Friday December 22^nd, 2006 - Negaunee, MI

Pleasant turn of events today and an unexpected one at that. I was absolutely not in the mood to drive all the way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan yet again to work this show in a tiny little town that I’ve been coming to for years and years. Every time I do it I say it will be the last time ever but then I always seem to end up back here again somehow. It’s like I’m stuck in a time warp and when I try to escape I wind up right back in Negaunee.

John Fogerty wrote a song called ’Lodi’ when he was in Creedence Clearwater Revival. It talked about him being stuck in a small town with his career going nowhere. I didn’t get it when I was a kid and heard the song but it sure hits home now. Negaunee is my Lodi.

The name of the place is Pasquali’s and it’s a bar/disco/pizza joint that looks like it was last decorated in 1973. There is an odd motif of early lumberjack combined with hunting lodge and walking in the place makes me feel like I should be wearing bell bottom pants and a flannel shirt. The stage is a disco floor that has lights like Saturday Night Fever and I’m sure at the time it was first put in this was the hippest place in the entire U.P. It looks ancient now as does the red shag carpeting that’s everywhere else but on the dance floor. When I showed up today ‘Loreli’ by Styx was playing followed by Black Sabbath. All of the people in the place probably still have 8 track tapes at home with all these songs too.

The guy that owns it is a hell of a nice guy and he got it from his dad who is a salty old cocker who still hangs out there and takes tickets. I’ve been here probably ten times in my life and it spans my entire spectrum of comedy. I first came up here as an opening act and barely had enough material to cover my time. This was also one of the first places that let me close the show and that is a very valuable thing on the way up the comedy ladder. The people here are just glad someone will drive up to do a show for them and their standards aren’t that high. It doesn’t really matter if a comedian tanks it in Negaunee but the people are also pretty gassed up by the time the show starts and it can be a real war sometimes.

I’ve passed my purpose for working here and frankly don’t need to come back anymore. It’s sure not a career move by any means but I booked this show for a couple of reasons. I really do like Clark the owner very much and he’s always been a fan of mine too. I felt an obligation to pay him back for all the times he let me work here over the years and for the money I really needed all those times. I don’t not need the money now but it’s not like the other times when this was part of what paid my rent. Now it’s just some extra cash and an opportunity to work when I was off. I always like to work so I decided to accept the gig.

It really should be my last time here as a career water mark and if it was I sure did nail it out of the park with this show. There were 113 people who got rocked and rolled all night long. Well, they did for an hour and ten minutes anyway. I was on fire tonight and had the audience from the first ten seconds and kept pounding them until I walked off stage to thunderous applause. I had a lot of material left but I felt that it was time to end the show so I did. Clark and the staff were all thrilled and he even gave me a $40 bonus. NOBODY gives bonuses and he did it sincerely and I won’t forget that. I didn’t expect any of this and it was a pleasant surprise. My Lodi is over.