Okay ... I'm Back ...

First ... an apology ...

Yes, I know, it has been an obscenely long time since I last wrote in my blog and for that I do apologize to all three of my readers. I will re-dedicate myself to writing more regularly and try to get this thing back on track. And since I've been away for so long, I'll use this entry to just update you all on what is going on with the Daddy Hippopotamus.

Back on Stage

After several months of a hiatus, I started to get back on the stage with some regularity in April ... the comedy club stage, not the theatre. No, I still haven't any intention of doing a play again anytime soon ... although I am frequently tempted. After several weeks of playing to near-empty houses at The Soapbox open-mic in downtown Wilmington (and starting to feel like I was getting my sea-legs back) I managed to find myself an extra gig here and there ... playing at the Comedy Cabana in Myrtle Beach a couple of times, doing a competition at the Mellow Mushroom here in town, travelling to Spartanburg SC with some other comics to play a bar there, another in Wrightsville Beach and another next month in Carolina Beach. I was also the first headliner to play at the brand new Brown Coat Pub & Theatre in June and have since hosted the Wednesday night open-mic amateur competition.

In the last 3-4 months I have started to get back in a position where I enjoy my time on stage again. I have also been frustrated that, even in North Carolina and even in the world of comedy, there are still selfish, stupid and inexplicably childish people out there who think they have the right to dictate to me how I should run my so-called career. And as I have done my entire life, I have distanced myself from those people as much as possible. No more will I allow anybody (ANYBODY!) to dictate what my level of commitment to "the business" will be ... especially those without a tenth of my experience or an understanding of who I am as a man or a comic. But I have also been thrilled to work with seasoned professionals like Gary Conrad and Basile (two class acts and superstars in my book!) and to work with amateur comics who have just discovered this scary and crazy little profession of ours.

Working with the amateur comics on Wednesday nights and a few of the "pros" in the area, I can say that there is a certain level of camaraderie that has developed ... and that is nice. That is something I want to nurture because ultimately that is the biggest thrill I get out of the business ... helping another develop. I am perfectly at home in the "father figure" role because I will never be selfish in this business. There are some dynamite comics (hell, just dynamite people) down here and I thank each and every one of them ... for their friendship and for the hours (well, maybe minutes) of laughter they have brought me. I also have to thank Richard Davis and the folks at the Brown Coat for giving me a venue and a show to preside over and take of as if it were my own. That has done more to restore my "artistic" soul than anything else and I am forever indebted.

And on a more personal note ...

I am glad to say that, with the exception of a minor scare here and there, I am physically in better shape than I have been in probably about three years. Life is certainly not without some of the same pressures ... money is extremely tight, for example ... but having the luxury to leave work at a half-way decent hour, get my daily walk in and eat a moderately healthy diet has made a major change in my life. I haven't been getting out to the beach as much as I would like over the last few weeks, but that will change.

I came to Wilmington to restore some level of peace to my life ... and although I wouldn't characterize me as being "at peace," I am leaps and bounds closer to that ideal than I have been in the last several years. In some ways I am extremely lonely (thanks to the price of gas, I have not been able to get up and visit Ty nearly as much as I had hoped I would) but I have my creative outlets, a small handful of good friends, a good job ... and a better ability to fight back when the State of New Jersey wants to screw with my finances because they can't keep their records straight (but more on that in another post).

Alright ... so there's the update. I'll try to get this blog back in shape in the coming weeks. Thanks for visiting again.