Countdown to Lockdown: The REAL MICK FOLEY

THE SHAME OF SHAMELESS PLUGGING

THE SHAME OF SHAMELESS PLUGGING

 

  Looks like the two-minute warning is about to sound (an American football reference for my friends outside of the US) when it comes to my non-WWE dates. I’ve got my last Independent wrestling show tonight (guest ref) in Nashville  (Jan 14, in case you read this after the fact),  a handful of comedy dates in the US, the WrestleReunion show at the end of January in LA, and the big UK/Ireland tour from February 22^nd – March 3^rd. This tour hasn't resulted in the one-day sellouts that I bragged about so often the last time around. Belfast is sold out and Birmingham and Cardiff are getting very close, but Dublin needs some help. and it looks like three shows in London may have been one more than needed. Tickets for Liverpool and Sheffield are moving well, but are still available. Information about the shows can be found in the EVENTS section of my website, which I will plug momentarily.  After which, as far as I can tell, I’m done with outside projects for a while. WWE has been incredibly understanding when it comes to allowing me to fulfill the commitments I made, and once these commitments are fulfilled, I am looking forward to getting much further involved with the company in a variety of ways.

 In the meantime, I’m going to do my very best to make sure that everything I’m involved with is as good as it can be, and I can produce as many smiles, laughs and general feelings of enjoyment as I possibly can. I hope that sometime in the future, I can perform more of a one-man show type of event - playing to my strengths as a story-teller as opposed to the stand-up comic that I’ve never felt comfortable trying to be. I don’t think I’ve ever actually referred to myself as a comic, or a comedian; just as a guy who happens to tell humorous stories in stand-up venues. Hopefully, I can work on the one-man show concept with WWE’s involvement, as I think adding elements of music, video,  and perhaps a special effect or two would make for a really cool evening. I’m not abandoning the stand-up idea completely, as I’m hoping to do a weekend a month, teaming with the Rev Bob Levy, and I’m going to do a little talking and see if WWE might not be able to include a Friday comedy event into the WrestleMania weekend in Miami. The Rev Bob idea is almost completely dependent on how well we draw together at our January 20-21 shows in Scotia, NY and February 3-4 shows in Swiftwater, PA.  I might as well get that plug for my website in now – for ALL upcoming events, including my only west coast comedy gig, January 26th at Slim's in San Francisco, just go to http://realmickfoley.com and click on EVENTS. Easy, right?

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH MAY SURPRISE, SHOCK, DISSAPOINT AND SADDEN SOME FANS!

This stand-up journey has been a great experience. I will always be grateful that I gave it an honest-to-goodness shot, and therefore, won't be that guy on the couch ten years from now, looking at the TV, saying "I wish I'd given that comedy thing a shot." Plus, I can do guest set every now and then, and do believe I can gear-up a few times a year for comedy fund-raisers like the one I did in December on Long Island. Some laughs, some graphs and $2,500 raised for children living in homeless shelters was a win-win for everyone involved. I think anyone who has attended these shows can see that I genuinely enjoy performing at these stand-up venues, even if stand-up is not a perfect fit for me. I think the vast majority of people who have attended have genuinely enjoyed themselves, too, and have probably walked away pleasantly surprised at how much fun they had. Therein lies part of the problem, I think; I’m still asking people to take a giant leap of faith and spend their time and hard-earned money on what is still a largely unknown entity. At least people who got to a straight-up autograph signing know what it is they’re getting, and feel more comfortable dealing with a known entity – the autograph. While it’s true that I’ve had some very good, enthusiastic crowds, I’ve always felt that the crowds would have been just as good if not better, had the same amount of time and energy gone into promoting autograph signings, as opposed to stand-up/story-telling/meet and greets. Maybe, if I had more energy, and truly loved all aspects of the comedy business, I could make a real go at it. But I don’t love all aspects of it. In fact, there is part of it that makes me cringe – even makes me feel less of myself while I’m doing it. Here’s where the surprising, shocking, disappointing, saddening aspect comes in. Ready for it? Drum roll please. Ba-rump-a-bum-bum, ba rump-a-bum-bum. I just don’t like continually plugging these events. I really dislike it. I’d go so far as to say I hate it. That’s right - THE KING OF THE SHAMELESS PLUGS HATES SHAMELESS PLUGS! Why? Because they cease to be shameless when they are almost always accompanied by a sense of shame. Maybe it’s a fine line between letting people know about an event, and pretty much begging them to come. But somewhere along the line, especially on Twitter, I feel like I crossed that line. I'm just tired of feeling like the success or failure of an event depends solely on how many tweets I can get out about it. Sometimes, as was the case in Nashville and Birmingham, where the local media really got behind the shows, the feeling of Twitter dependence is unfounded. But sometimes it's not. Sometimes, those extra 50 people you can tweet into a comedy club can be the difference between a modest success and an emabarassing failure. Single-handedly tweeting an extra 50 fans into a WWE event just isn't that signifigant. In comedy, for all but the most established of acts, it's pretty darn important. It's taken me a while, but I've come to realize that the price I've had to pay to get those extra 50 people into the club is just not worth the shame that comes along with it. I don't look down on anyone who makes the choice to aggresively promote their projects through social media. I imagine if I was a young wrestler, or comedian in this age of Twitter and Facebook, I'd be plugging away out of neccsesity, and think no less of myself for doing it.But, I've realized that plugging away out of neccesity at my age does cause me to look down on myself. Most importantly, though, I think I've come to realize that my younger kids need their dad a little more than the world needs another comedian.

