Friday I emailed Tiffany Las at the Springfield Funny Bone about their monthly competition. She said that no one had yet signed up, and so there was room. I asked around the Funny Bone, and Janine and Tom were interested. On Wednesday, Janine called me and said she was sick and wouldn't be making the trip. So I got on 270 and drove into Illinois looking for Troy, IL to meet Tom Milster and Stevie P at the Cracker Barrell, like I did last time with John and Jammer. (I didn't realize it until about 8pm, but last time I drove in, I tool I-70 because we picked Jammer up at the Airport.) Because I get lost easily, when I got on 55 in Illinois, I headed north, thinking Troy would be about 10 to 15 miles away. About an hour later, I had left a couple messages on Tom's cell, and called a couple other comedians looking for Stevie's cell number. No dice. Anyway, around mile marker 60, I realized; if I call 411, ask for the Cracker Barrell in Troy, IL I can ask what exit they're on. (So I did that). I think I will remember for the rest of my life, that the Cracker Barrell in Troy, IL is on exit 18. When I arrived at the Funny Bone (alone) I checked in with Tiff and explained the situation. Moments later Tom called and I told him what had happened. I said I was the only comic there (eventually, CW, who was at Westport the night before, and a guy named Tim, who has been at previous Springfield shows, showed up) and Tom congratulated me on winning. Tim decided he didn't want to go on, so Tiff refunded CW's and my entrance fees. Both Don Sr. and Junior were there; and Don said we could still do some time. Since Don had seen me Thursday, I didn't want to repeat myself, so I did the new jokes I did last night and some dating material. I didn't record myself because my DVR is full. And so naturally I worded a joke differently (and I liked it) and can't remember what I did. CW did some time, but Tim was busy talking to me, so I didn't have a chance to pay much attention. Well, by 7:40, I was back on the road heading to LL back in St. Louis. I got there and they told us we were going to wait for Craig Gass who was at Westport the night before. The show started after the Cardinals game ended, and Adam was hosting as Ken JR had previous engagements. Gabe Kea, Kevin White and I talked shop for a bit, I really don't remember what about, I can't say I was paying attention. I do remember giving the "but that's only my opinion" disclaimer at least once. When the show, a very inebriated Adam did some time and pulled me up first, and I have to say, I did rather well, considering the crowd size. I mean, we actually had about 10 to 15 non-comics, and I did 2 of the 3 new jokes I'm working on, and a bunch of other crap. Again, I couldn't record, which is unfortunate because I pulled out a throw-away/get-the-audience-to-respond-more line that I've been working on. I also did my dumped-by-faking-her-death story; which I did once or twice before. I really like that bit, in my mind it's all zany and weird. Sadly, on "My Name is Earl" Tuesday (I Tivo'd it), the entire episode was about how Earl broke up with a girl by faking his own death, and then he had to admit to her he was alive. I hate it when that happens. Anyway, I stuck around to the end of the show and got home around midnight.
You drive your car to work, I'll take my board