Monday September 29th, 2008 - Chicago, IL

Another Monday double dose of radio and comedy. Tim Slagle was off so Jim McHugh sat in with Jerry’s Kidders on WLS. He was thrilled to get the air time and it’s always fun to be able to throw a bone to someone who appreciates it. Jim is funny and a good person.

Tonight I had dinner with my speaker friend Todd Hunt. He just got back from a tour of North Dakota of all places and he said it was brutal. Long drives, small audiences that did not respond as he’d hoped and dumpy hotels. Sounds like my world. Who books that run?

That business is taking a hit just like comedy. High transportation costs and people with limited disposable income make it a hard match on both sides of the coin. Todd said 2008 has been his worst year ever and I’ve heard many comedians say the same thing. It’s ugly.

This is a new era in America and it won’t be pretty. That doesn’t mean we’ll all curl up and die but it will be a lot more difficult for a lot more people. Those who did survive the Great Depression sure had a different outlook on life. I bet the survivors of the Holocaust all had an inner callous about them too. The human spirit is resilient. It can take a punch.

True survivors will make the most of this time and find a way to win. The economy is a disaster and I’m not sure anyone in our government really cares about us but there are still great Americans who roll up their sleeves and go to work every day to earn a buck to feed their families and those people will rise up when it gets tough and not give up on a dream.

I’ve been facing tough spot after tough spot my whole life and I’m really not afraid of a recession, depression or end of the world scenario. I am going to reposition and rethink an updated plan of action and not worry about what’s happening on Wall Street. I don’t care.

I know I probably should care because the future of our country is at stake but whatever damage is done has already been done and now it will trickle down to everyone in the real world. I have to keep working and supporting myself and that’s enough of a task for now.

I am picking up work here and there and that’s very good. I have a few baseball cards to sell and a few collectibles and I want to totally clear those out of my life right now. I have limited time to get my dreams going but if I can do it I will be able to pay all my favorite players on the baseball cards that are still alive to actually come to my house in person.

I worked with John Fox at Zanies tonight. He’s a classic example of a guy struggling to survive the times. He made big money in the heyday of comedy but didn’t save a dime or think it would end. Nobody did. Now we are all playing this game with new parameters.

The main thing everyone needs to do is make a plan and work it. That sounds SO easy but it just isn’t. Not for me anyway. I keep getting sidetracked and I actually like most of the things that sidetrack me. Not a good recipe for focus and it’s probably why I’m not as far along as I’d like but that’s the choice I made. The good thing is I can choose again.