4/17/24 Austin, Texas

This past weekend was my first time on the road as a headliner. I did two shows in states I've never been to. Lately all I've cared about is testing my limits in this craft, exploring new places, and my incredibly supportive girlfriend, Sam, and making sure our home is our escape from our crazy realities. I wasn't enjoying grinding showcases in a city and I've removed myself from being a regular in comedy scenes and work them like the road when I'm not out and about. Since doing so I've experienced comedy and life in ways I never would've. I’ve seen myself grow, I've seen myself crumble, I've met some amazing people, and some terrible ones.

I'm fortunate that this line of work let's me travel so much and I'm able to see friends all over the country. I stayed with my bestfriends from childhood just outside of Omaha and was overcome with happiness for them to see where their lives took them and what they've made for themselves since we left our hometown.

I've always been fascinated with The West and it's history and culture. On my way to my shows I took the Chisholm Trail to the Oregon Trail to Lewis & Clark trials. I crossed the Arkansas River, the Missouri River, the Platte River. All of these rivers and trails played a part in establishing The West. It's surreal to me to use them for the sake of comedy. I'm intertwining my passions and using resources laid out infront of me from those that made their own leaps.

Saturday I did a show in South Dakota for a town of 400 people and had the time of my life.

Sunday I did a show in Nebraska and was able to give a guest spot to a fellow road comic that was passing through, and he made me work. Two opposite show experiences but both crucial to development and I'm lucky to have been a part of both of them.

I drove a car that I bought two months ago from New Jersey. It was cheaper to fly out there, buy it, drive it back to Texas than it was for me to buy a vehicle in similar condition in the state. Since February I've accumulated 6,500 miles in those two months and this car and I have been to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. On the way back from Nebraska I started to have car troubles in Kansas, north of Salina. The area is desolate, and for that I love it. Doing comedy on the road is the closest I'll get to being a gunslinger drifting through towns. Modern society doesn't do it for me and I enjoy being in places where the land tests you.

While making road side repairs I was stuck in a dust storm, and I've never experienced anything like it. The wind, the glass like dirt and debris, the stress - this is real life. This is my real life and I put myself in these positions frequently. And I wouldn't trade it for anything else. I've done the alternative, and I was miserable. But when the conditions are miserable I thrive.

Somewhere around Salina two of my wheel studs snapped off and without the lugs nuts holding the wheel on properly it violently shook. The rim was trashed. Luckily I had a donut spare tire and swapped them out in a truck stop, then limped my car to an O'Reilly Auto Parts in Wichita. When I went to take the spare off, the remaining lugs also snapped. I have the knowledge and the aptitude to fix this on the side of the road with all my previous experience being a mechanic, but I did not bring any of my tools. Because of that, I spent around $500 in tools and parts from that O'Reilly. I worked until it got too dark and with the storm picking up I chose to get a hotel for the night and game plan and try again the next day. I've never been so far from a support system when things went bad. And now I was quickly burning through all the money I had just made from the previous shows.

One of the employees from O'Reilly gave me a ride to the hotel and even turned down gas money when I insisted. Before leaving my car I hastily packed two bags with whatever valuables I didn't want to risk leaving in the car. When I got to the hotel I was a mess. My hair was clay from being tied up while working on my car and now layered with dirt, my clothes were caked with grime, and my knuckles were busted and bloody. And I was now stuck in a room with terrible thoughts cascading into the next. My phone has been having issues charging and wasn't accepting anything for the first 20 minutes. With what little battery life I had left I texted Sam and gave her a paper trail of where I was, where the car was, where I was planning on being. All incase my phone died and wouldn't come back on. I wrote all of the information down in my road journal too.

I was very aware of my vulnerability and dreading the next day. On top of that, the wind storm had turned into a thunderstorm. Between the increased wind speeds and rain I was certain my car was going to fall off the spare tire jack I left it on, teetering on the 3 remaining wheels. I chose to unpack everything I had stuffed into my bags, laid them out, organized them, and repacked them. It was something I could control. I took inventory, laid my clothes out for the next day, and passed out watching the lighting.

The next morning I checked out with hopes I wouldn't have to come back for a second night. I silently Ubered back to the car and got to work. In about 2 hours I had successfully removed the caliper bracket blocking me from hammering out the old wheel studs, removed the hat rotor, installed the new studs, got everything cleaned and reinstalled, and hit the road. I was able to gameplan the process from the hotel and figure out exactly what other tools I'd need. I've done harder repairs in worse conditions in less desirable locations. I was only able to do all of that because of my years of being a mechanic - knowledge that I've been struggling to reuse since stepping away from wrenching full time. I'm very fortunate to have that stored and vaulted for situations like this.

With the tiny spare on I wasn't comfortable going more than 60mph. I also didn't want to gamble on risk another break down. What should've taken me 8 hours to get home took me about 10. I was passed by every vehicle on the road and fighting the storm winds the entire time. I made it home and had a fantastic night with Sam and we slept in extra late today.

Friends, family, and strangers want to know when Netflix specials are coming out. They don't realize what it takes to get to there. This is what it takes. It takes being funny, but it takes more endurance and quick thinking to withstand obstacles like this.

Here's my advice to to any comic

-Get a road atlas. Invest in maps. Travel centers and some rest stops have them for free for whichever state you're in. Leave them in your car and try to have a copy of as many states as you can. I don't care that your phone has GPS. Phones die.

-Make sure your car is well maintained. I've taken hazardous vehicles over long stretches on road plenty of times, but you always run the risk. Take the time to do a once over as much as you can.

-have tools. Have as many as you can comfortably carry and you know how to use. If you don't know how to use it, learn. Oil changes and brakes are pretty easy to take care of and the more you lower your overhead costs the more you can invest that into gas money or hotels or whatever you need to get out there.

-I was only able to afford this trip and the mishaps because I work my ass off in Austin when I'm not on the road. I work side jobs and anything with a flexible schedule that fits around my comedy. If you want to get on the road more you might have to sacrifice a more secure job.

To the noncomics

-if you like comedy, go to a show. Doesn't have to be mine, doesn't even have to be someone you know, just go. They're cheaper than most concerts, less of a time commitment than them, and you tend to have more fun stories to recall on. Some of us are making tremendous efforts to come to your towns to make you laugh.

To the O'Reilly Auto Parts employees in Wichita - Michael, Caleb, and Chevy - thank you for your help over the course of two days. I was able to make it home.

Also, my car got towed from my apartment sometime this morning. And that's a poetic cherry on top of this sugar free ice cream Sundae. Just when you think it's over. But for some sick reason I'm addicted to these awful lows I've experienced while chasing this dream. Because there's always an equal opposite to them. And I've never felt more alive.