Thursday's gig was in Green Bay. The contract read: "St. Norbert's College". Really glad I got an early start!
I fought my way through typical summer in Wisconsin city street detours and found St. Norbert's after asking natives directions twice. No, I am not an overly testosterone driven male who is too macho to stop and ask where the hell I am.
I pull into the first parking lot I can find off Reid Street and I am facing the science building. I am smart enough to know that I will have to locate the student center to find out where FIEL (Fellowship for the Improvement of Educational Leadership) is meeting, and I am lame enough to know that I am not going to go searching the campus without assistance so I go into the science building and announce that I have no idea where I am or where I am to go and a very nice lady takes me out the far doors and points out the building with the flags and tells me basically that "you can't get there from here" as the campus also is torn up with detours everywhere.
So the lovely Ms Kim and I get back in the overladen Scion and I go back down Reid and where the sign says "Do Not Enter", I enter and after breaking the law for only about 75 yards I am in front of the center.
I scope the location out and find that we will need to unload the speakers, power amp, stands, and the big box of electrical cable, carry it down a flight of outdoor stairs to the front doors, then put all that gear on an elevator, take it down one floor, unload it, put it on a very large dumb waiter type elevator, then move it into the ampitheatre.
Fortunately the lovely Ms Kim is much more aggressive than I. She finds the service telephone and requisitions a large cart from the kitchens, we load everything on the cart, ROLL it into the building and on to the elevator, roll it off that elevator and onto the dumb waiter, ease the dumb waiter down to just outside the ampitheatre door, and set up the P.A.
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Not having done a show in a long time, after I shower and dress, I actually scribble an outline of material I want to use, remind myself to slow down during delivery and ENJOY!
I also decide to start the show by taking some pictures of my intended audience. As you can see, they were ready to laugh and have some fun, which made it much easier for me and I settled into my show almost immediately
Although I was glad that I had made some notes I actually departed several times, and most everything worked. I did try one new one liner but I blew it and it died.
I met several of the members and of course have forgotten names but I do remember Connie from Waunakee who was largely responsible for my getting the gig. She was very gracious and I don't think she knows how much she helped take the edge off my anxiety.
I also met another Larry -- from near Grand Rapids, Michigan. A very tall (who isn't next to me) man and very pleasant. He has a son at Duke University.
I also met another very tall man whose name totally escapes me tonight, but he was wearing this great T-shirt about dogma and after the show he related his nightmare dealings with (I believe it was) United Airlines. He is a Californian, my age, and very amiable.
He even agreed to make up another "dogma" T-shirt for me, so I am looking forward to that!
After I finished a superintendent from Brooklyn, New York, came down, shook my hand, and said: "Thank you for offending everyone."
Well, I try not to leave anyone out!
A note to my manager: PLEASE BE VERY SPECFIC ABOUT THE FOUR W'S AND THE H! (That's what, when, where, how) St Norbert's College?? WHERE????
P.S.
I love you Liz!
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