This past week I did a handful of shows.

I started at the Castle on Wednesday where I was working on a five minute clean set.  It was basically the set I did at the Ice House in Pasadena last month minus the opening joke.  It killed in Pasadena to the point where it threw off my timing.  I couldn’t keep the faux anger thing going on because I was so overcome with delight that the Latinos were enjoying me so much.  It ate shit at the Castle.  I recorded it.  Christine and I watched it.  Her guess is that the opening joke might not be the right opening joke.  Back to the drawing board.

After that I headed over to Joey’s for Bill Bushart’s birthday.  Bill was on fire on stage!  It was a blast to watch!

On Thursday I spoke at the writing session at Laff Tracks in Novi.  It’s a good group they have there.  I had a really fun time.   I’m glad they had me come out.  I worked from my notebook and tried some new stuff.  It probably wasn’t club worthy, but I could see it working more for rowdy bar crowds.  With the exception of one joke that I did a couple more times this past week, I honestly can’t remember what the other things were.

Friday and Saturday I was at the Holly Hotel with the Scheen and Connoly portion of the Jeff Comedy Jam.   It was a strong line up!  I think it’s fair to say that we all have similar sensibilities and if someone liked one of us, they liked us all.  That being said, one of the shows was a battle.  I’m still glad that Beth who runs the room there is still super cool and nice and hasn’t turned to the dark side that comes from whatever bad mojo haunts the Holly Hotel!  Previous managers…horrible people.  The most recent one started off nice, but turned evil.  Beth is still going strong and just a genuinely nice person.

My friend and newest writing partner Lesley Braden returned to the art of stand up during the Saturday show.  I was really impressed.  She came out with a brand new five minutes and it hit strong!

Bobbitt, Scheen, Braden, Conolly!

My brother brought out a bunch of his family and friends to the Saturday show for his birthday and I was glad that it went well.  He and I are polar opposites, but one thing we did always have in common was our sense of humor.  My first performances were acting out scenes from Saturday Night Live, Strange Brew and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure with my brother on our front lawn for neighbor kids.  It always makes me glad to have him in the audience.  This year for his birthday I didn’t make him get up on stage with me.  Okay, at Holly you can’t really get up on stage as much as you can get over on stage.

On Sunday, Mr. Scheen and I rocked Maxie’s in Flint.  The new general manager was complaining about the previous week show because audience members apparently left.  My only guess is it was the heat.  Maxie’s needs to fix their A/C.  I was drenched when I got done performing like I had been in a sauna.  It was a fun night.  Jeff Scheen left me alone in the parking lot with a scary man, but I made it home safe!

This week I’m in Lansing at Connxtions.  Come on out if you’re in the area!