Hold on to Your Comedy Dream

It’s an interesting combination- piano teacher by day; clean comedian by night. To tell you the truth, I went for years denying my comic abilities, never telling the other grade school moms about the person I really was. None of them knew I’d spent most of my life, six days a week and sometimes threes shows a night, in smoky comedy clubs trying to make people laugh.  I have performed stand-up comedy at all the popular comedy clubs:  Zanies Comedy Club, The Funnybone, The Comic Strip and The Comedy Store.

I didn’t want to admit my comedy connection because I felt too many negative connotations come to mind in the words "club standup comedian" - drinking, drugs, lewd material and perhaps irresponsible mother. Living my teenage years at an all-girl’s Catholic boarding school, I’d been engrained with a lifestyle that was not a match. And so I kept my past and dreams a secret.

I took off many years from standup comedy when my children were small. After my third child was born, I missed them all so much when I would go out to do a show at night. I continually thought, "Why am I here? I want to go home." Eventually the desire to be with my children at night combined with a healthy dose of exhaustion convinced me that I could leave standup and lead a "normal" life. In retrospect, the lesson learned is - never turn your back on your dream - it will catch up with you, if you’re lucky.

What happened in those years that I stayed away from the stage? I wrote and wrote and wrote.

(Eventually that writing would become my first show entitled, "BIG PEOPLE, little people!") It was easy to write. I found my children endlessly amusing - let’s change that to downright hilarious. I thought to myself, "What if adults acted like children?’ "How long would it take for an adult who acted like a child to be committed?" Maybe less than a minute?

My son wore his Power Ranger costume to the grocery store. If I did that nobody would think I was cute. They’d commit me. They’d call the authorities. They’d call 911. They’d say, "Bag Lady in Aisle 6!"

What if I started screaming in church and tried to run up the aisle? Nobody would say, "She’s kind of cranky today." No! They’d hustle me out and everyone would be very "disturbed".

What if I ate a spaghetti dinner and left the sauce all over my mouth and ran it through my hair?

How do kids get away with this stuff!?

And it made me laugh. And I wrote it down. And I’m still writing it down today.

The other day I was teaching a six-year-old girl a beginning piano lesson. In all her innocence, she started her own interesting conversation with me. "Mrs. Edwards. don’t you hate it when you’re on the monkey bars and you forget you have a skirt on, and your underpants show?" And I said quite matter-of-factly, "Yes. I do hate that. I hate that so much and I know just how you feel!"

http://humorousspeakersbureau.com Sally Edwards is the president of The Humorous Speakers Bureau marketing corporate comedians and funny keynote motivational speakers.
http://sallyedwards.org - Laugh to Good Health
http://comedybysally.com - Clean Corporate Comedy

Zanies Comedy Club & The Tuesday Ten with Sally Edwards

After spending a few years away from the comedy club scene in order to pursue my clean corporate comedy at special events and women's conferences, I am returning to the Zanies Comedy Club stage in Rosemont, IL to host their special weekly comedy event called "The Tuesday Ten."  On Tuesday nights beginning on October 22nd at 8:00 p.m., the best and the brightest Chicago comedians will be taking the stage at Zanies Comedy Club located in the new MB Financial Park at 5437 Park Place, Rosemont, IL 60018.

Adding a new performance night at Zanies Comedy Club offers a great opportunity to established comedians to showcase their talents.  Whether comedians are performing new material or old standards the show will rock.  I absolutely love hosting comedy shows at Zanies in Rosemont because the room is intimate yet dynamic. The sound is fantastic which gives an added punch to the very funny material the comedians are delivering.  Hope to see everyone there!

Performing at Zanies Comedy Club with Carrot Top - Behind the Scenes

CARROT TOP

          Before Carrot Top landed a very sweet consistent gig in Las Vegas, he took his very funny prop comedy act on the road.  I first met Carrot Top at Zanies Comedy Club in Chicago.  Carrot Top was headlining for the week and I was the feature act.

     I knew I had a rough road ahead of me because pre-plastic surgery Carrot Top was a very cute redhead and he already had a huge fan base.  When a comedian becomes semi-famous and draws a crowd, his or her fans do not relish the twenty to thirty minutes they spend watching the feature, or middle act. 

    The room was packed and Carrot Top Fever was in the air. I delivered the best show I could but the impatient crowd did not return my energy.  I felt defeated.  That sense of defeat was amplified when Carrot Top hit the stage.  The crowd went wild with his first “How you guys doin’?”

