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I am on the road with my buddy Tim Hawkins. Even though it’s the eighth time together on air, it still feels new, despite our large body of work, as they say in the biz. We’re having a blast performing together… even when we can’t hear one another. For instance, the other night I could hardly hear a word he was saying, but I caught the words “Eye of Sauron” and KNEW he was making fun of my bald spot.
Oh, the little things that make us laugh!
Tim is moving on up in the comedy world. Working tiny rooms with a handful of people sitting in front of him not paying attention is in his rear view mirror. Now, he’s doing theater work! I’m still performing at a lot of churches these days, but Tim has had the opportunity to make an audience laugh without a giant wooden cross hanging three feet behind him. What a difference that makes when it comes to people loosening up and laughing!
It’s just a different vibe.
Yet, when we get to perform at churches, we can easily spend fifteen minutes just talking about the unique things in the room… because every church is funny looking in its own cool way, from creepy looking organs to drummers sitting inside aquariums.
One nice thing about working theaters, though, are the crew! They do shows like ours all the time and know exactly where to put everything and how to efficiently pull off a comedy show. But they don’t often know who we are. Just the other night, a girl apologized profusely that she didn’t know us from Adam… but made up for it by telling us that she laughed all night long!
I can’t imagine what it’s like for these guys to work an EDM concert one night and then a couple yokels telling jokes the next.
Tim’s act is really cool in that he picks a new partner every week to work with… despite the fact that he has no need at all to have anyone support him. He could easily perform for thousands all by himself, yet he takes the trouble and expense of bringing out guys like me alongside him.
But, according to him, it’s all self-serving. Having someone else there makes the show so much better. It all helps to make Tim, us, the audience… all of us feel so comfortable that it’s like we’re in Tim’s living room – just sitting on the couch listening, laughing, telling jokes, playing music and having fun together.
You can find out when and where Tim is coming to a town near you by checking out TimHawkins.net!
Next, world class comedian, world class ventriloquist, and world class friend David Pendleton joins me for some shenanigans! And this is just the beginning. David and I will be spending most of the month of May together, performing on stages all across Montana!
David is working with a new member of his “cast” – Sergeant Major Booyah… his brand new hands-free puppet! You read that right… hands-free puppetry!
He’s basically a robot. But, one that’s one-of-a-kind and works perfectly with David. He nods, makes facial expressions, and of course talks without David’s hands anywhere near his backside! He was made by genius Austin Phillips with incredible animatronics technology along with his love for old-school ventriloquism.
The trick for David is to eventually incorporate Sergeant Major Booyah as part of his cast of characters, without turning him into some sort of gimmick.
Until then, MacElroy , Aunt Tilly, Beuford the Dog Vern the Vulture will grace the stage along with David… guaranteed to bring laughs to all before we become Sergeant Major Booyah’s robot slaves!
And finally, funnyman Mike Williams calls into the show this week! Now, Mike complains about his age… he’s only 54, but he claims to be “high mileage”, meaning he has more miles on his treads than other 54-year-olds might. It’s a tough price to pay for fame! Mike performed at 102 different engagements last year, which also translates into a ton of frequent flyer miles!
Mike might be even more successful, if it weren’t for his highly developed skill of putting his foot in his mouth. For example, as Mike once heard,
“Life does not cease to be funny when people die anymore than life ceases to be serious when people laugh.”
Now, most people get the meaning of this quote whenever Mike mentions it. But, Mike has a knack of attracting people to his events who are wound a little bit tighter than a golf ball. And, in those cases, it doesn’t matter how light hearted of intent Mike has, once somebody has their panties in a bunch… it’s over, Johnny!
If only he had the ability to address each individual in his audience and say,
“Hello, my name is Mike Williams. Before I begin tonight’s show, I have a few questions: Have you recently lost a loved one in a school bus or train accident or a Chicken McNugget choking incident? Or would it be better that I run through each of my punchlines now – ahead of time – in order to verify that none of them will burden you with undue emotional strife??
Or, maybe people will just look at their ticket stub and remember that they bought a seat to a comedy show.