I told you about my girlfriend who would just disappear for weeks and go to some exotic location and never even let me know when and where she was. One day I told a friend that she was probably in the Caribbean somewhere. He said, “Jamaica”? I said, “No, she went willingly”.
As you know, I did a lot of traveling in my line of work. If you’re an entertainer, you don’t question, you just go. A gig’s a gig. People who need to laugh and will pay for it. So you better be there on time and give it all you’ve got. It matters not how far you have to either fly or drive. The show must go on!
I’ve done comedy in the US of course, but also Canada, France and England. Even with an interpreter, fortunately, it still worked, opening some other avenues to perform. OK, there are countries where I never want to perform. Russia would be at the top of my list.
I’m assuming it would be difficult to get many laughs. Putin would be there, of course and if he laughed I think everyone would feel comfortable laughing as long as he did. If he didn’t laugh, I’m sure there would only be the sound of half frozen crickets.
I passed in any country where Americans were hated and had a habit of vanishing. I wouldn’t want to charged for being a spy. I think in this day and age, it’s just safer. Instead of throwing bottles, they throw bottle rockets. Many places send cocktails to the comedian. In Russia, they just might be of the molotov variety.
I don’t travel much anymore, but when I do, it’s on American friendly places. Right now, that’s Utah, Idaho and Scottsdale, Arizona. Just my guesses. In Scottsdale, all you have to worry about is dodging the people hawking time shares. I can handle those guys. You simply say, I have one now and it’s perfect. We’re just here for the free weekend.
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Glasgow used to pride itself on being the toughest town from an outsider to work, particularly one location named the Glasgow Odeon, where many an English comic was in danger of dying (in more ways than one). I heard a recording of a dissatisfied audience in full flow….very frightening!
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Yikes! I never got a response like that – thank God. Wow. I knew there was a good reason to avoid that country.
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Just look at Billy Connolly; that’s the kind of comics that nation breeds!!
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