After having the night off from shows and waking up in Charlotte I got to have lunch with a friend downtown. We went to this restaurant called "Queen City Q". It was one of the best barbecue restaurants I have ever been to. It was located in the heart of the city which gave it one of the most interesting qualities. I have never parked anywhere that needed to have your parking validated, but the parking garage next to the restaurant did. So I pulled into the parking garage and rolled down my when to get my parking ticket and as soon as my window cracked the sweet smokey scent of barbecue wafted through the open window and permeated every inch of my breathing air. It was one of the most unexpected surprises I have ever encountered. I couldn't inhale fast or deep enough.
Once I got out of my car I probably looked like I was having an asthma episode by the way I was sucking down that smell. Lunch was enjoyable. My friend/ manager/ not sure what to classify him as, Mike, and I shot the breeze and traded amusing anecdotes. It is always good to catch up, and it gets me excited about what the future may offer when he lays out the opportunities that could come my way if I work hard enough and have a little luck.
After lunch I got to hang out with Tim Meadows a little more while we drove around town and he did his radio interviews. He is a really down to earth guy that truly loves what he does.
I then set off for the hotel in South Carolina. I passed Carowinds on the way south, as was slightly saddened that I couldn't go there. I like roller coasters and it would have been a fun way to burn the afternoon. I checked into my hotel and settled in for a few minutes before deciding I needed an AMP for the night. It had been a long 3 days and I knew I was going to need to get some caffeine in me before the two shows I had perform in that night.
I also wanted rum.(sorry mom) I apple mapped my way to the nearest store, which turns out in South Carolina are not state run, and met a very friendly Indian lady. Like from India, not native American....but that would have been equally as interesting. She tried to huck me some homemade salsa, and much as I would have liked some she didn't have an mild or hot, she only had the extra hot. As much as I enjoy spicy food I had an incident with some homemade wings a week back or so and still had not fully recovered from the beating my sphincter had taken. to quote a friend, "it treated my body like a water slide." (Diblin, 2012)
7:15 quickly rolled around and I made my way to the club for the first show. I was working with a former acquaintance named Mikey Mason. He is a super funny and nice guy from Indiana. It is always fun to work with him because he draws a very energetic and good natured crowd. When you have a headliner who you know is able to draw good crowds, it takes away a lot of the anxiety of uncertainty. Both shows were really fun. (side note: the MC's name was Chris Brown, but he was a middle aged white guy...I found that amusing) We finished up pretty late and I headed back to my hotel.
I slept a very long time that night. I really didn't open any curtains or get out of bed till about 2pm. I take that back, at 8:45 I stumbled out of bed and somehow made my way downstairs sans shoes or underwear to grab some of the free continental breakfast. I have a weird joy that comes about every time I am around people when only wearing gym shorts without underwear. In my head I know that there is a very thin layer of polyester between me and the world. I would do a little dance to celebrate but that would shake things up. (rim-shot)
The day seemed to crawl by. The life of being on the road is very exciting and boring at the same time. I feel like, for comedians especially, there is a very large attitude of "hurry up and wait". We rush to get places on time just to sit around till our turn.
However, showtime still rolled around, and both shows were awesome. Well I think they were awesome. I had a great time on stage. Twenty minutes was a strange amount of time for me, but I really enjoyed the freedom to be able to slow down and take in how the audience was reacting to my performance. It adds another layer of depth to everything when you don't have to focus on just getting the material out. (eventually I will post some video of the feature sets. I need to edit them. I have some jokes only in one set that I want to figure out a way to insert)
I slept hard again that night. Before I knew it, it was time to check out and head back to Raleigh. I made really awesome time and arrived with little to no problems. It was an amazing experience and I honestly cannot wait to get back on the road again. I met some incredible strangers and got to experience a *slightly* different part of the country for a few days.
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