a recent event that led to an ambulance ride, my health and longevity has been on my mind and I'm considering more and more the possibility of quitting smoking. I'm not looking forward to it and I'm a bit scared to attempt it.
So, in true "On The Road With Dave" fashion, I'm putting it "out there" for all the world to see. I'm setting another "Quit Date".
ON OR BEFORE MAY 6, 2010(My Birthday)I WILL BE AN EX-SMOKER.
That's in a little less than 3 months. In that time, I hope to find a method that works for me to quit smoking without the added stress of quitting smoking. Recently, a friend at work has started using one of those new "e-cigarettes", and maybe I'll give that a try. The thought of actually still holding something that feels like a cigarette and simulates smoking might work for me. I do realize that electronic cigarettes and patches and gum, take away the smoking addiction, but not the nicotine addiction. But maybe, that can be a first step. I haven't decided yet what path I'll take.
Medications have been offered by my doctor, but their list of side effects are as long as the ills of smoking. I joke that smoking prevents me from killing myself, and some of the stop-smoking pills say that killing yourself could be a side effect of taking the stop-smoking pills. Sounds like a no-win situation to me.
I'm going to re-visit all the alternatives to smoking and all the smoke cessation programs, except maybe hypnotism. I kinda like the "sex instead of a cigarette" method, but I'm pretty sure the wife won't go for that one for any length of time--but it's still an option.
I have 86 days to figure it all out. Can I do it? Will I need to make an excuse? I've set My "Quit Date".
ON OR BEFORE MAY 6, 2010(My Birthday)I WILL BE AN EX-SMOKER.
One Large Balloon(Punch ball) Kraft Paper Wheat Wallpaper Paste Scrap 1/8 plywood or paneling Approximately 1 yard of fake fur(long shag) Package of shredded(or powdered) papier-mache' Miscellaneous scraps of felt, velvet, feathers, etc.
String, screws, glue, wire, springs, wooden beads and some secret ingredients.
A long time ago, I had two other ventriloquist dummies before my current partner, Skyler. Both were constructed by myself. Both were lost or damaged beyond repair over the years and their absence has been weighing on me. I've had the desire in the last six months to resurrect one of the characters from scratch and add some improvements to his original design. That desire has recently manifested into an actual commitment to begin the process.
I'm constructing a new puppet to add to the new ventriloquism portion of my act. Though not Top Secret, I've christened the new project, CODENAME:CECIL, in honor of the previous character. The saga of the construction will play out over the next few months with photos of the progress. You can also bet that Skyler's Gravel Road will weigh in on the construction and the eventual character that evolves.
I don't have the mastery of some of the finer craftsmen of ventriloquist figures, but if history is any judge, I think I can pull this off. I'm also betting that a few of my ventriloquist readers will be able to guess by the photo, exactly what plans I'll be using circa 1974.
That's not entirely true. How do you spend 28 years with "somebody" without liking them? Okay, and I know he's not really "somebody"; he's a puppet, a dummy--he's not really alive. But, I'm having trouble with Skyler.
Skyler started out as an idea from a rough sketch I drew. His inspiration drawn from the poster boy of Mad Magazine, Alfred E Neuman. Legendary ventriloquist figure maker, Finis Robinson took on the task of carving out my idea into wood and creating my sidekick.
Finis wrote to me upon Skyler's completion, "He's a fine boy, but more mature material will be needed for him." I'm sure that Finis didn't mean "dirty" or "blue" material, but rather Skyler would not be suitable for cutesy kid's parties. I was okay with that at the time, I was 18 and had visions of comedy clubs and TV appearances dancing in my head.
Things between Skyler and I started out okay. We were doing gigs, making people laugh, flirting with girls. Skyler went to college with me, joined me at some parties and generally was a good ventriloquist sidekick.
After I got married and put performing on the back burner for a while, Skyler spent a few years tucked away in his trunk; only to be brought out occasionally to entertain house guests or to undergo some routine maintenance. I would bring him out at times to do some ventriloquism practice, just to be able to say I was still a ventriloquist and to display some semblance of expertise.
That was when the trouble began. Working with Skyler became more difficult. Not with his mechanics or operation; he was and has always been a thrill to operate. His expressions were great, he was fantastic to manipulate, and his personality seem to flow out even before I put words into his mouth through ventriloquism. But, he seemed to be...how do I put this...mean.
