To Whom it May Concern… too formal?
Sorry. Hey, what’s up? Everything good?
I’m on a plane right now flying back from Tampa. It’s bumpy as fuck. Not great. I’ve been wondering lately when does the weather get so weird and screwed up that the winds are faster and harder than they used to be and the current places aren’t built to take it. See where my brain goes when shit gets scary? It makes it scarier. I guess it just likes to keep things exciting and harder for me to feel anything but anxious. Good times. Neural.
Well, Florida is behind me. Dean Delray and myself dropped in, did the gigs, Orlando and Tampa, then got out fast, early, 6:35 flight. It’s not that I don’t like Florida, I’d just rather not hang around too long.
We stayed in a hotel that I think was literally part of the Universal Resort. I don’t even know if Orlando is a real city or some corporate mirage. All I know is there was a Whole Foods close by which is an indication that there are at least a few people around who give a shit about themselves and have a little bread. So, a corporate mirage with at least one healthy option. The rest of the food around was shit.
As you all know I was apprehensive about the gigs. It was really just me spinning out about ticket sales and the idea (false) that I really don’t have a draw in Florida and that it is not my state. It’s stupid to generalize because it turns out, I do. Great crowds came out. Hard Rock Live has a great vibe. I was surprised. The floor was filled up, like 900 folks, warm crowd. Great show. Some woman stared singing loudly some chant like song that I am told is sung at soccer games. She did it like three times. Wouldn’t stop. In the middle of the show. I had to do some big room babysitting. Handled it. Drunky lady had to go. No problem. Moved on. Killed it. So did Deano.
Drove the rental car to Tampa the next day. We arrived amidst some weirdness all over downtown. People in costumes wandering around in groups looking at their phones. They were dressed in strange period outfits. Hundreds of them. Wearing suspenders, trench coats, smoking pipes, bowler hats, weird. I thought maybe a sporting event of some kind with several teams apparently. Nope, it was some global, real time Clue game. Board game nerd squads all over town.
After a couple mediocre meals that made me feel like shit we walked to the Straz (strazzzz) Performing Arts Center. We hung out in the room after sound check and sat in some audience seats and listened to some songs on my pre-show playlist. It’s one of my favorite things to do. It’s like listening to the biggest, loudest stereo.
Sold near all 1,000 seats. Great crowd. Again, there was some weirdness. Front row, stage right, bickering couple. Very distracting. Turns out the guy was shitfaced and his wife had bought him the ticket for a Valentine’s Day present. He got up at some point and was standing and leaning on the lip of the stage. I didn’t notice it until the audience started acting weird and I saw it as it was happening. They were having a fight and I asked what was up which is when I got the Valentine’s info. It was awkward dealing with drunken marital issues while 1,000 people waited for the show to continue but I made it funny and somehow negotiated with her to walk her drunk ass man out of the room. Good show. Exciting. Then the guy sitting next to them asked me, again in front of 1,000 people, if his daughter could move down from the balcony and sit with him and his wife. Not that the seats were officially empty, but I got her down there. He wrote me today to tell me it was the last night the family would be together before the daughter went away to school and she was last of four kids to leave. Touching. Weird how things work out. Glad to help.
All around good times and bad food in the Sunshine State. We ran into Christina Pazsitzky at the airport in Tampa. Always fun to see fellow comedy travelers out there on the road. Love her. She was at the Improv.
Today on the show I talk to Ronan Farrow about growing up in what he grew up in and his journalism. On Thursday I talk to Adam Pally about TV, movies, Jew stuff and the funny. Great talks.
Enjoy!
Love,
Maron