Well, the new show finally opened and audiences are digging the new routines. I'm actually surprised at some of the reactions and have been blown away by some of the responses. For instance, at one of my performances we had 'signers' on stage to help narrate my show for several hundred deaf audience members, and during one particular routine, I heard an audible GASP come from a lady off to the side. It was only until after the show that she ran up to me and asked if I had heard her. I mentioned I thought I had heard something, and she then confessed that she had gotten so wrapped up in the show that when one of the effects blew her away, she yelled "Holy shit!" and then caught herself. Hehee! Now THAT is EXACTLY the response I think all of us onstage are looking for!
Then two days later a woman in the front row refused to leave after the show was done. She HAD to talk with someone, and when Russ, a crewmember, strolled out to pick up props onstage, she quickly cornered him and exclaimed "How the HELL did he to that?" And then went on to explain her theories: "I think it was all subliminal! Yeah, that's it! Subliminal!"
Now, again, this is great to hear...Especially since I'm mostly a comedian at heart. But I do invest time and energy to make sure the magic side of things is at a pretty high level. Love to make them laugh, but also add icing to cake when I throw them a loop with the magic angle.
Getting to Minnesota for this 3-month summer run was a bit of a journey all on it's own. Halfway through Utah in the dead of night and about 30 miles away from any town, or even a freekin' lightbulb....my trailer blew a tire. I wasn't frustrated though for some weird reason, and instead enjoyed looking at the literally THOUSANDS of stars above me. Simply breathtaking.
AAA explained that the trailer was NOT part of my membership, so no help there, although they did contact a repair shop about 35 miles away. Over the phone I quickly ordere not one but TWO tires, because I certainly didn't want to get caught again like five minutes later as the OTHER tire finally gave out. They were worn to the nubs to be honest and I hadn't noticed, nor had time to notice during the last two months of shows, rehearsals, prop-building and more that all had to be done before I headed east.
The guy who showed up was incredibly nice, although a little perturbed that I had interrupted his lounging at home. But he quickly replaced the tires and after I threw a few hundred dollars onto my credit card, he was off and so was I.
But then my trailer lights weren't working properly, so until morning broke I had to drive with my blinkers on...The 'tick, tick, tick' really got to me and I turned up the radio, only finding either semi-religious stations or full-blown, fire & brimstone radio stations. AM radio of course! Yay!
The next two days were a whirlwind of sunny and stormy, windy and rainy, and any other opposite you could throw in there. One town had ZERO of their gas pumps working because lightening had taken out all the digital readouts and LCD displays on the pumps. Wow!
Oh yeah, also forgot to mention that I wound up with food poisoning....Lovely. So about every 50-70 miles or so, I'd have to pull over and "gack" into trashcans, porto-potties, gas station restrooms, and once even my empty 7-11, 32-ouncer plastic cup. Not proud, but at least I survived to tell the tales.
Almost to my destination, but then I was in the middle of flood-zones! I turned off a road to get to a hotel one night only to find a barricade up across the street. My headlamps carried over the blockade to the rest of the road beyond....which disappeared into a LAKE! An actual LAKE! I quickly realized that the flooding was major, and when I finally arrived in Minnesota and watched the daily news channels I finally got to see just how bad it had been. Incredible what Mother Nature can throw at you! And, at a moment's notice!
Anyway, hope all of you are safe and sound, and should you wish to email me, please feel free to do so! Would love to hear from you!
Sincerely,
Chipper : )
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