 I guess that pretty much explains my New Year’s “10 Tweets a Week” rule. I really do like interacting with people on Twitter. As I’ve mentioned in tweets in the past, my twitter site has become almost a hate-free zone, and I’m proud of the fact that we have slowly and steadily built up a following of over 200,000 followers. I'm going to try to learn from my mistakes of the past and not use the site as an ipulsive venting system when I find myself annoyed about some minor mishap in my life. Maybe during my next televised WWE appearance, the powers that be can actually flash my address up on the screen, and we’ll see even more upward movement.  I’m hoping that in the next few months, I can use twitter as a means of interacting with the WWE Universe and beyond – and just occasionally refer people to the website, http://realmickfoley.com for any and all upcoming events. I’ll do my best to make the site a cool place to visit, with exclusive content, blogs, etc., as well as cool clips and stories I’ve seen.  I’m going to try the best I can to post articles about me in the press section, so that people who like me can find them on their own, as opposed to me using Twitter to say “look at me, look at me!” Let me take this opportunity to beat potential bloggers to the punch - I am fully aware that this blog about the shame of shameless plugging contains many a seemingly shamelss plug. Trust me, there is shame involved in each and every one of them. Such is the dillema when one makes their living participating in arts (yes, I do consider wrestling, comedy and writing to be arts) that simply can't exist without some publicity, but which lose their sense of fun and importance when the need for publicity overtakes the art.

I’m still going to be doing a RAINN campaign this year, but am exploring a cool way to make it more interactive and fun – and by brainstorming with Eve Torres, I think I can make this year’s campaign more of an inclusive WWE Divas and Superstars issue as opposed to my month-long asking/pleading/begging campaign. In truth, I would do the pleading by myself if I have to. Some things are still worth pleading for – like the work that @Rainn01 does. But my days of shameless plugging for the sake of comedy are thankfully, drawing to a close.

ABOUT THAT RANT I WENT ON

Look, I know it was dumb to go on a Twitter rant about a review I received for one of my comedy shows. It was dumb to think I could right a perceived wrong in 140 characters or less. It was dumb to even draw attention to a review that 99.9% of my followers (average in an estimate, not a mathematical fact) would have never even known about. It was dumb to mention the writer’s name. It was especially dumb to ask my followers to give their opinion to the writer; even though I asked everyone to be polite, the guy really didn’t deserve to be hassled for a review that really wasn’t all that bad. For that, I apologize to the guy. All in all, just a series of dumb things I did that day that seemed perfectly logical when I woke up at 4 am and couldn’t get that review out of my head. Let me at least try to explain.

Remember “A Christmas Story”, where Ralphie wrote the essay about the Red Ryder BB gun? The one he imagined getting the A++++ on? Remember how devastated he was when he got the C (or C+, or C-, whatever the heck it was)? Well, essentially that was me, thinking I was going to get that one tremendous review from an influential comedy website, that was going to allow me much greater exposure in the UK media – and with it, a legitimate chance to expand beyond the curiosity factor in the UK comedy world.

