Readers Blog: Dobie Maxwell's 'Dented Can' Diary

The Price Of Fun

Thursday July 26th, 2012 – Rockford, IL/Glenview, IL

I don’t know how much more fun I can afford to have these days, but I think I’m getting close to my legal limit. I really need to start turning a significant buck with something or other, or my clock is in for a big time cleaning. I’m walking a tight rope in a tornado without any safety nets.

Today I got the last minute bat signal call to fill in on the afternoon talk radio show on WNTA in Rockford, IL. I’m always flattered to get the call, but I wasn’t expecting it today. I was hoping to get caught up with all kinds of other stuff that’s been piling up, but again I dropped everything to answer the call of duty. I don’t mind helping out, and I can use the practice – but was it smart?

Yes, I get paid for my time – but most of that goes to my gas and expenses of getting there not to mention my time. It’s always a time eater to get to the station because it’s not very convenient to where I live. I have to leave early, and that ends up taking more time away from my work day.

Again, I don’t mind doing it and it’s actually a great opportunity to develop my skills in an area that could really stand improving, but I really need to experience some kind of payoff pretty soon or I’m going to have to move on. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee this will ever lead to a job.

Does it hurt that I’m on a legitimate and credible radio station? Absolutely not. Not only that, it helps to improve my skill set on Sunday nights as host of ‘The Mothership Connection’ on WLIP in Kenosha, WI but there’s another project that’s not making any money at all. A guy has to eat.

Can I afford all of this fun? I love doing all of it, but something has to click at some point. I am doing all I can to make it happen, but things like this always take longer than anyone expects. I’d have thought The Mothership Connection would have turned at least a little bit of a buck by now, but it hasn’t. I’ve been working hard at building that up lately, but it’s still a ways from a payday.

In a perfect world which it never is, I’d be able to squeeze everything in and not have to worry about money. I’ve been doing exactly that for years, but I don’t know how long that can last. It’s getting to be late in the fourth quarter, and if I don’t find a way to figure this out the game is lost.

What the exact solution is, I have no idea. I can’t keep doing part time radio and expect to keep doing comedy full time on the road. And at the level I’m doing it, comedy doesn’t have much of a future either. There’s something else that needs to see a substantial payoff or it’s time to can it.

I can’t stand the thought of not doing either one, and that’s why I’ve stayed with them both for so long. Quitting radio or standup comedy would put a giant dagger through my heart, and I want to avoid it at all costs. But who am I kidding - I’m just barely squeaking by by the tiniest margin.

Tonight I worked at a relatively new entertainment venue called ‘The Laughing Chameleon’ in Glenview, IL. It’s a tiny but beautiful room located in a really nice entertainment complex called ‘The Glen’ which has bars, restaurants, shops and town homes. The place may hold 60, and they book everything from improv to magicians to standup comedy. I’m grateful to be close to home.

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