As a ventriloquist, you have to practice daily on lip control, manipulation of the ventriloquist figure, and timing as well as the comedy act between the ventriloquist and the dummy. The dialogue between the ventriloquist and the dummy is a one-act play. A script is followed that allows the ventriloquist, in most cases, to be the "straight man" to the dummy. The ventriloquist sets up the jokes and the dummy delivers the punchline. Not so with Skyler. For some reason, Skyler doesn't stick to the script. I tend to argue with him during practice. Practice ain't fun with him. His "put-downs" seem spontaneous and evil. He berates me. His verbal jabs hurt. In short, I don't think HE likes ME anymore.
Now, before you start psychoanalyzing me and calling the good folks at my local mental asylum, I know that all his words are coming from my mouth. I know I'm arguing with myself. His cynicism and sarcasm and meanness is all coming from my mind. I have heard of ventriloquists outgrowing a dummy and moving to another character, but I don't think this is the case. It's more like, there's a frustration within myself that I have ignored Skyler that personifies itself as Skyler being annoyed with me. I've let his personality that I originally created for him atrophy to the point that all that exists is evil meanness.
I'm sure other ventriloquists out there may have gone through something similar, maybe not to this degree, but we all tend to project an inner personality through our dummies. Our dummies display that part of us that we tend to shy away from. And as a comedian, I'm often told that comics are a sad lot, deriving humor from their inner turmoil. If you ask me, all this introspective, reflective crap gets in the way of just telling funny stories and making people laugh.
So, if I want to add ventriloquism to my comedy gigs, and make it unique and funny, I need to come up with a solution that will satisfy my "inner Skyler" and use my longtime sidekick to make people laugh once again and not just piss me off when we practice.
It's either that or hire a local voodoo priestess to get rid of Skyler's evilness.
Stu Baker is falling down funny. Well, he's pretty funny when he's falling down. Okay, I've never seen him really fall down, but he has Muscular Dystrophy so I'm guessing it could be a problem. And, he is even older than me and still trying to become a famous comedian, so I'm guessing he may drink a lot, too; which in and of itself could promote falling down a lot. I like the guy.
Damn, Dave--if you like him, I'd hate to see what you say about people you don't like.
When I first started following people on Twitter, @StuBakerComedy was one of the first comedians I started to follow. Occasionally I'd comment on one of his "tweets" and he'd always reciprocate with something clever. He's one of those rare comedian Twitterers that aren't just publishing bits and pieces of his act, but he genuinely talks about everyday topics in his life, he replies to his followers, he engages in conversations, and he's pretty damn funny at times. And that whole Muscular Dystrophy handicap? He clearly advertises he needs a ramp to do stand-up; so back off on my insensitivity.
Now Stu has a blog. His title banner proclaims Stu Baker--He Needs A Ramp! with a picture of the Grand Canyon; and yeah, I though of that Hoverround ad when I saw it.
Stu is blogging about his life, his upcoming, "Cheeseburgers of Comedy" tour, and what ever else crosses his ADD-riddled mind. And it's all pretty damn funny.
And by now you've guessed it...Stu Baker Comedy is my newest, "Links I Like". Look for it under Comedians' Blogs.
Slava contacted me via "Dave's Face" a few days ago and asked if he could interview me for his blog. Like, the attention-craving loon that I am, I graciously accepted.
But, there's a lot of activity going on behind the curtain here at "On The Road With Dave". There's dust, and construction and the floor is littered with "bad HTML code", trash, unused JPegs and sweat from my brow. My fingers are covered with blood and band aids from all the typing and there are patches of baldness on my head where I've pulled my hair out because I can't get something to work.
"See? If you could look right over there, there's a pile of hair, my wife has swept up."
But, as soon as I get all the kinks worked out and I go buy some Rogaine to make sure my hair looks okay, I'll let you in on the secret and open up the curtain. Right now, I have to go back to work and figure out why "Reason 503" is fast becoming a nemesis to me.
My best friend of forever owns a sporting apparel store, GC Sports. He knows I've been kicking around the idea of selling T-shirts after my comedy gigs or via this blog.
Today he sent me an email of an idea he had using my blog logo. He wants to send me a couple of shirts to see how I like them.
I'm spending a little time each day at Twitter following some interesting people and having them follow me. I really enjoy the micro-blogging, the news tips, and the article ideas.
I follow @sheckymagazine(that's how you identify and reply to a Twitter ID)and they led me to an awesome video by Comedian/Singer/Songwriter, J. Chris Newberg. Chris also writes the blog, Some Other Sucker's Parade.
The video features the song stylings of Chris, along with hundreds of comedians you may or may not recognize(Okay, not hundreds, but you'll need to take your socks off to count them all)and all of them are saying what we all want to say to some people on a daily basis when the "someone" just won't stop talking about stuff they talk about every single, bloody, day.
I think the video deserves lots more views than it has received so far at YouTube.
