May
What? And Quit Show Business?
As I was driving in to Lima, Ohio for a show, I heard the radio station advertise that a “Tom Goodwin” was performing at a place called “Waldo and Stiemy’s Sports Bar and More”. How they got “Tom Goodwin” out of “Pat Godwin” is beyond me, because I sent the proper promotional material months in advance. Why I’m at such a place is not beyond me… I booked it. The commercial went on to say that this “Tom Goodwin” was hilarious and making quite a name for himself so you’d better get your tickets fast. Since I was doing a door deal with the club (I get paid a percentage of the tickets sold), I panicked. It’s hard enough to pack a place with the right name, let alone one that’s off by 4 letters. John Mayer draws a crowd; Tim Mayek does not.
Thinking that this may be the radio station’s faux pas, I pulled in to the nearest gas station and got one of those weekly entertainment papers and sure enough, there it was: Appearing tonight at “Waldo and Stiemy’s Sports Bar and More”-Tom Goodwin. It was then and there I realized that I’m not really in show business. I may think I am, but I’m not. I get paid for making people laugh, put on a show and do some business, but I’m not IN show business. I don’t have a manager or an agent. I don’t schmooze well or do any of the necessary things that shape a career. I wake up, write, practice, perform and repeat. That should be enough but it’s not even close.
People in show business have representation that looks after tiny details like not working at a place called “Waldo and Stiemy’s Sports Bar and More” and getting the performer’s name right. My friend Daniel Tosh from Tosh 2.0 is in show business. Tieve, the one-armed plate spinner I saw on “America’s Got Talent” is in show business. Hell, even the elusive and enigmatic “Tom Goodwin” is in show business but “Pat Godwin” is not.
Next week the More part of “Waldo and Stiemy’s Sports Bar and More” is comedian Costaki Economopoulos and guess what? His name is spelled right on all the advertisements. Costaki Economopoulus is in show business.
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