The reviewer had attended two shows; one in Glasgow, and one in Newcastle. I made sure he got to see two distinctly different shows. According to more than one account, he had a very enjoyable time as a spectator in Glasgow, even noting that it was a “great show” to promoter Chris Brooker. So following the Manchester show, which I firmly believed was the stronger set of the two, I anticipated a review that would reflect that “great show” sentiment. And when I didn’t get it, I got angry.

I know it seems foolish to care so much about a single review. But I firmly believed that this was the review that was going to “make” me. I’d seen it happen before. In 1988, there wasn’t even a whisper of a full-time job for me in pro-wrestling. I’d been sending letters, tapes and photos to promoters seemingly forever – all to no avail. Until one reference of my name in “The Wrestling Observer” as one of the best unknown Independent workers in the business – after which I received three full-time job offers in two days. One of them, in Memphis, led to Dallas, which led to WCW, etc., etc.

Believe it or not, my first novel, “Tietam Brown” whose poor sales I joke around about in the US, was actually a modest success – both commercially and critically – in the UK. While the sighting of a Foley novel at a US event or signing is a rarity indeed, I signed dozens (and dozens) of them while on my UK tour. Why the difference in perception? I really believe it was due to one influential reviewer for the BBC, who took the book seriously and gave it a positive review, which seemingly allowed every other media outlet to take the book seriously as well. Not all the reviews were positive, but, love it or loathe it, the book was taken seriously. I seriously thought the reviewer in Newcastle was going to be THAT guy for me in comedy; the guy who would allow others in the UK - whether they loved it or loathed it – to treat what I was doing with at least a modicum of respect. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

Yes, I should have been able to let it go. After all, the reviewer wouldn’t have been the first person to refer to something as “great” when it actually wasn’t. I believe every wrestler (including this one) at some point in their career has said the phrase “great match” to a colleague without really meaning it. My wife might even be guilty of referring to something I did in the Foley bedroom as being “great”, when in truth, it was probably only really, really good. Nonetheless, when one has their heart set on something - whether it be a Red Ryder BB gun, or an A++++, or a great comedy review - and then doesn’t get it..well, it tends to leave a mark. I used to have creative outlets for frustration. Remember the “Cane Dewey” promo? Yeah, that was a pretty good way to vent frustration. Now I’ve got Twitter. Sometimes, having instant access to expressing your frustrations – and an instant audience, with permanent ramifications, is not the healthiest..or wisest way to vent those frustrations.

I’m pretty sure I learned a lesson here, and I hope wrestling fans and followers will cut me a little slack. I’ve got to run now – I’m late for my “Tweeter’s Anonymous” meeting. Perhaps disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner will have a sympathetic ear for me.

MICK FOLEY NIGHTS IN RED FLANNEL UK COMEDY TOUR 2012

Just taking in all of the events and memories of the last two weeks. An amazing time, an amazing tour, even if I was a little disappointed in my performance at the second London show. But to paraphrase Meat Loaf here, "don't be sad, cause 8 out of 9 ain't bad." Besides, you learn as much, if not more from your mistakes as you do your successes, and I will be raring to go when I return to the UK in 2012. Here's how the tour is looking - websites, links, on-sale dates and more will be available very soon at http://mickfoleystandup.co.uk or http://realmickfoley.com

Here they are:

Feb 24 - London - Leicester Square Theater
Feb 25 - London -Leicester Square Theater
Feb 27- Birmingham - The Glee Club
Feb 28 - Cardiff, Wales - The Glee Club
Feb 29 - Sheffield -Memorial Hall
March 1- Liverpool - Olympia
March 2 - Dublin, Ireland (venue TBD)
March 3 - Belfast, UK - Empire

Please check in regularly with the two websites listed for more information.

Really looking forward to returning in February, See you then. I don't want any of my fans in Scotland to dismay; we'll be back a little later in the year. Cheers!

