Comedy itineraries are among the most varied things about doing comedy. I’ll get one that is super professional with the radio info for the headliner, contact names (sometimes as many as three) and even useful info like where to park or what time zone is involved, which helps tremendously. Then there are the other 75% of them.
Over the years, I have been sent to the wrong hotel on a few occasions, on even more I had no reservation. This summer I drove from Ohio to Georgia and the venue forgot to 1) save a room for me on Labor Day weekend and 2) forgot to promote the show, so 12 people showed up…counting me and the other two comics…and my Dad…and the staff. I have been given the wrong time on multiple shows and had at least a half dozen shows cancel the week of the event.
The worst faux pas ever was when I got to emcee a show in Pennsylvania. Upon returning to the hotel after midnight, the lady tried to save money for the show by putting me and two guys who had never met before in the same hotel room. The headliner blew a gasket and made us get another room (he did chip in on it). The awkwardness of staring at a the drunk feature act and a raging headliner, both in their 40’s, at a Knights Inn in a town of 7,000 people as we all mentally played the “Who’s getting the cot?” game is a feeling I can’t accurately describe other than to say it sucked very hard. Oh well, I’m sure nothing will go wrong this weekend!