First – SHOW TONIGHT! 7pm doors at The Good Nite on Burbank Blvd in North Hollywood. Show at 7:30!
Secondly – EL CID IS CLOSING!! Connor, the super cute white Prince who runs the sound there, told me that this coming Monday – Dec. 19 – is the LAST El Cid Open mic EVER! I did notice that the main sign was not lit up this past week. I am pretty bummed out; I love the El Cid stage. It’s a beautiful proscenium with professional lights and sound. Kinda better than an open mic deserves, but it’s important for practicing musicians and comics to know what they look like on a fancy stage (assuming they’re taping themselves). Although, El Cid definitely became my comfort zone. And I need to step the fuck out of that.
But here’s why I really wanted you to read this post… for some gooood viiiiibes:
On Dec. 12, for the second time, I played a 30-minute feature set before the El Cid Open Mic. We started a few minutes later because Michael, the host, wanted to get more people in (thank you for being there!!). It wasn’t a full house and the crowd was kinda subdued, but I could see in people’s faces that they were having a great time. I love it so much when I connect with specific audience members and they just *get it* and have fun with me. When I can, I thank those people for being great audience members after the shows.
I brought my merch out on Monday night because I finally got more CDs in hand! And my merch maleta (that’s suitcase in espanol. I just like the alliteration) looks better with CDs in it. I need new shirts too. I need all kinds of merch. I’m making pins! I’ll come back to those later though. I made a handful for El Cid, but I freaking forgot them at home. It was one of those worked-on-it-all-day-and-then-forgot-it situations, literally. Annoying AF I believe the kids say.
Anyway, I have CDs now (so come get one at Thursday’s show)! I gave a copy to the ID-checkin’ gentleman at El Cid – whose name I just learned is Terrence, and who I also learned is having a birthday Thursday -today! – and also to Tina (Teena?), who works the door. And they both asked me to sign their CDs. It was adorable and made me feel fucking cool! On Tina’s I wrote “Thank you for letting me in and not 86ing me.” She read it and said, “Never! I love it when you come here! It makes my night when you play,” and then continued for the next minute, along with Terrence, to bathe me in what would be uncomfortable praise if I never learned how to take compliments. The bartender overheard Teena’s effusive speech and joined in to tell me that he used to avoid picking up Monday night shifts, but Mark ,the regular Monday night server, had talked me up so much (thank you, Mark!! Missed you on Monday), he had to come in and check me out himself. And he’s picked up a handful of Mondays since then.
I think receiving verbal love is akin to bathing because, and I don’t know about you, but I get a gooey warm feeling all over my body, like chocolate being poured directly on top of the sundae, so that gravity pulls it almost evenly down its sides to the floor. I’m not gonna lie – I was uncomfortable for a few nanoseconds. I got over it. And thank goodness, because receiving a compliment has gotta be in the Top 10 of Best Things About Being A Human.
But… it’s deeper than that, isn’t it? It’s not just that you’re being told your art is great by someone that’s not your mom, the thing – that *thing* – is knowing that your creation has hit someone deep inside of their soul to the point where they look forward to subsequent creations.
I want to make an abundantly lush living from this ridiculous vein of performance I insist on perpetuating. But if that doesn’t manifest, the worthiness of my endeavor will live in how it made people happy, excited, and anticipating awesomeness. I think that’s really what drives me: knowing that I have the power to make people laugh and love, as cheesy as that sounds. I mean, laughter and love are two of my favorite things and I want more of them in the world.
Courtney McClean 