Watch it.
Then show it to that "someone" you've been wanting to tell, SHUT UP!!!!
If you currently google the phrase, "Bloody Monday"; you'll read countless media stories about the some odd 71,000 people that lost their jobs this past Monday and this week. It was like all of the nation's employers got the same memo and decided to downsize en masse.
Oddly enough, my employer got the same memo. No, I didn't lose my job. I lost my position. I'm not unemployed, I've been re-employed. The option of lay-off was presented to me matter of factly; and the alternative was a new position in my employer's business partner's other business. I had little choice at the time, except to take the new position.
So this week, I've been learning a new job, while staying in the same building with my former employee friends. We pass by each other, still talk, still take "smoke breaks" together or go to lunch--except now we don't really work together. We are in different parts of the building and my new position is far removed from my old position. It's not like I was "down-sized", but rather "re-sized". Suffice it to say, it's been stressful, different, and challenging. The week seemed as if it would never end and frankly I'm glad it's Friday and I have the weekend to breathe and evaluate what just happened. But, I am grateful that "Bloody Monday" only wounded me, and that I was not a fatality.
On a "up" note, I checked out a nightclub here in Mobile, Alabama called The Blind Mule that offers an "open mike" night and I am gonna schedule a night in a week or two to tell a few jokes. I may even invite my bosses, as long as they remember I'm not on their time when I'm doing stand-up comedy and every topic is fair game.
Speaking of "every topic" and lastly for this entry--I discovered a new blog this week and I've added it to my "Links That I Like". The Gun Toting Liberal has enough controversy and opinion to suit anybody. For me, I can agree with one entry and then in an instant, think the author is way off base. The author(s) are "Liberal-tarian". So, they say stuff that will both infuriate and inspire residents of both Blue States and Red States. And the site owner is a fellow resident of Mobile, Alabama and has had an interest in Quixtar and Amway like myself; so that's a plus. Go take a look and comment, if you dare.
Slava Yaryshkin(I tried saying it three times real fast, to no avail) is a stand-up comedian born in the USSR and living in NYC. Slava got on stage for the first time back in 2006.
In January 2008, He began a blog, Stand-Up Comedy 101, to help beginner comedians survive their first year in stand-up comedy. Slava says, "My purpose is to write the kind of blog I wish was available when I was starting out and the reason I want to help is because your first year of stand-up is the toughest."
I discovered Slava's blog through a Google Alert. Slava had written an entry about Google and MySpace blog search results.
I left some comments.
After that I decided to read more of Slava's blog and it's got some good stuff on it. I have added it to my "Links I Like" under the COMEDIANS section.
Slava also has a website for comedians listing Open Mikes in the NYC area and a few cities beyond at Bad Slava.
He's already accepted me as his friend on MySpace and Facebook, so you know he's "aces" in my book. I'm so needy.
If you watch Comedy Central, are interested in ventriloquism, or you are one of the 50 million people who have viewed "Achmed The Dead Terrorist" on YouTube; then you know who Ventriloquist, Jeff Dunham is.
Until tomorrow night, view some of Jeff's video at Comedy Central or on YouTube or stay right here at "On The Road With Dave" and watch this video of Jeff on "Live At Gotham." Consider this your Saturday Diversion.
I'm not sure if Barack Obama won the Presidential election last night. I haven't seen any news or heard any analysis of the election yet.
Okay, that's a lie. I watched the election coverage all the way through to John McCain's concession speech and Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" victory speech. (Sorry Tex, but my recent streak is intact)
And I've listened to a good deal of today's analysis and recap of last night's historic election. Barack Obama is the nation's President-elect.
I'm not even going to attempt to re-analyze what other smarter people than me are saying. By now, a lot of you are looking at the news coverage and saying, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Yackity-Shmackity". We call it the "Katrina effect" around my house. (After Hurricane Katrina; we experienced it, we watched it, and finally we grew tired of hearing about it) Yeah, it's important, we want to stay informed. We want to either celebrate or commiserate, but the "news-fatigue" begins to set in.
So, let me just bring up two points about the election and I'll call it quits for now.
Number One--If you'll recall; my wife cast her vote for Independent Ralph Nader. I haven't seen any news coverage about Ralph Nader's efforts, but I found it interesting to note that Nader received 6609 votes in the State of Alabama, of which 1 was my wife's. I was surprised by the amount considering the overwhelming win by McCain in the state and the remaining votes for Obama. 6609 Alabamians voted "out of the box". That's promising.
Overall, Nationwide Ralph Nader hit the 1% mark with 658,393 Total US votes. This was accomplished with just $4 Million dollars in donations over 8 months. (Obama's budget for one day) Continued little steps for Third Party candidates to build upon.
