Ocala, FL

January 9th & 10th, 2009

This trip is the 3rd time I've worked the Bonkerz at Club Zanzabar in Ocala, FL. Each time gets better and better. This run, I opened for veteran Jeff Barrett (pictured above), whose TV credits include an appearance on America's Most Wanted. Jeff and I met about a year ago at a competition in Port Charlotte, FL. He's been in comedy 20 years, but Jeff is also a successful artist and graphic designer outside of comedy. And unlike many comics that rely solely on the food that comedy clubs serve or Chinese buffets, Jeff is vegan. I just so happen to love art and have an interest in eating healthy, so I was looking forward to working with Jeff.

Club Zanzabar and Midnight Rodeo are part of a 2 club entertainment complex in Ocala, FL. Club Zanzabar is the "hip-hop-lights-flashing-pulse-grinding-music-so-loud-it-affects-your-heartbeat" kind of club. Each waitress weighs well under 100 lbs, and isn't wearing much more than a napkin and shoes. Midnight Rodeo is your typical country dance bar, with "faux rawhide" covered mechanical bull in the corner, and faux line dancing cowboys.

Friday night's show - the crowd was awesome! I had a great set. Jeff lost track of time and did an hour and 20 minutes. Miss Gold Liberty and friends started sending beers to the stage, and Jeff was a master at working with the audience. We sold enough t-shirts to buy ourselves a few drinks...and we ended up closing down the bar. We were hungry, so Jeff and I hopped in my car. I punched "Denny's" into my Garmin, which took us right to a Waffle House. Oh well...I enjoyed my chocolate chip waffle and my "splattered and spreaded" hashbrowns. Unbeknownst to Jeff, on my wishlist for Christmas, was a "WH" visor. Every Waffle House I've been to, I ask for a visor. 5 Waffle Houses, 5 NOs. But persistence paid off! This Waffle House had a 2008 Christmas Waffle House Hat, of which now I am the proud owner.

Saturday morning, I was wired at 7am after less than 3 hours of sleep. I spent the morning writing in my journal, playing games on pogo.com, and making jewelry. In the afternoon, Jeff and I headed for lunch at Mother Earth Market. I love trying new foods, and figured I'd see what the vegans had to offer. We had vegan stroganoff (no relation to Bernie Madeoff) made with vegetable protein that sounds like "Satan," spinach noodles, apples and raisins, and a gluten free chocolate chip cookie. It was tasty, I must admit. And I didn't feel sluggish afterwards even though I ate a big meal. Afterwards, we hit the downtown Ocala area and wandered through some shops and an art gallery. After a nap, I headed back for a second show.

The Saturday show didn't have as many people as the first show, but they came to party and have a good time! I had another great show, and Jeff only did an hour. 2 Genesee drinking couples from Buffalo, NY came to the show an hour late, demanding that Jeff "say something funny." Wrong thing to say to Jeff - these folks became part of the show pretty quick. The loud Buffalo NY guy was a frustrated open mic-er, and insisted on trying out new material during Jeff's show. I hated to leave this morning. And obviously my Garmin did too. I punched "Starbucks" into my Garmin for a mint java chip frappacino, and it took me right to Target. I hate you, Garmin.

All in all, it was another great comedy run! I'd like to thank everyone at Club Zanzabar: Phil the manager (pictured above) runs a tight ship; Gabe who ran sound for me; Susanna the waitress (hope you sold those jello shots); Amy the bartender (hope you and the girls had fun in Orlando Saturday night); the really big guy who helped me break down my keyboard and carried my amplifier both nights; 6'9" (one tall MoFo); and the really nice restroom attendant who offered me 2 pieces of gum (one for each ass cheek) so I wouldn't slide off my bar stool. I'd also like to thank Nuclear Power Plant guy who bought me a drink, the flirtacious Michelle who asked me to dance, and the lovely couple who bought Jeff and I a drink on Satuday night (hope your wife found that extra girl for your threesome). I can't forget Scott the pharmacist, who saw both shows in their entirety. I wish everyone would support live comedy like you! I can't forget a very special thank you to the nice Ocala police officer Jeff and I met on the way to the Denny's we never did find. He could have ruined our great weekend in a matter of minutes, but he chose to support live comedy too. Thanks to Art at the Golden Palms Hotel (he thought I was "hot," God bless him), thanks to Bonkerz Comedy for the gig, and thanks to Jeff Barrett for being so cool to hang out with. Check out Jeff's site at http://www.grinnandbarrett.org/

Comedy in August 2007

August 2007 had to have been my busiest month for comedy!