Mick

A WRESTLER REMEMBERS THE HEALING POWERS OF BASEBALL

 A WRESTLER REMEMBERS THE HEALING POWER OF BASEBALL

I was headed out the door on September 21, 2001 – only ten days after the worst attack ever on United States soil. My wife called out to me, asking me to come back for just a moment before I took my two kids, ages 9 and 7, and a family friend to Shea Stadium, for the first major athletic event in New York since that terrible day when the towers fell, and the world as many of us knew it changed forever.
“Do you have to take both children”, she asked, her voice shaking, telling me, without actually saying it, that she was afraid of what might come next – that she would be a widow and the mother of no one by night’s end. Looking back on it, ten years later, it may seem like an over-reaction, but at the time, no one knew what to expect. Ten days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, asking me to leave one of my children at home seemed like a perfectly logical request, given the fear and uncertainty of the time and the place. I think just about all of us living in the US felt that another attack was just a question of “when”, not “if”, and New York’s Shea Stadium, on the night of baseball's return to the Big Apple was in no way an unlikely place for that inevitable next attack.
So I left out house with just one of my children, along with a friend of mine since middle school, weaving our way through traffic and uncertainty to take our place with the other 42,000 souls who felt strongly enough about being part of the delicate process of rebuilding a nation’s shattered psyche to celebrate the return of baseball to the big city.
The Mets have been good to me over the years, and they offered me the choice of sitting in pretty good seats in the loge section behind home plate, or sitting in the outfield with police and firemen from around the country – men who had left the safety of their own homes to sift through rubble around the clock, in the hopes of finding remains of those whose lives had been lost. For me, there didn't seem to be a choice at all. I wanted to be able to express my appreciation for the sacrifices so many had made down at Ground Zero. For many of these men, the game offered a first chance to relax since arriving in New York; a chance to press a figurative pause button on a seemingly never-ending real life episode of heartbreak and tragedy.
Under normal circumstances, I watch over my children like a hawk at these sporting events. But on this night, there was no malice to be found among the fans, no pettiness; despite the fact that the Mets were taking on their arch-rivals, the Atlanta Braves, there seemed to be no likelihood of drunken shenanigans or loutish behavior ruining the night. So as I mingled with the police and the firefighters, I let my son sit and enjoy the game without worrying too much about the little guy. No one was going to hurt him in those outfield seats; in an odd juxtaposition, on this dangerous night, with so much uncertainty surrounding all of us, my son had in some ways, never been safer.
Mike Piazza hit a towering home run to lift the Mets to a dramatic and emotional 3-2 victory that night, but for me, the most dramatic, most emotional moment of the evening took place one inning earlier - with the singing of “God Bless America”. Usually a seventh inning stretch and that old stretch stand-by “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” signals a massive exodus to the restroom; a chance to relieve the body of whatever fluids have been downed, before taking in the last few innings of play. But on this night, with “God Bless” filling in, the stretch became an opportunity for 42,000 to sing along in a way they probably had not previously, and likely never would again. It was powerful, emotional, real – and unfortunately, destined to be short-lived.
Ten years later, the stretch is far more likely to appeal to beer drinkers and urinal seekers, than it is to those seeking out the transformative powers of a mass sing-a-long during a time of national mourning. A nation brought together by tragedy was quickly strained by politics and posturing, leaving this wrestler/writer to wonder what could have been if the better angels of our nature had been allowed a little more time to roam freely, to seek out the things we had in common, instead of being led into focusing on those things that tend to push us apart.
I still sing “God Bless America” at the two or three ballgames I go to a year. My son is 19 now and he thinks I do it as a joke, as a way to embarrass him in public. Maybe I do sing it a little too loud, and maybe I do put a little extra “Leslie Nielson as Enrique Palazzo” zest into my rendition. But there’s part of me that sings it loud to make up for those who have departed for the beer stand or the urinal, or for who just don’t understand the role a simple song played in healing this particular American. Ten years after one of the saddest days in our nation’s history, I choose to remember that spirit of bother-hood and togetherness I found in the outfield of Shea Stadium – a special night, when I saw so much about what makes this nation great.

I'M JUST A JUGGALO

I have to admit, I was a little worried about the prospect of appearing at my first ever  "Gathering of the Juggalos". These "Gatherings", the brainchild of Detroit rappers The Insane Clown Posse (ICP from this point on) - an event now enjoying it's 12th birthday, had become an anual pilgrimage of excess attended by tens of thousands of maniacs, music loving gypsies, hardcore wrestling afficianados and big fans of bottle tossing. These Gatherings had become the stuff of legend among my fellow wrestlers for years, but had only recently begun to garner mainstream attention for the type of abuse, both verbal and physical hurled at those brave/dumb/trusting enough to take part in such an audacious atmosphere. Indeed, one of the rumored weapons of choice of those in attendance was that old standby - feces. I'd once been victim of a surprise chimpanzee turd-throwing incident, and did not enjoy it, and felt that an experience with human feces would be equally unpleasant - possibly moreso.