Number Two--The election is over. I'm a comedian. When Obama takes office, it is my hope that he governs the country well. But...BUT, he will be President and Presidents make mistakes. He will and SHOULD be fair game to all comedians, improv players, film makers, purveyors of parody everywhere. I will mention his middle name. I will mention his big ears. I will make references to his race. I'll even make fun of his girls' new puppy if it pees in the Oval Office.
He should be caricaturize, cartoonified, and classified by his gaffes as well as his successes. He'll be President, it comes with the territory. And I don't want to hear anything about racism or that a subject is "off-limits". If it's funny, I'm gonna mention it on stage.
Sarah Palin: Stand-Up Comedian? / "Getting Political"
As a self-professed "bleeding heart liberal", I'm watching the upcoming Presidential election with more than a passing interest. My candidate of choice has long since been vanquished in the primaries, and my political party's choice hasn't exactly "wowed" me as he did audiences earlier in his campaign.
Of course, I've heard that people on the other side of the spectrum weren't exactly enthused with their party's ultimate choice, at first. That is, until Senator John McCain chose as his Vice-Presidential running mate, a certain female, conservative, Governor of the State of Alaska, Sarah Palin.
I like Sarah Palin.
I've been listening to all the pundits analyze her, her personal life, her political career, her speeches, and her potential. Today, I received an email from Comedian Judy Carter directing me to a blog entry analyzing Palin as a Stand-Up Comedian.
I may not agree with her politics, but Sarah Palin made me laugh. Whether you are Democrat, Republican or listing with Lieberman, all comics and speakers can learn from the comedy techniques used in Palin’s zingy speech at the Republican National Convention.
Palin used the Jay Leno strategy–keep them laughing–and got more laughs than a Vegas headliner. As a comedy coach and the author of "The Comedy Bible," it's worthwhile evaluating the way that the Republican nominee for VP avoided becoming a joke by telling jokes.
It shows the power of turning problems into punch lines.
It’s hard to question policy when you are laughing away your skepticism. "Read My Lipstick" packs a hell of a lot more punch than former Presidential candidate John Kerry's "27-Point Plan."....
So, Senator Barack Obama communicates his message through great oratory and Governor Palin uses some self-effacing comedy to win the hearts and minds of her party. Two different approaches, two different messages, and a hundred different policy differences--who will eventually bring the house down and close the show with a success? That remains to be seen.
Currently, it seems to me that the Obama/Biden ticket has entered the middle portion of the act. Not as good as the first 15 minutes, but supporters hope for a strong closing. The McCain/Palin act has had a good opening and seems to have hit their stride and found a rhythm with the audience. Do they have the material to stay on stage?
I'm reserving judgement.
"Getting Political" is a semi-regular feature of "On The Road With Dave". While Dave is no political pundit by any stretch of the imagination; "Getting Political" allows him to stretch that imagination.
You can find links to my various sites here at "On The Road With Dave"; but why not hit one or two of them today.
If you have a MySpace account, I'd appreciate it if you added me as a friend, if you haven't already done so. You can go to my profile, Dave Robison™, and click on "Add Me As A Friend"; after you take a look at my profile.
For those of you on FaceBook, I can be found at Dave's Face.
And if wanna see me in your city, I need to know who would be willing to pay to see me perform. You can let me know by Demanding Me in your city. You can do that by clicking now, with the DEMAND DAVE ROBISON link.
Also, if you wanna listen to the songs I like, you can visit my Project Playlist profile at Dave Robison's Playlist.
And Don't forget you can still follow me on Twitter, that link is in my sidebar and you can sign up to follow me or even those people that I'm following.
That's it. Shameless Promotion time is over. Finish enjoying your weekend.
Okay folks, here's a couple of stories that tie together in the end.
First story--My just-turned-two-years-old grandson and "his Dave" have this game we like to play. We roll a ball back and forth and about every fourth roll I will take the ball and hide it under my shirt and say, "Where'd it go?" and hold my hands up.
My grandson will get this sad look on his face and say, "Ball" real pitifully and then he'll pull it out from my shirt and laugh. We'll then start rolling it back and fourth again and then he'll grab the ball and hide it under his shirt. Holding his hands up and looking confused as to say, "Where'd it go?"
I'll get a sad look on my face and say, "Where's the ball?" I'll then grab him and get the ball under his shirt and we both laugh. We'll play this game for a while.
Second story--My last stand-up comedy performance went pretty good. I have this "bit" in my act where I turn to the audience and ask them, "How do I look?" Their reaction and answer determines my next "bit."
