We had an amazing US tour for spring break week. All the shows were sold out or very close, including our biggest crowd ever, in Atlanta, with opener Bill Taft, who gave me my first-ever club gig 15 years ago, when he let me open for the best band around, Hubcap City. But I want to talk about the first show on the tour, in Providence, with hilarious opener Darik Santos. It was at AS220's black box theater. Once we finished setting up, it was a little while before doors opened, and there wasn't exactly a backstage anywhere, so we went to one of the 2 single-occupancy bathrooms for some privacy before the show. Once doors opened, I realized, for the first time, we're now famous enough that people recognize us on sight, so we can start doing what I've wanted to do most for half my life: Mess with fans. I told the other guys we should stay in the bathroom and, whenever anyone knocks to use it, we should just invite them in to hang out with us (this was especially OK since there was another bathroom right next to the one we were in). Since they were all there to see us, they'd get that it was funny instead of creepy (which it would be if they didn't know us, it's a shame that familiarity dictates creepiness). So we stood there for a while and a couple guys knocked and ignored our offers to let them in. Then Darik Santos knocked and we invited him in and hung out in there for a long time, just the 5 of us, making jokes and chatting. It was great. Eventually, he left to go open the show, and was hilarious. I really loved his joke "I wish I were a pinata, because then my belly would be full of candy... No, I wish I were a pinata so I could go to a birthday party," but his best joke was "I wish I were more like my grandfather, because he got to have sex with my grandmother." We did the show and it went well, even though it was our smallest audience, percentage-wise (40 out of 60), but when we asked people why they came, everyone said it was to see Darik Santos! So my plan of being hilarious famous people failed completely, even though it would've worked really well at all our other shows on the tour. Maybe we'll try it in Detroit in August. One other amazing thing happened in Atlanta. A guy was buying a shirt from me, and said he remembered Smoke, because he saw their documentary. And I realized I've finally accomplished the goal I had as a teen: Get as famous as Benjamin (surprisingly for the exact same reason: A documentary about my disability). But he died before his movie came out. I wish he'd had the chance to enjoy the fame like I have (and hopefully will continue to). Being famous is actually the only way I've ever wanted my life to be, and without it I've always felt empty and like something was missing. And now I feel right and normal, for the first time ever maybe. I hope it keeps going well. I'm trying to remind myself not to end up like Andy Dick, which is one of my biggest fears. I'm so excited for our summer tours of Europe and the U.S. I hope we can get bigger and bigger due to our creativity and taste.
izzy806
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