Titusville - August 4th with Tim the Dairy Farmer. Tim did a fantastic show that night, so I had a tough act to follow, but I managed and got a sweet 45 minute DVD to prove it! Just in time too!

Because on a whim, I decided to enter the Carnival Comedy Cruise Challenge in Tallahassee (Aug 14 &15th). It's a competition, but it's also a tool for Carnival Cruise Ships and other comedy clubs to find new talent, and for talented comics to find new venues to perform at. For me, it wasn’t about winning…my goal for this competition was to get hired by one of the clubs, The Comedy Zone, that has 70+ locations. The competition is 2 days. The first day, they gave 40 comics 3 minutes to do their best material in front of the talent scouts and other comics. Imagine doing your job in front of your competitors AND customers that might use your services someday. It's a horrific experience, especially if you suck. Fortunately - it was not my night to suck! I got some good laughs, and was one of 9 comics asked back the 2nd night.

The 2nd night, each comic got to do 6 minutes of material in front of a live audience. Then they are critiqued by the judges. Did I mention this is in front of the audience too? The audience, after hearing all the comics, votes for the winner. The names were drawn at random...and unlucky me had to go first. Every comic hates going first. The audience isn't warmed up, the expectation of the comic going first is that he/she is the least experience...it's tough being first. Thankfully, I had a great set! The judges had wonderful things to say about me...it was all good.

The rest of the comics did their thing – and 4 of them had fantastic sets. It was going to be very, very close. The judges had to recount the tally 3 times – it was that close. But I came in 5th place. Not shabby…but like I said…I didn’t go there to win. I went to get work. After the competition was over, the owner and founder of The Comedy Zone asked me to send my press kit. He liked what he saw, and is interested in hiring me for his clubs. Mission Accomplished.

Now here’s the best part…one of the talent agents approached me after the competition, and asked if I had my show on tape. I asked if he wanted the highlights, or the whole show. He said “The whole thing. I want to see what you do. I think you’re what we’re looking for.” He handed me his business card, with a big beautiful cruise ship on it that said “Carnival.” Jackpot! I’ve sent my press kit and applied for my passport. This will probably take a few months to put together…but keep your fingers crossed! And I’ll keep you posted.

The following week, I was asked to feature and host at McCurdy's. I had 7 outstanding sets...each one better than the last! I worked with a talented headliner, Pete Gray from LA. It was a great time.

I also began working for a great club, Bonkerz Comedy Clubs out of Orlando this month. They tried me out in Sanford, Ocala, and Tallahassee.

The Sanford room started out quite nice, until a heckler started getting lippy with the headliner. Before I know it, a beer bottle comes sailing from the back of the room and misses the headliner by a few inches. The waiters were on the heckler, the police were called...but somehow the show continued on. You just never know when someone in your audience is having a worse day than you!


A few days later, I headed to Ocala, at Club Zanzibar. I was a little disturbed, that the comedy stage was a hexagon shaped platform with a pole on it. Some dancing cages were behind me on either side of the DJ booth. I got the strange sensation this either "was" or still "is" a strip club. I never did a straight answer out of the club management. But I didn't have to perform comedy naked so I was fine with the set up. I had a great show, and can't wait to go back there.

Tallahassee was a fun room as well, with the nicest emcee and DJ, Yuck Mouth. My Friday show was outstanding, the Saturday shows were not my strongest but decent enough. I worked with comedy veteran, Manny Mann, who lost to Ellen Degeneres on America's Funniest People in 1983 (I think). He had lots of good stories, and keeps in touch with comedy through his comedy traffic school.


Overall...it was a great month! September, Mike and I are taking a vacation (gasp, really!), so I've not scheduled any comedy for this month. This month I'll focus on writing my 30 minutes of clean, so I can sail the ocean blue with Carnival next year!