I had no interest of ever being part of that scene and was thus relieved when I had the legitimate excuse of an Impact Wrestling house show dates to ward off the couple of people who called, asking about my availability for The Gathering. But, as many of you may know, my employment status changed abruptly, and the despite my trepidation (a favorite word of Stone Cold’s –for real) I found myself accepting an offer that was fairly tough to refuse.
A few helpful twitter followers were kind enough to tweet me links of different performers dodging a deluge of debris – the type of dodging I was not sure I’d be capable of, given the status of my knees, back, love handles, etc. So, prior to embarking on my journey, I found myself in the unique position of stopping by a lacrosse warehouse on Long Island, purchasing a stick for the first time since my playing days ended 28 years ago.
“You going to play a little lax, Mick?”, one of the guys at the warehouse asked me.
“No”, I said, working in the pocket of my new purchase.
“What are you going to use it for?”, he inquired, a little surprised; after all, a lacrosse stick is usually limited in it’s number of potential uses.
“Just going to use it to catch some shit”, I said.
“Really, what kind of shit, Mick?”
“Human..human shit”, I said. “I’m going to catch human shit in it. Then I’m going to throw it back at the thrower of the shit – with greater velocity than it arrived.”
And that’s how I thought it was going to play out in the wee hours of August 13th, 2011; the Hardcore Legend - a man who had left a pretty good job at WWE (though rumor has it, I might well be returning) because he didn’t want to take verbal crap, now being forced to catch and throw literal crap back at his tormentors. Once upon a time, I had taken great offense to fans who chanted “you sold out, you sold out” at me upon my dastardly defection from ECW to WWE. Now, I was thinking of that chant, and practically leading it, every time I looked in the mirror.
A couple weeks before the event, I began to see the wrestling card shaping up. The good folks in the ICP had seen fit to offer me a spot as a color commentator, in addition to my doodie dodging duties on the comedy stage. I had to give props where it was due – these clowns (meant as a term of endearment) were putting together one of the most star-studded line-ups in history. To be sure, most of the participants were a few years (in some cases, decades) from their glory days, but nonetheless, it was a staggering line-up.
Author’s note – My nine hour flight delay is coming to an end, so for the sake of brevity, I’ll bottom line this thing.
As it turned out, I had a heck of a time! Sure it took me 13 hours to get there, and I was more than a little frustrated when the road simply ended at a river ferry that had stopped operating 10 minutes before my arrival. So, even though I could actually see Cave in Rock, Illinois about 300 yards away on the other side of the river, actually driving from Kentucky to Illinois turned out to be a two hour affair, that offered my vivid proof that the white-tailed deer is not an endangered species. Until my drive through the wilds of Northern Kentucky, I has usually associated the “deer in the headlights” phrase to the utterly clueless expression on Al Snow’s facial features before the bell rang for our “Best Friends” tag team classics.
But once I arrived – brother..eh, eh (a little Gordon Solie for you) what an amazing time I had! The backstage area was a “who’s who” of all-time wrestling greats, and a reunion for so many of the guys, many of whom had not seen each other in years, if not decades. I’d like to go back and watch the show, just to see the look of genuine shock and happiness on my face, when I saw Brickhouse Brown walk down the ramp – the first time I’d seen Brick since we were both in Texas for World Class. He was one of many guys over the years to take me under his wing…but one of the very few who can actually attest to the existence of my sexual heyday, which transpired over a 6-7 week period beginning in mid-to-late December of 1988, and ending somewhere in late-early-to-mid January/February 1989. Go ahead, ask him about the newspaper story sometime on “Brickhouse TV”.
Sure, some of the wrestling was a little slow, but the lack of constant action gave me and play-by-play man Kevin Gill to have an absolute blast on-air, a fact that was probably evident to those who stayed up way, way past their bedtime to catch the show on PPV. Perhaps next year, ICP and the organizers of the show may want to include some of the top Indy workers into the “Legends and Icons” show, giving the fans an overall better show, and a chance for the top names of tomorrow to honor the guys who paved the way by working alongside them to put on the best possible show. Taking into account that Gill and I had talked over next to nothing before the show aired, I think we did pretty darn good, and I will proudly add my Vince McMahon “I have no balls” impression into my end or career time capsule, as an example of things I’ve enjoyed the most in my 26 years in the biz. And what a thrill it was to see X-Pac, after navigating such a tough personal road over the past several years, looking like the Sean Waltman of old – a guy who I absolutely believe deserves another shot with WWE.
Maybe my comedy set wasn’t the best I’ve turned in, but factoring in the 4:30 AM set time, and my previous fears and expectations, it could have been a hell of a lot worse, too. I did get pelted - but with  respect and decent laughter, instead of debris – leaving beautiful Cave in Rock, Illinois sweaty and exhausted..but without even a trace of bodily fluids..or solids on me. My sincere hope for all Juggalos is that they can come to treat every act with as much respect as they treated me, removing that public black eye that is often associated with the event. I even picked up a few hitch-hiking Juggalos at 5:45 AM, who helpfully pointed out that ferry service begins at 6 AM – thereby saving me almost two hours of non-stop swerving to avoid wildlife in the road. Did I mention that the white-tail deer is not an endangered species?

