Tuesday February 27th, 2007 - Chicago, IL

Getting ready to go to LA tomorrow. I am not ready like I thought I’d be but at least I’m going out there. I love it if for nothing else but the weather. I lived out there for a year and I wish I never left but all the work is back here so I came back. I love a lot of things about Chicago but it’s hard to beat the weather in LA. How can a person be in a bad mood after waking up every day and it’s 70 degrees and sunny? I sure couldn’t. That was a very hard time in my life in many ways but I sure did try to enjoy as much of it as I could. That was ten years ago now and LA is a young man’s game. I felt old then. I’d be a fossil now.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun this week. I am going out to do a big private gig on Saturday and I can’t write about it until it’s over because someone might see this and I was told to keep it quiet. I‘ll explain it in full after it‘s over and it could possibly be a very important event on many levels so stay tuned. To be asked to participate in this event is a huge honor and I am thrilled to be going. I‘m sorry, but that‘s all I can say about it now.

I thought I’d have the movie script done and ready to start knocking on doors but we are not even close. That’s my fault more than my writing partner but we are still working it as hard as we can and it will be ready when it’s ready. There is steady progress and that’s all I can ask for. So many other times it’s come to a halt but we are still working steadily and I am not discouraged. The time will be right when it’s right and we will sell it. I feel it.

I will just take a few days to reconnect with people I know and enjoy the weather and be in a place that makes me feel good. A lot of people hate LA but I don’t and never did. It’s a place like nowhere else and while there is a lot of what could be perceived as negative it doesn’t affect me that way because I don’t let it. It is what it is and I choose to focus on it for all the good reasons. That’s where stuff HAPPENS, and there is electricity in the air.

A new comedy class started at Zanies tonight. We ended a beginner class yesterday and an intermediate class started today. This one ends with a graduation show in April when I am headlining at the club. I really enjoy teaching these classes and I will go all out to give them way more than they pay for. This kind of stuff makes life worth living and I love the challenge of getting everyone ready. We’ve got ten in this class and it will be a fun one.

Then, next week when I come back from LA we’ve got a new beginner class starting. It has another ten people ready to go and a waiting list is forming. I will have my hands full for the next several weeks but I love it. Teaching classes always makes me better because I prepare for my lessons each week and decide where I want to take them depending on a vibe I get from each class. Every group is different and it’s not a cookie cutter process. It makes it interesting and challenging and it makes me work and those are all good things.

Thinking about all this makes me really think twice about not being successful. I get in funks sometimes driving back from gigs in a rickety car after having tried to tame a room full of drunks in some second rate town but having a few days in LA and then teaching in Chicago makes me feel like I’m not that far off after all. Now I need to make MONEY.