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Jewish World Review Feb 24, 2014 / 24 Adar I, 5774 The secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings: Part 4By Dave Weinbaum
JewishWorldReview.com |
"Man is most nearly himself when he achieves
the seriousness of a child at play" - Heraclitus
Ten years after a new beginning writing, I found I had penned thousands of quotes
and jokes. While I began making a yearly quote/joke calendar about 1999 and
continue to do so to this day, I wondered what else I could do with the one-liners.
If you've got a good water supply go to the thirsty, so I started hanging out at
comedy clubs, asking the comics where they got their routines. Seems almost all
wrote their own routines—except the ones who stole them. So I put two and
nutsville together and decided to take a crack at cracking others up.
At 55 years of age, I got up in front of an audience whose average age was about
22. Every performer that night was amazingly gross, with the exception of a few.
The dirty ones got the bigger laughs.
Surprisingly calm, I took to the mike and spewed my act. That's right, I was so
fast that not even the few jokes that were funny to some got much of a laugh
because I didn't plan to pause long enough to let the laughter be part of
the act. All I was concerned with was getting my gig squeezed into the three
minutes I was allowed, so they'd let me back another time.
I was more than thrilled with my first performance. I did get a few laughs and I did
finish on time and I did it without bringing a piece of paper on stage.
I repeated gigs another 70 time, developing an act that killed some nights. Eventually
I emceed for a few pros. I could tell that if I started in my youth I may have ended
up with a decent comedy/acting career.
Not having time to travel the circuit, I knew I couldn't expand as a comic. My job
and being close to family were more important.
Ideas are king—their sources commoners
My first show was in early December, 2009. I managed to get the ire of the
station owner so much, he put me on probation in writing for telling this joke: My
dog got into my stash of Viagra—at least he stopped chasing his own tail.
Who knew that was offensive?!
It was an inauspicious start, not unlike many I've had. I watched my mouth—only
getting as gross as my fellow radio hosts.
My show, which is modeled after Rush Limbaugh with a dash of Don Imus, began to
gain traction. I billed it as the fastest hour in radio and went out and got sponsors,
with the help of Tonya Bramel and Anna Riley Poling. I work very hard on getting
the latest information to my listeners with my own analysis.
As the sponsors grew and my I got better, I realized I had some assets for the
radio business:
About two years into doing The Dave Weinbaum Show, I approached the
station manager. I said, "Pig Vomit, my show is making you guys money way above
my ad contributions. Shouldn't I get paid?" After he stopped laughing, he said,
"I'll tell you what Weinbaum, I'll start paying you when Niagara Falls freezes over."
I signed my first radio contract on January 11th this year, at the age of 65.
On the same day the Internet was replete with stories and pictures concerning
the cold weather.
Niagara Falls had frozen over.
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DaveWeinbaum.com. He is a businessman, writer and part-time stand-up comic and resides in a Midwest red state.
© 2014, Dave Weinbaum |
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