As I mentioned, there’s this rumor out there that I might be returning to WWE sometime soon, and if the rumor proves to be true, my chances of returning to this one-of-a-kind atmosphere in 2012 will be dramatically reduced. But I really enjoyed being part of it – and I would really appreciate being asked to do so again. Who knows - maybe next year, I’ll even get some offense in and not fall down when I hit the ring to help a friend in need.
Until then, I will remain, respectfully yours – Cactus Sac.

A SERIOUS ATTEMPT AT COMEDY

A SERIOUS ATTEMPT AT COMEDY

Very seldom will I use the word “great” to describe anything I do. Really, that’s a word for others to use, if they choose to, in reference to something I have done. Sometimes that word “great” is used in conjunction with the word “disappointment” to describe something I’ve been part of; a book, a match, or maybe even a three- year tenure with a wrestling company. But I will go on record as saying I had a “great” comedy show last month in Plattsburgh, New York. But that great show was surrounded in both mystery and revelation, and I came out of it with both the feeling that I wanted to earnestly pursue the serious business of comedy, and the realization that I was going to have to work extraordinarily hard to do so.
We only had about 50 people in attendance that night in Plattsburgh - or about 250 less than had stood in line to meet me at the local mall earlier that day. 300 people had shown they cared enough about me to forego a beautiful summer afternoon to stand in line, make a purchase, take a photo, and share a few moments with someone they seemingly liked and cared about. But when I inquired as to their interest in coming to the show, the faces became strained, their discomfort apparent, the excuses transparent. “Um, uh…I’d like to, but I have to do ..something…with someone..somewhere.” Odd. But even odder was my realization later that evening, that many people who had paid extra money specifically to meet and greet with me before the comedy show had left the club after meeting me... without staying for the show. They obviously liked me; they’d paid money and gone out of their way to meet me. They just had no interest in seeing me do comedy.
Those adventurous to stay had a great time – see, there I am, throwing the G word around again. But the two promoters of the show heard the same two comments over and over again: I didn’t know what to expect, and I didn’t think he’d be that good. So, the challenge, as I saw it, was to make people more aware of what they might expect, and to do my part to make sure the shows are as good as I can make them when people make the decision to see me do something other than what they are used to seeing me doing.
Honestly, it’s not a challenge I know I’ll be successful in. It’s like going to see Will Ferrell or Adam Sandler in dramatic roles; yes, they’ve both done some great work, outside comedy, but it’s not quite the way that people like and feel happiest seeing them. Funny, but one of my inspirations is actually Justin Timberlake, who has been able to take people who literally could not stand his music, (me being one of them) and turn them into fans of his comedic acting. His SNL stuff is just priceless!
As many of you know, I’ve been putting some clips up on the web, and I really appreciate the feedback. Well, not all of it. Really, I only appreciate the positive feedback. The negative stuff..not so much. But no less an authority than the Insane Clown Posse, whose upcoming Gathering of the Juggalos should prove to be my most interesting comedy challenge, touted the benefits of You Tube as the great equalizer – a way to get the material out there, so people can make up their own minds, instead of relying on a few reviews, or opinions.
Yet, taking a cue from the world of sports entertainment, from which I have learned almost every lesson in my life, I know I need to take the next step of getting material out there that is of a better quality than the few things now available. Really, I shouldn’t be putting a story out there the first time I tell it. It should be refined and worked on, and presented in a more polished form than the clips I’ve tweeted about so far. Indeed, the three clips out there represent the first times I’ve actually told those specific stories. So, I’ve been doing guest spots on Long Island over the past few weeks, trying out new stuff, polishing up things I’ve done before, trying to make sure it’s the best it can be when seen by a larger audience. Unlike my microphone time in wrestling, where I can wander out in front of an audience with just an idea of what I’m going to do, comedy really does benefit from the honing, tweaking, and polishing process.
