Motor City, People!
Let’s get some dates out of the way here. I will be playing Los Angeles at DynastyTypewriter on October 5th and 6th. This is a small venue so you should get tickets if you want to come. Also, if you’ve seen me a bunch of times recently, wait it out until my special taping which has been moved to LA. I don’t have specifics yet but I’m going to need my LA people there.
I head to Philadelphia, Washington, DC and Boston October 10th, 11th and 12th. That's Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. In DC, I am playing the Kennedy Center. It’s big. So, if you want to see me and you are in the DC area that would be a good time. I like when rooms are close to full. It makes me feel better about what I do.
I’ll be in Nashville, Atlanta and San Francisco, October 18th, 19th and 26th. These are the final dates of the run of this hour-plus. I love all these cities and I’m looking forward to all the shows.
So, Detroit. I really didn’t know what to expect. Like most people I’ve heard that the city was pretty beat up and might not be coming back. I have to say, it’s a wild mix of desolation and excitement block to block. It’s definitely unique and has its own vibe. I wouldn’t call it charming but it’s intense. New business, artists, boarded up buildings, vacant lots, space.
The show was at The Masonic Temple which I believe used to be the biggest Masonic Temple in the country or world. It’s this old, gothic complex of theaters and secret hallways. Masonic temples are darkly charged spaces in general. Any ritual space has its own frequency, its own atmospheric hum. I was in the smaller theater. It seats about 1800 and I got about 1200 in there. I could feel the presence of generations of men sitting in the room and doing the rites and rituals, wearing the costumes and hats and holding the sacred objects in bizarre varied acts of witchcraft collected over the centuries from different disciplines and cultures to seal the oaths of the brotherhood. I’m just glad I didn’t have a heart attack and die on that stage. Because even though it’s a defunct space I have to assume that ritual spaces are always in use even if there is no one there overseeing the ritual and I didn’t want to be the final turn of the sacrifice of the Jew rite.
I made that up but there’s got to be something similar in the Masonic texts.
I ate a Lafayette Coney Island hot dog. That was after the show. Arguable, if I had eaten it before, the odds of me clutching my chest on stage would’ve been better.
Toronto was amazing. I got about 2200 into the room. Felt full. Great crowd. Rosebud Baker opened for me and did a great job.
Chicago is always a great city for me. I sold out The Vic and the show was amazing. Me and my opener Jonah Ray plowed through a medium Lou Malnatis Classic pie in a park before the show. That’s my sacred Chicago ritual.
Great show. Unhealthy food. Lots of plane travel and mediocre sleep. The life.
Today I talk to the mystery that is Byron Allen. He started out at The Comedy Store as a teenager and now is a media mogul. He actually owns The Weather Channel. On Thursday I talk to Jeannie Gaffigan (Jim’s wife) about her new book that’s about her brain tumor. Heavy, heartening stuff. Good talks.
Enjoy!
Boomer lives!
Love,
Maron