Blog #9: Tour Diary 10.15.24

Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. There is not enough coffee in the world to compensate for the inevitable exhaustion of sleeping in an RV on a vaguely moist bed that feels like it's made of foam rubber wrapped in pleather, partly while driving over rugged Missouri roads, after seven two-hour shows in eight days. I have to eat extremely consciously to try and stay healthy, and that is damn near impossible to do when my body is begging for calories after every show and most of the food options are from gas stations. I've packed some lean cuisines and veggie-based snacks, tried to stay hydrated, and some of the venues have provided some pretty good food, but I made a huge mistake with the routing. 4-5 shows on, one day off, repeat for what seems vaguely like eternity... my sincerest apologies to my crew. And to my own brain, which is struggling to create words right now.

If you've seen Slouching Towards Branson by now, you know what I mean when I say I never thought I'd survive another trip to Missouri. And the truth of my last experience in MO (an abbreviation for both Missouri, the state and Modus Operandi, the phrase used to describe a criminal's behavioral patterns) was even worse than the story makes it out to be. I spent longer there, and had a wider variety of genuinely bad experiences and personal misfortunes.

St. Louis is a strange town, but a City Winery's a City Winery. Mostly anyway. They have been difficult with their contracts so far, and I'm hoping that happening twice in a row is a fluke and that Chicago won't be that way tonight, because it's driven Matt absolutely insane and it's making me feel bad for wanting to play City Wineries. That being said, St. Louis was unique. The stage was higher and there was basically no way off of it, so my usual amount of time spent in the aisles and amongst the audience was limited, and I find higher stages create a greater psychological divide between me and my audience. Having some divide is important, and being able to control it is important, but too much divide gets in the way at a comedy show with dramatic elements.

Before Shayfer's set, I have a pre-recorded message that plays letting folks know to not be on their phones or be "that guy" but last night City Winery's staff decided to also make an announcement saying the same thing apparently. I suspect that the high stage and being lectured twice in a row might have been part of why the audience was so reserved compared to so many others. They were a wonderful crowd, but getting laughs out of them was much harder, and nobody seemed to sing along for even a moment. They were clearly trying to be supportive and respectful, and that's super kind, but I think it was too hammered into them and so they folded their hands in their laps and tried to be polite instead of just relaxing.

It was easy to get reactions from them by talking about Branson, of course, as Missourians they're familiar with the town in a way where they knew exactly what I was talking about. And they caught cultural references that a lot of crowds don't, because they seemed to be an older audience than some others, but I also had to inject more punchlines and goofs where in other cities I had decided to hold back, which made for a different show. Because of all this, I had a very different energy on stage, and so the show seemed a little different to me. As always, a learning experience. This was probably the most challenging show of the entire tour so far, and I'm trying to consider all of the different variables that may have lead to this.

I had a blast as always, I love doing this, but I don't want to just leave it at that. I want to be sure that I am always doing my best to derive a lesson from every performance, to better hone my craft and improve my story as the tour goes on. I never want to get complacent or too comfortable, so you're going to keep hearing me pick apart each show, but never confuse that for having not enjoyed it, because every show has its challenges, and every challenge presents an opportunity to learn something new.

Chicago is one of my biggest markets, and I have my biggest draw there, so I'm very curious to see what sort of audience is coming out tonight. It's going to be a very small portion of the potential turnout, so I guess that means it'll be mostly the super intense die-hards? Who knows! What I do know is I have 85+ VIP pass holders I'll be doing a meet & greet / Q&A with, so that should be a very unique experience! I'm excited to meet all of you.

Looking forward to the show tonight, as always. Enjoy this highlight reel from last night.

Much love,

-ww