REMEMBERING MICHAEL NESMITH
Published by Rick on Tagged UncategorizedActually most of the encounter I had with the late Mike Nesmith was told in my February 2019 blog on noting the passing of Mike’s Monkee bandmate Peter Tork. So what I will do today is elaborate where I can on the already told story. Rick and Ruby and our keyboardist Raoul were hired in […]
THE REAL PROVING GROUND
Published by Rick on Tagged UncategorizedIt was 20 years ago this week that I was introduced to the living hell that was the Christmas comedy season with the late, lamented Jongleurs comedy club chain. This wasn’t anything that new for me, as I always remember the holiday season as a time for many office parties that paid very well and […]
21 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK – WHO KNEW?
Published by Rick on Tagged UncategorizedAt this time in the year 2000, I was about to turn 50 in, of all places, Cork, Ireland, which I’d never heard of until I was booked there. Cork would be the final stop on my first of many journeys from California to mostly England over the next three years until I would decide […]
PUNK COMEDY?
Published by Rick on Tagged UncategorizedIt was maybe not that far-fetched. For the bulk of 1977, people kept predicting Punk Rock to be the Wave of the Future, but settled for evolving into New Wave, and lots of people made money instead of just a few lucky souls. But what the heck were WE doing playing in that scene? Don’t […]
THE MOST NERVOUS I’VE EVER BEEN ON STAGE
Published by Rick on Tagged Uncategorized1977 was a pivotal year for me and my partner. After years of Rick and Ruby working the suburbs, we finally decided “Wait a minute. We live in San Francisco, why the heck are we working Walnut Creek?” We pursued a club on Polk Street called The Palms, and I’m not really sure how we […]
MY LAST US ROAD TRIP — THE VERY LAST!!
Published by Rick on Tagged UncategorizedWe turn the clock back to the early summer of 2001, about three months before 9/11, and seven months after I started working in UK. I had hooked up with the comedy club chain called Comedy Zone, who were able to book me on a run that started in Charlotte NC, went to Myrtle Beach […]
FOND MEMORIES OF A NICE GUY
Published by Rick on Tagged UncategorizedHearing today of the death of actor Ed Asner at the age of 91 brought back the memory that this was one celebrity we would meet more than once and with whom we would have something resembling a friendship, albeit mostly in phone conversations, over the ensuing years. He helped us get our first gig […]
OPENING ACT HIGH AND LOW….. IN THE SAME EVENING!
Published by Rick on Tagged UncategorizedLast night I did my weekly podcast Comedy Dish with host and fellow comic Steven Alan Green, and I persuaded my former partner Ruby (Monica Ganas) to be our special guest. What excited me most about it was the advance promo on Facebook got about ten times the number of “likes” and comments that we […]
THE SUPERSTAR JAM, WITH ME TO FOLLOW
Published by Rick on Tagged UncategorizedIn 1987, The Comedy Store was supplying me with enough income that I could have stayed in LA the whole year and made a comfortable living. But during that 80’s Comedy Boom there were road rooms that were also being very generous, paying airfare and lodging, and one that I worked in Texas even supplied […]
“Suddenly A Shot Rang Out…”
Published by Rick on Tagged UncategorizedActually from my count, it was five shots, but they came in pretty rapid succession, so the exact number is somewhat vague. I was a bit occupied doing my act at the Comedy Store one Monday night approximately 30 years ago. I was in the Store’s Main Room and having a fairly good set, given […]