THIS IS WHAT I DO!
Can I be honest
with you? My spoken word shows are good. Call them stand-up, call them
one-man shows; I wish I knew what the heck to call them. But I do know
they're good. Usually, they're really good. Almost always, people
show up having no idea what to expect, and walk away feeling like
they've been part of something much better than they were expecting.
But to be equally honest, I have done a very poor job promoting what I
do. Yes, I do get my plugs in - probably way too many of them. But very
few people even know what the heck it is that I'm plugging. Over the
past year, I kept waiting for WWE to embrace what I did, and take me
under their wing. The way I saw it, World Wrestling Entertainment could
almost instantly dip a giant foot into the waters of a whole new brand
of entertainment with a single USA special, DVD release or promotion of a
multi-media one-man-show. In retrospect, I wish I'd just showed up in
Stamford, CT, thrown a copy of the "Life" section of USA today with Mike
Tyson's story on the cover and said "if we can't do a better one-man
show than Mike Tyson, we're all in trouble."
I still think WWE
is eventually going to get it. Maybe my Hall of Fame speech will help.
Sure, it was a little long, with no real emotionally stirring closing
statement. And I've kicked myself in the butt (figuratively) many times
for not bringing the speech home after that ad-lib elbow gift from the
wrestling Gods - and/or Chris Jericho, and CM Punk - knowing
instinctively that the moment couldn't possibly get any more perfect.
But, at the very least, I showed I could entertain a large crowd with
some tales of wrestling past.
But that speech - as special as
it was - is not indicative of what I do. But THIS footage is. Filmed at
last summer's Edinburgh Fringe Festival with just a single camera at
the side of the stage, I think it captures the real FEEL of what one of
my shows is like. Unlike my naive decision to open the Montreal festival
with a story I'd neither written out or told in public, this footage
from The Fringe contains material I'd worked on for quite a while. I
could have edited out my dealings with a heckler, or the helpful sexual
suggestion from a spirited female fan, but opted not to. I think they
provide a further sense of what my show is about.
I long ago
accepted that I won't ever compete on a laugh-for-laugh basis with a guy
like Louie CK, or a woman like Amy Schumer, or any one of a hundred
(probably way more) talented performers who are more polished, more
professional, and flat-out funnier than I'll ever be. But I wouldn't
trade places with them, even if I could. I like telling my stories, my
way, to my fans. I'm happy when I'm up there, on stage, connecting with
an audience. There are still some nights when I take my emotional lumps
out there and wonder what I'm doing, and why I'm doing it. Trust me,
doing autograph signings is far easier, far safer, and up until
recently, far more financially rewarding. But when I watch this
footage (which I hope you will too) it all seems crystal clear. It's the
closes thing I've ever felt to being in the ring..without a tooth stuck
in my nose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4728VA87qA&feature=youtu.be
Keep on doing what you're doing Mick. The mighty 'deciders' will catch on eventually.
Posted by: Downtheballot.blogspot.com | 04/19/2013 at 08:27 PM