But my material needs to be of a much higher video quality too. It used to baffle me when wrestling fans and even personal friends would dismiss guys like Bruiser Brody and Stan Hansen as being and then ask me if I thought I’d ever get to be as good as Outback Jack and Uncle Elmer. Unfortunately, like so many others they equated video and production quality with actual talent, and dismissed the guys they saw on the old AWA shows as being bush league and saw even the guys on the bottom of the WWE barrel as being major league.
With that in mind, I am looking at my August 24 show at The Brokerage in Bellmore, NY (Long Island) as the most important comedy show I’ve ever done. I’ll be having the show professionally video-taped with a two camera shoot, with the express intent of airing it on You Tube, where viewers get to see it for themselves and decide if it’s good or not. Hey, comedy is not a one-size-fits-all type of thing, and my style is not going to be for everybody. But I’d really like for all of you to have the opportunity to watch and decide for yourselves. I’ll have a new clip to Tweet out in a couple of days, shot by a simple flip-cam followed by the professionally shot stuff towards the end of August.
As some of you may recall, I did several shows under the “Total Extreme Comedy” banner a couple of years ago. Though I had a good time on most of the shows, there were some elements at play that were just not conducive to any long-term success. Ticket prices were too high, there was nothing “Extreme” or “Total” about the comedy I, or Colt Cabana, or Bruce Pritchard performed, and expectations may have been a little unrealistic. Really, should any of us, with a cumulative total of about seventeen comedy shows under our belt, have been booked into the same 3,500 seat theatre that Elvis used to play? Probably not. I look forward to working with Colt again (looks like we have November 3rd in Cleveland together) but think both of us, separately, or together will be content to work in a more realistic environment – rooms in the 100-400 person range.
Warning: I am going to beg here! Please help me out. I really can’t be successful at all without a little help from all of you. Watch my stuff when I tweet it out there. Re-tweet it if you think it’s good, and mention it to your friends – even if they’re not wrestling fans. Almost every non-fan who is bold enough to venture forth to one of my shows has a good time, and the audiences I do guest sets in front of, many of whom have never seen or heard of me, are almost always entertained and pleasantly surprised at my ability to string sentences together. Maybe you can even take the step of Tweeting my links or mentioning my comedy to successful comedians whose work you enjoy. Sometimes, it just takes the right person to see the right clip at the right time – a possibility that is FAR greater with some of you helping me out.
For all of you in the Long Island area – please come out to the show on the 24th. The Brokerage is an amazing and intimate place to see a show. I’ve already lined up fellow wrestler and comedian Dan Barry to host, and hilarious Irishman Mick Taylor to do a set, and am working on some major surprises to make the night as funny and as memorable as it can be. With the right production values, it will be far more like Monday Night Raw, and far less like Verne Gagne’s old tapings at the Tropicana – even if anyone who chose Outback Jack and Uncle Elmer over Brody and Hansen under any circumstances, should be forced to do some kind of community work.
Here’s the information: tickets are only $12, and may move quickly
THE BROKERAGE COMEDY CLUB
2797 Merrick Rd (at the corner of Bellmore Ave.)
Bellmore, NY 11710
(516) 781-LAFF (5233)

http://brokeragecomedy.com

50% of ticket sales will be donated to http://rainn.org
Feel free to watch the 1998 Hell in a Cell in its entirety or some of my Japanese stuff from 1995-96, before making the decision to help me out – even if it’s just out of sympathy.