I Killed

"I killed" in comedy means you had a great show. There's also book out called I Killed, which is a collection of humorous and scary stories from famous comedians while on the road. For obvious reasons, like I'm not famous, I'm not mentioned in the book. But if I was asked, I think this story would be my contribution to the book.

On February 22nd at the East Village Cabaret, I had a great show. I shared the billing with comedian and ventriloquist Mark James. The folks at East Village Cabaret were awesome, and my new closer worked big time. It was a good night.

The audience was mostly friends and family of Mark and I. One of the couples in attendance was a lady from my SCRABBLE club, and her husband. I had never met her husband, but knew he had some health issues and I always asked how he was doing. I knew he had been out of the hospital for several months.

After the show, he told me over and over how much he enjoyed himself. I thanked them for coming.

Tonight at SCRABBLE, my friend told me that "I killed" her husband. He passed away on February 29th, one week after the show. I am still shocked that she was at SCRABBLE just 4 days after he passed away, and was as upbeat as she was. He died quickly, and she was thankful he didn't have any prolonged suffering. She told me (confirmed by her daughter), that all he spoke about the last week of his life, was how much he enjoyed my show at East Village Cabaret, and how much fun he had. That show was probably their last big evening out as a couple, and will remain a positive memory for my friend.

This reminded me of another man that saw me perform about 2 years ago. He passed away 2 weeks after seeing me perform. His wife and friends later told me how much he loved my show and what a good time he had seeing me perform. That man was my father.

Unfortunately, death doesn't make for a blossoming fan base. But it makes me very happy to know that I was able to bring someone laughs and joy, their last days on earth.

Rubonia Mardi Gras - February 24th, 2008

Please come to the Rubonia Mardi Gras, February 24th, 2008.

This year will feature the 1st (hopefully annual) Bed Races! The officiator of The Bed Races, is yours truly, Traci Kanaan, The Mistress of the Mattresses! Bed Races start at 12 Noon. See http://www.ruboniamardigras.org/ for rules and papers that don't hold the event sponsors liable for anything.

The best part of the Rubonia Mardi Gras, of course is the parade. See video below:

Parade starts at 2:30pm - and offers some great entertainment for all ages. The parade finale will be the Anheuser Busch Clydesdales! The horses should be at this event, because I know for a fact I see a BudLight truck 3 times a day making deliveries to the ONLY convenient store in Rubonia. So come on out!

So...why do I have a blog?

So I wondered to myself, why do I have a blog? Obviously, I haven't been able to update it since August or September. Which tells you, I'm either too busy to keep up with it, too lazy to keep up with it, or in a coma. 2 out of 3 ain't bad...you guess which 2!

In October, I did comedy - but I'm not sure I remember where. My cousin Stephanie got married, and my mother, Mike and I went to her wedding. My cousin and her husband, Bob, were absolutely at their best that day. The Catholic priest was quite disappointed he couldn't get anyone in the little dark booth for confession. But hey! It's a little dark booth with a Catholic priest in it! And I'm not going to pay much attention to his "marriage" advice either. But that's just me.

We also hosted our 2nd Annual Clam Bake by the Bayou, 800 clams for 125 people and 2 port-o-lets. It was our best Clam Bake ever (out of the 2). The big decision for next year is do we try and break the 1000 clam mark? These are tough decisions, especially when you try to make them after a shot of tequila, while doing the YMCA, before jumping in the kiddy bounce house. (picture at left) Mike's Dad, Bill, steamed all 800 clams, and not a bad one in the bunch.

In November, I did a LOT of comedy. I took a "clean" comedy class. I took 4th in another Carnival Cruise Comedy Challenge in Port Charlotte. I opened for David Alan Grier (right) and cruise ship comedian Al Ernst. Al has a weekly radio show, and offered me the chance to be a member of his Laugh Pack, and a regular on his weekly E-Man Nation Radio Show, which broadcasts from WSRQ 1220 AM out of Sarasota. The show is every Saturday morning from 9:30am - 11am. You can listen online at http://www.newstalk1220.com/. I do a segment called Traci's Twisted Tidbits. It's real news with my twisted views, and it's a lot of fun. (Left) Myself with my Big Brothers Big Sisters "little sister," Cheyenne, who got to read some jokes on the air. In all of this, my mother came to visit for Thanksgiving, and we had a blast shopping.

December was spent working, shopping, decorating, and celebrating the holidays. It was also determined that our house had termites and would need tenting. Cha-ching! Mike and I had a wonderful, quiet Christmas with my mother and his dad. We fell asleep by 11pm New Year's Eve. I was going to need the rest.

Because January - I was off and running! I did 4 shows at Laugh In's in Ft. Myers with the very funny Frankie Paul. For Groucho's Comedy Clubs, I opened for April Macie, of Last Comic Standing: 1 show in Cocoa Beach, 2 shows in Melbourne, and 2 shows in Port St. Lucie. Picture at left is April Macie's mom Karen, April and myself. I also did my 4 weekly radio shows, and 1 very special show at McCurdy's - a female impersonator show. I was the only "real" female in the show - see below. Lindsay Carlton (far left picture). Michelle, "M", myself and Iman below. I had a dynamite show, and maybe someday I'll be able to borrow Iman's red dress. I plan on

wearing it to confession.

"Forgive me Father, for I have done comedy at a female impersonator show. Too bad you couldn't make it!"

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!

