There’s a lot of waiting around in life, which can sometimes get you into trouble! Many years ago, when I was backstage at a theater waiting for the first act to finish performing so I could go on, I decided to explore the rest of the theater, which just happened to be attached to a university.
I walked through one door and then heard a BAM. It closed behind me and LOCKED. (Oops.) I was now inside the school. I listened: no alarms, no cops. (Whew!) But I was a little stuck and the clock was ticking; the comedian on stage had about 10 minutes left. So, I frantically searched around for a way back in. I came to another door which opened to the outside—perfect!
I figured I could just go outside, walk around the building, and go in through the front like an audience member. . . except it was dark out. So, when I went through that door, I found myself in a HUGE construction area on top of a HUGE pile of dirt. Actually, it had been dirt: the earlier rain had turned it to mud. And of course, I heard the BAM again, locking the door. There was no turning back now!
I gingerly made my way down the mud pile and got to the bottom without mudding up my outfit, except for my shoes—they were trashed (I wanted a new pair anyway!). I raced around to the front box office and spent a couple minutes convincing them that I didn’t need a ticket to see the show because I WAS the show. My muddied shoes didn’t help any, but they finally let me in with about 60 seconds to spare!
The show went spectacularly! No one could see my shoes because the stage was up high, and I used the recording I made from that show for about 10 years to book work. But if you look closely at the video of me, you’ll see my muddy footprints all over the stage. A funny memory that makes me laugh.
That experience hasn’t stopped me from exploring (though I now test the door first before going through), and I hope I never get to the point in life where I stop asking questions. Two out of three times my curiosity pays off with some new insights, and that third time I get a good story, at least!
Trying new things lead me to a back room of a coffee shop recently where about 30 other people and I attended a performance of what I thought were just some local musicians. One woman on stage, probably in her late 60s, was playing the viola. Nice, but not that interesting to me (I’m a drummer). Then she told her story, and it turns out she was more than just your ordinary viola player. Back in the early 70s, Novi Novog (the woman) was a session musician, which is basically a musician who plays and records with various bands, sort of a freelance band member. One night she got a call to pop down to the studio in the morning to record a viola piece for the B-side of a 45 record. (Remember the B-side?) She recorded it on the first take, and the producer loved it. Done.
Two years later she and her cousin were driving along the Pacific Coast Highway when the Doobie Brothers song “Black Water” came on the radio with that iconic viola opening, and she screamed, “That’s me!” They pulled over at the nearest local radio station, ran in and started banging on the DJ booth window screaming, “That’s me!” The DJ told her to get lost! That’s a bummer because what a great story that DJ would have had if he’d just taken a minute to ask her a question. By the way, that song from the B-side became the Doobie Brothers first number 1 hit, and yes, she played it for us—very cool!
Being curious comes naturally as a comedian because that’s how we find humor, but it has also enriched my personal life because it’s led me to so many interesting experiences, such as hearing Novi play that iconic song in a very small setting. So, remember: make your life more interesting by being more inquisitive! Sure, you could wind up on top of a mud pile, but you might also get a new pair of shoes out of it!