     Carrot Top can work a room.  Each prop and joke surpasses the cleverness of the one preceding it.  At the time, his piece de resistance was a joke about fellow comedian Pee Wee Herman who had recently been arrested for indecent exposure.  Pee Wee Herman starred in his own funny children’s show even adults enjoyed.  However, he fell out of grace when he was caught playing around in a movie theater – with his privates.

     Carrot Top held up a jumbo popcorn container with a big hole in the bottom and shouted out, “Pee Wee Herman’s Popcorn Box!”  The crowd went wild.  It was a true eruption.  The audience was totally in sync with their comedy hero and it was in stark contrast to the ambivalent way they had welcomed me.

     I wanted to level the playing field.  I decided to play a joke on Carrot Top during the second show scheduled for that night.

     Following Carrot Top’s awesome performance, he chatted with fans and then made a beeline for the second floor green room where he could rest, relax and gather his thoughts for the second show.  Carrot Top did not watch my show and I decided to take advantage of that fact.  He would not know what I was planning while on stage.

     The second show started and I was met with the same ambivalence as the first.  They wanted Carrot Top.  I decided to get in on Carrot Top Fever.

     Because he left his trunk full of props on stage I had access to Carrot Top’s entire act.  I opened the trunk and saw the giant popcorn container with the hole in the bottom.  I held it up to the audience I said, “This is one of Carrot Top’s favorite jokes.  Let’s play a trick on him.  When he holds up this container and says, ‘Pee Wee Herman’s popcorn box ‘(big laugh), don’t make a sound – not a sound!”  I could see the delight in the faces of Carrot Top’s fans.  Everyone loves a good joke.

----------------------------------------------------------

     Carrot Top was at his best.  The crowd was with him and he was getting ready for the kill.  He reached into his trunk of wonders and pulled out the popcorn container.  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said in a booming voice, “Pee Wee Herman’s popcorn box!”  ….  Silence…. Not a sound!  “Ladies and gentlemen – Pee Wee Herman’s popcorn box!” he shouted again.  Nothing!  The Carrot Top fans were pulling through for me!  I was stunned, delighted and even a little bit scared (of who might be kind of upset!) 

     “Ladies and gentlemen,” Carrot Top said as he stooped forward toward the crowd, “What don’t you guys get?  This is funny.  Really.  This is funny!  How can you not laugh at that?” Carrot Top held it up one last time, waved it around and dejectedly gave it a long toss into his long black trunk.

     Facing a sea of Carrot Top fans, his loyal audience let me into their circle to have some fun that night. Carrot Top demonstrated great sportsmanship when he found out the audience was in on the joke.  He took it all in good spirits and that night he was generous enough to let everyone share in the spotlight.

Zanies Rosemont - Amazing Room for Comedy!

   Comedy is most definitely like a drug.  I know a lot of comedians who have tried to "kick the habit" and failed (or shall I say succeeded!)  It is rooms like Zanies in Rosemont, IL who will suck you back in every time.  The outstanding sounds, lights and eager audience make well written jokes play like music.

     My own stand up comedy career has steered me towards daytime and early evening corporate events but the love of comedy clubs lurks around every next corner.

    Last Friday was Zanies Comedy Clubs "soft" opening night - let's say an "opening" night rehearsal.  I'd been offered a spot to be one of the first comedians to perform in the new room and I turned it down.  This was my husband's "baby" (My husband is Bert Haas - VP of Zanies) and I wanted him to soak up the credit and celebrate with him.  My only focus was giving him flowers on stage.  I wanted to tell him that after 25 years of "husband" jokes, it was absolutely time to say "thank you" and "congratulations" and "job so well done."   I wanted Bert to walk on stage and receive the flowers and get acknowledgement because he deserves it.  I did not plan to "do time" (comic's expression of performing on stage.)

  My idea did not seem to sit well with the host because he was concerned I might bring the show's opening to a "serious" or perhaps "emotional" halt and I completely understood.  He was concerned that the flowers might bring a slowing element to the stage that night and he asked that I first "do a little time."  I eventually agreed to perform but with great reservation.

    The reason for my reluctance was actually very internally acute.

    I resisted because I knew the comedy drug would kick in and kick in strong and I'd be back in the 2:00 a.m. comedy club scene mentality.  All my fears were well-founded.  With a glass half-full, I celebrate re-entry into late-night funny.

  The audience that night was outstanding and I've been "rehooked."  After many years of performing at daytime corporate events, I am re-entering the comedy club circuit.  Stand up comedy is a drug beyond personal control. Let all beware.  If you grow up seeing things "funny" and perform in a great room, there is no escaping.