Thursday July 12th, 2007 - Lake Villa, IL

Today is Bill Cosby’s 70th birthday. If there is a greater comedian that has ever lived I’m not able to think of who it is. Bob Hope was huge in his heyday but in my opinion nobody touched more people from a broad range of backgrounds than Bill Cosby. Not that what I think means anything but I have been in the comedy business my whole adult life and have always admired not only his comedy but his universal appeal. He is the chosen one and any comedian who doesn’t respect him gets a strange look from all the rest of us who do. He’s a person that transcends old and young and black and white and never had to work blue.

I’ve gotten a chance to meet my personal favorite comedian Rodney Dangerfield and yes he’s one of the greats but I think even he would have to say he wasn’t as big as Cosby. I’d love to get a chance to cross paths with Bill in person and pick his brain a little about what he thinks on a variety of subjects. Maybe I’ll get that chance and maybe I won’t but I bet if I do I won’t embarrass myself. I’ve gotten to interact with some of the big name comics of the modern era such as George Carlin, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Drew Carey, Chris Rock, Sam Kinison, Bill Hicks, Robin Williams, Jeff Foxworthy, and many others. I’ve even met Rosie O’Donnell and we got along fine because we talked about comedy. I liked her a lot.

I really enjoy the comedic mind and I love being around it. Comedians have a mindset as a group and I have always fit right in. It’s hard to describe but there is a mutual respect for someone who is brave enough to take on the difficulty of making a career of comedy. I am very much at home with that mindset and even when I’ve met big stars in the business I’ve always been able to talk to them one on one and see the flash of respect in their eyes that I am ‘one of them’. I have no doubt I’d be able to find common ground with Bill Cosby too.

I’m not flattering myself and putting myself in a category with Bill Cosby. NOBODY is. I’m just saying that he’s a world class entertainer and out of respect I wanted to mention it was his 70th birthday. It’s amazing how many people of note were born in 1937. My father is one along with Saddam Hussein but then there’s Bill Cosby and George Carlin too.

I remember seeing Cosby with my grandfather when I was about 14. I really didn’t want to go at the time but Gramps insisted. He used to take me to all kinds of things he thought I may never see on my own from polo matches to stage plays to pool halls to concerts that I may not choose like Victor Borge and Bill Cosby. I walked in the Cosby show and didn’t think it would be entertaining at all. All there was was a microphone and that was it. How could THAT entertain ME, Mr. 14 year old critic? I folded my arms and sunk in my seat.

There was a piano player that was the opening act and that made me even less interested in staying but I wasn’t old enough to drive yet and I had to sit there because I was stuck. I tried to pretend like I was having a good time to be nice to Gramps but then Bill came out and tore the place apart for about an hour and a half. I was laughing as hard as I could and so was Gramps. Now THAT takes some real ability and I didn’t realize how truly difficult that was until I became a comedian myself. I’ll never forget how amazing Cosby was that night and I only hope I’ll be able to touch someone like that someday myself. I’m trying.

Lots of other stuff going on today too. Jerry Agar called and said he and his son Cooper were passing near my house on their way up to do a camping trip in Wisconsin. I was glad to hear from them and even more glad Jerry was doing that as a father. He’s giving his son a wonderful lifetime memory just like Gramps gave me with Bill Cosby. That show was 30 years ago and I can remember it like it was last week. I know Cooper will think back thirty years from now and remember the fun he will have for these couple of days. It’s a one on one thing and I think Jerry is great for doing it. His other kids are fantastic too and they’ll get their one on one time too. Fatherhood isn’t that tough, it just takes some stuff like this.

Max is another good father and we talked about five times on the phone today about our big on air audition show tomorrow night. He is like a kid about it and giddy and excited to be getting a chance and I have to agree with him. There is something really exhilarating for us both about getting a chance to get back on the air at the Loop again. We have both felt an emptiness inside since we got fired and we never thought we’d get another chance at it.

We talked again about how this all just feels SO right on every level. I don’t know what it is exactly and maybe it’s a combination of things but our minds are both set on getting a job at a station we both really want to work at in a town we both really want to live in. It’s even the perfect shift too. Mornings might be the ‘glamour’ spot but there’s nothing at all glamorous about getting up at 3am and nodding off in your mashed potatoes at dinner.

I personally feel we are going to get this job. Circumstances have come around and I can just FEEL it being the right fit and Max can too. It’s electric and I love it and I feel like we are both totally in sync with what we need to be doing right now and where we should be. I have rarely if ever felt this positive about anything in my life and I’m allowing it to come to me. I can picture it in my mind and I know Max can too. This will be a big career break.

My friend Will C. from Kansas City came through town today on his way to do a gig up in Janesville, WI. He is another one of my favorite people. He’s very much a dented can as is Max and there is something about that that bonds us. Jerry is a great friend but he’s very normal. That’s great but sometimes I can’t relate to him on some levels. Will and Max and I are in the same boat and those are the listeners that will love us the most. We ARE them.

Will was running late but we chowed down at the old Golden Corral. Both of us had big salads and drank waters and didn’t overdo it on the gravy and sweets or anything else bad. We had fruits and vegetables and a great conversation about life and the struggles of it all. I have grown to really like and respect Will and consider him like the little brother I never had. He is a few years younger and hasn’t been doing comedy as long but he still has a big desire and passion for it and that’s all that’s necessary in my book. He’s working on being the best he can be and is like a kid when he talks about how much he loves it all. That guy is doing comedy for all the right reasons and I like to think I am too. It was a great lunch and even greater because he bought. He didn’t have to do that but I am grateful anyway.

I can feel my life getting ready to take a big step UP. My teeth are in shambles and so are my cars but those are fixable. I’m not looking at anything except getting that radio job.