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September 13, 2007 - SUMMER IS OVER, BACK TO WORK

Finally an update for my neglected website readers. I’ll get you caught up on the last six months with some pictures and sentence fragments. Since I last spoke to you in February, I made my 2nd appearance on “The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” I had to cut two jokes because Chris Rock showed up, he was doing the Tyra Banks show next door and decided to say hi. He’s earned that right. So I’ll save those jokes for next time. Here’s a picture of me in my green, with all my free gifts- booze and a bookbag.

My opening joke on “The Late Late Show” was about Screech from the TV show Saved By The Bell.  A few weeks later, by coincidence I performed another show with Dustin Diamond, who played Screech.  Here’s a picture of Dustin and comedian Sean Kent looking excited along with me, not looking quite as excited.

I also did some regular spots at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, which means that I’m now passed at all the major clubs in Los Angeles. I was even invited to be a guest on the Laugh Factory’s podcast, which was hosted by comedian Dom Irrera. It made me feel kind of famous, but then I realized as I was sandwiched in between appearances by Norm MacDonald and Bob Saget. I went back to feeling not famous.

Next up, my first trip of the year to Canada. I headlined The Laugh Resort in Toronto. What a beautiful city! I had some friends and family visit and see the shows.  During the day, I caught a Blue Jays game at Sky Dome or they now call Rogers Center (FYI -Rogers is Canada’s version of Verizon)

Afterwards, my parents and I went up the CN Tower, which is the largest freestanding structure in North America. I’m not sure what that means but I think it means it's big.  I wouldn’t say I’m afraid of heights, but I get kind of freaked out when I have to look straight down through a glass floor on something like this. That’s my moms foot. I was too much of a wuss to stand on the glass floor. It was a beautiful view from the top, there were a few restaurants so ate lunch up there, before heading back to earth. There was a freaky view from the bottom, looking all the way up the elevator shaft. There’s a little Star Wars- Death Star vibe to it. Everyone at the club was so nice and cool to be around.  I can’t wait to go back and see more of Toronto. There’s a lot of music and comedy history there. The sketch group, “Kids in The Hall” started doing shows at the famous “Rivoli.” Mike Myers got the idea for the “Dieter” character for Saturday Night Live- it was based on a waiter at the Rivoli. Toronto’s also where one of my favorite group’s “The Band” first started. 

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It was back home for a few days to Los Angeles, where we got a glimpse of the largest passenger plane in the world, the A380, which landed at the end of our street. It was monstrous and I’m not sure the world’s airport runways are big enough for planes that big.

The next week it was back to Canada, I headlined the legendary Comedy Nest in Montreal. The club has been run by Ernie Butler for almost 30 years. Ernie is a class act, loves comedy and has given some of the big names in the business their first headline gigs- including guys like Jim Carrey.  The club is located in the historic Montreal Forum, which is where the NHL’s Montreal Canadians won 22 of their Stanley Cups. It’s Canada’s version of the Celtics' Boston Garden. The Forum, like Boston Garden, no longer functions as an arena. The Canadians moved to a new arena, and the Forum is now home to shops and restarants, including the Comedy Nest. There’s a section of the original stands and painted lines on the floor where the ice once covered it.

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One of the cool things about working the club is that you get to be a guest on  Ernie Butler’s Comedy Hour on CJAD Radio on Thursday night. I performed at the Comedy Nest, then headed over to Ernie’s studio at 11pm. Ernie played my TV appearances and some other clips on the air, we also chatted about comedy a lot.  He was very complimentary and I was really blown away that he mentioned my name in the same sentence with some of the best comedians in the business like Brian Regan, Jake Johannsen and Jim Gaffigan.  It was just so much fun working at the club all week, chatting comedy with Ernie and the rest of the staff. It really felt like home. I can’t wait to go back!

It was back to LA from there. I worked on some new projects, saw some shows and concerts including Brian Wilson- the legendary genius from the Beach Boys.

In July, I got to perform on a bunch of the birthday shows at the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach. It’s always a great time reconnecting with comedy friends and meeting new ones.

Then it was back to the east coast for a one night engagement at the Tiahwaga Performing Arts Center, in Owego, NY.  My buddy Moody McCarthy and I had so much fun doing the show last year, that we decided to come back and do it again. The show was sold out and it was fun to do all the local media, including the WBNG-TV News at Noon, the Louie G and Lori radio Show, and WEBO radio.  It’s always great seeing everyone at home and catching up with old friends.  Then it was up north to beautiful Alexandria Bay, where Moody and I did another  show. Here's a picture of historic Boldt Castle, which was built by George Boldt, millionaire owner of the Waldorf-Astoria. His wife died during construction. George couldn't imagine living in this castle without his wife so he abandoned it. They've done a lot of renovating and it looks great in this picture.

From there, we drove to the capital of Canada, Ottawa. Absolute Comedy is one of my favorite, and headlining the whole week was such a blast. The crowds were all sold out. On Friday, we actually put on two shows at the same time-one upstairs, one downstairs.
Moody and I took some time during the day to see a few of the sites, including the Parliament building and other monuments.  One of the best parts of working at Absolute is the fun staff that works there. They all enjoy comedy, working hard and having a few drinks. The cooks in the kitchen look like they are in heavy metal band, but they make a mean chicken sandwich too!

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It was back home to Los Angeles for the rest of the summer. I performed a week at The Improv in Brea, CA, as well as on my birthday at The Improv in Irvine with Darrell Hammond of “Saturday Night Live.” Some people hate working on their birthdays, but with my job, there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.

The summer’s officially over now- it’s back to school or work – or whatever it is that you want to do. Get to it! Hopefully I’ll see you on the road…

Thanks for reading,
Paul C. Morrissey

NOTE:  As I was writing this, I got word that Ernie Butler of The Comedy Nest passed away from stomach cancer this week. He was a class act, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family. He will be missed and remembered.  If you want to listen to me on Ernie’s Radio show from this past May, go to the media page on my website and click on “Montreal Radio Show.”