At my last performance, a particularly attractive woman in the audience gave me a good compliment as I was onstage. Let's just say that it increased my ego two-fold and the expression, "I'd do ya" was used.
The Tie-together Story--I returned home from that performance riding a pretty good high. I got paid. I did okay on stage. I got a compliment.
Greeting me back home was the family and my daughter and grandson came over to the apartment. I was sitting on the balcony with my grandson and daughter and I was regaling her in my triumphant performance when all of sudden my grandson gets a really sad look on his face.
I say, "What's wrong, baby?"
He pats my stomach and says "Ball", and holds his hands up.
Nothing like a reality check from a two year old. "The Dave" needs to do some sit-ups. Out of the mouths of babes comes the all time best heckle.
If you're interested in how my last stand-up comedy performance went; then go check out Comedy This Exit to read about my "Father's Day" weekend performance at The Smoking Moose in Anniston, Alabama.
It seems over the past few weeks that I have had little time to do anything other than work my "8-5" and pray for a weekend to do anything.
I can't specifically recall the things that I felt were taking all my time, but I just seemed not to have any hours left at the ened of the day to enjoy.
In the past, blogging was a top priority. I HAD to get something written in my blog everyday. Something would be amiss; if I wasn't able to blog--life would be unbalanced. And maybe that's one of the reasons the last week has seemed unbalanced. I simply wasn't logging in to Blogger and venting to my readers. (If I still have any)
This is not to imply that life has been sucking since I last blogged; just that I haven't made time to blog about life.
So, today I plan to organize my thoughts on recent events, news, and topics in my life and offer you my commentary in the coming days.
On the "Comedy" scene; I was recently contacted by a booker completely unsolicited--which is a good thing and proves my Internet existence is working. I also will be in Anniston, Alabama next Saturday at The Smoking Moose. If you live in North Alabama, come check out the show.
Full Details of the show will, of course, be written at "Comedy This Exit" after the performance.
Anyway, thank goodness it's the weekend; and I finally have some time to write.
I discovered these new blogs at Comedy Soapbox. The first new links are from comedians at the Soapbox.
If you ever watch Last Comic Standing on television, you might be interested in reading their accounts of the audition process that recently took place in New York City.
I'll be adding new blogs as I discover them. Got a link? Send it to me for possible inclusion.
For a Multi-level Marketer, nothing could be more exciting than to be in that elite group of performers that achieve the highest echelon of rank in their respective companies.
For a comedian, nothing thrills like being asked to appear on The Tonight Show.
But, for a ventriloquist, an honor of such magnitude, can not be matched than to be in a small number of ventriloquists who are asked to "retire" their partners to be viewed by the American public at The Smithsonian Institute.
Jay Johnson, actor, ventriloquist, comedian was just granted this honor.
Jay will be sending his original "Bob"(you may remember Jay and Bob from the TV series SOAP) to The Smithsonian in Washington, DC to stand with fellow dummies, Charlie McCarthy, Howdy Doody, and some of the Jim Henson gang.
Jay Johnson is currently performing on Broadway in "The Two and Only" at The Helen Hayes Theatre.
"The acquisition committee of the Smithsonian Institution has voted unanimously to collect (the original) Bob for its permanent collection - per Jay Johnson’s specifications."
I just heard this news tonight. The original Bob will now sit along side Charlie McCarthy, Howdy Doody and Kermit the Frog as a permanent member of American History in the Smithsonian Institute of Washington, DC.
This is a process that has been going on for several months. A committee evaluates a donation for its value and significance to American History. Not every donation is accepted; in fact they decline more donations than they accept. I am thrilled they consider the work Bob and I did and the contribution we made to the arts worthy to be so honored. There will be a ceremony that will likely take place here in New York during the run of my show and those details have to be worked out. But wow!
A few days ago, over at Comedy Soapbox, an aspiring comedian joined the group by the name of Josh Alves. (Josh is quick to tell you, it's pronounced like the little guys called "elves"; but with a short "A" sound)
Besides wanting to do stand-up; Josh draws a weekly cartoon called "Tastes Like Chicken" in his homestate of Maine; for a weekly newspaper called, (what else?) The Weekly.
Anyway, after finding out I was a ventriloquist, Josh dug up one of his older cartoons and posted it at his Comedy Soapbox blog.
But Mark we must disagree. Not only did I learn ventriloquism from that album, but I performed all over my little city with that doll with nothing more than Nelson's instructions. Of course, my interest in the art sparked more reading, more training, and even more practicing; but that little doll and that recording was more than effective. Over the years, I've had conversations with other ventriloquists that had similar experiences. 