Traci's Cleveland Comedy Tour

In my own opinion, I'd say my first Cleveland Comedy Tour was a success! Although it was a short tour (3 clubs, 3 nights), it was an awesome experience!

Monday night, July 16th - Bella Dubby in Lakewood. I kicked off the evening with dinner with Cleveland Comic Joe Hannum. Joe and I went to Berea High School together, and both of us graduated in the class of 1987. Life kept him in Cleveland, life took me to Florida. But somehow, we both ended up doing stand up comedy. My girlfriend sent me a copy of an article on Joe about him doing stand up in Cleveland, and I found him on myspace. We wrote a few months, and then realized our 20th class reunion was coming up. He offered to show me the Cleveland comedy scene...and the first stop was the Bella Dubby in Lakewood. This is a great place for open mic, run by talented comedian Jim Tews. http://www.jimtews.com/ The Bella Dubby is a coffee house that serves alcohol...perfect for comedians. I met several Cleveland Comedians, who are very talented. My keyboard arrived from Florida in good condition, so I was able to do some stand up and 5 or 6 song parodies. The Cleveland comedy scene seems to be a little tighter knit community than southwest Florida, but great people. But of course...they're from Cleveland!

Tuesday, July 17th Cleveland Improv for The Irregulars Show

When I lived in Cleveland in the early 90's, the Cleveland Improv was the place to go for comedy. I remember thinking as I watched Jeff Dunham there, I wonder what it would be like to be on that stage. At the time, it never occured to me that comedy could be a "career choice". (And if I had my head screwed on straight, it still wouldn't be. But oh well.) The memory resurged itself as I walked in the front door. There was the same neon glowing bar and entrance...just as I remembered it.

Much of the Cleveland comedy community stays connected through a website called http://www.clevelandyucks.com/ Comics can post open mic notices, ask for advice, read interviews with other comics, etc. One of the common problems comics have, is "moving up the comedy food chain." They get stereo-typed as an "emcee" or "open mic-er" or "feature" and can't move to the next level. Enter Jeff Blanchard, a comedian known as "The Cleveland Guy." He worked a deal with the Cleveland Improv, and took a Tuesday night and turned it into a showcase for local comics. $5 admission, you can see the local talent, and there is a LOT of it. As I understood it, the show lineup was tight, and no chance I'd be able to perform. But Joe told me to introduce myself to Jeff. When Jeff found out I was a comic, he offered me 7 minutes of stage time. Not enough time to do song parodies - but any mic time is a gift. But to do 7 minutes at the Cleveland Improv, the club I used to visit for fun, was a real thrill! I went 3rd in the line up, and had a blast. I enjoyed watching these guys in action: Mike Baker hosted, Schizo Bill, JJ Johnson, Marv, Jim Tews, and Jeff Blanchard closing the show.

Afterwards, quite a few of the comics went to the Rock Bottom Brewery, which was a trip. Everyone was cool, except for Cerebral Sam...who was cerebral only in the sense that he had his head up his ass. He's the new guy in the Cleveland comedy scene, who just doesn't get the basic rules of comedy, like

1) be funny 2) don't heckle other comics and most importantly...

3) shut the ____ up, you might learn something

Mike Baker, God bless him, tried to set him straight, but something tells me Cerebral Sam is learning disabled. He has chemically disabled his ability to learn.

Wednesday, July 18th - Hilarities at PickWick and Frolic.

My cousin told me about Pick Wick and Frolic a few years ago, but I wasn't quite ready to start throwing myself at larger clubs when I wasn't exactly killing at the open mics yet. Good things come to those who wait - I'm glad I waited!

I was advised by several folks to keep it clean. "Clean: has 2 meanings in comedy. Clean can mean, no inuendo or bad words, OR no bad words. It's hard to tell who means clean, and who means CLEAN.

I decided to play it moderately safe - and go with "no bad words." I called about dress - the club said "We are an upscale club, but dress according to your act." So I went out and bought a nice top and dress pants, since I usually wear jeans as a knee jerk response to my mother making me wear dresses in elementary school on Friday flip up day. So I look very nice. I got there early to set up, because whenever I take that keyboard to a new club, fireworks go off. "You have a keyboard? I thought you played harmonica or something smaller. Did (insert name of contact) know you have a keyboard?" So then they call the 20 something sound guru, who comes by and says "No problem. I'll take care of it. And he did."

I went up on stage, and did very, very well. My parodies were a hit! Then the feature went up in jeans. Then the headliner went up...in jeans. Evidently, I was overdressed. Then the headliner, who I expected to be cruise ship clean, dropped the "f" bomb at least 30 times. Oh boy. So much for the "upscale, cruise ship clean" standards!

I had a wonderful cheering section - and I can't thank the following people enough for coming out to see the show: Joe and friends; Todd and friends; Stephanie, Bob, and Michelle; Bunny & Pat; Aunt Kathy & Uncle Brian; Jim and Dottie; and of course my mom, who went to every show that week. She's hard to read, but I think she's proud of me.

Berea High School 20th Class Reunion

I had a great time at my 20th High School Class Reunion. It was great seeing friends I hadn't seen since graduation, and making new ones that I never had the chance to get to know in high school. (There were 430+ kids in my graduating class.) Enjoy the slide show!

Cleveland Botanical Gardens

Also got a chance to hang out with my 2 favorite people, my mom and my husband at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. Here's some photos from that trip!