Mom liked him best

I'm finishing up the filming of "The Informant," and it's been terrific acting with Matt Damon - a great, funny guy and a tremendous actor - and an amazing cast, with the highlight for me being spending a day with Tom Smothers. We talked show biz, and guitars, and all sorts of things as I tried to keep from giggling like a fourth grader. "I'm talking with Tom Smothers!! Whoo!!" Tom was such a gracious person, and an incurable showman. At the end of lunch, there were a hundred or so background artists finishing their meal, and all Tom saw was a willing audience. He put on a show, telling jokes and doing YoYo tricks for everybody, to a standing ovation. It was one of those days that made everybody so happy to be in show biz. There is certainly no business like show business, like no business I know.

I must add, I don't think that EVERYTHING about is appealing. But yesterday was very good.

tuppence a bag

The kids found a hummingbird, trying to fly with damaged wings and stuck in a bush, after what looked like a fight to the finish with one of the cats that hang around outside. Dizzy and totally freaked out, the tiny guy looked like he might not make it, but he became a Memorial Day weekend project. We had some hummingbird food and fed it to him from a spoon, and he ate like a linebacker, regaining his wits and his strength, sitting on a tree branch for quite a while before he finally took off, ready for another go at life. Ha. In your face, cat.
May we all spend this weekend regaining strength, sipping sugar water, sitting on a branch for a while, and getting ready to go out there and fight the next cat.

Standup Stonehenge

The Improv in Hollywood is still the foundation of what has become the standup comedy industry, and performing there is always like going to comedy Stonehenge, walking among the tables and muttering in awe "Andy Kaufman yelled at me while wearing a fake beard, denying he was Andy Kaufman right over there!" "Jay Leno used to park his motorcycle right there, smoking a pipe at the bar when it was legal!" "Robin Williams stole another bit that I did standing right here!" Thanks to everybody at the Improv, as always, for the warm welcome and a great weekend.
No, the painting has nothing to do with the Improv. I just finished it and thought I would put it up here. It looks better than the piece of wall at the Improv that Robin Williams leaned on when he watched my show ever so carefully.

Decatur, Illinois!

I just returned from Decatur, where we're filming a movie called "The Informant." Steven Soderbergh is directing it, and Matt Damon is in it, and I think that what the studio is doing is they've decided to promote the Steven Soderbergh/Matt Damon thing in a much more prominent way than they're promoting me being in it. Okay, whatever. I guess somebody just doesn't look at blogs... but they're nice guys and we're having a good time.
Decatur is farmland. Flat flatty flat flat, with corn, soybeans, and a few trees planted around farmhouses to block the wind. And what country house would be complete without a cement deer out in front? My Dad loved this stuff, but since we lived in the city and didn't have room for deer, he put a cement dog in front of our house. Brown and white paint with a couple of black spots sprayed on, until the rain finally washed off the paint and the cement started to crack. He loved that dog, though, and wouldn't get rid of it even when the tail became a dangerous re-bar spike jutting out of the lump of plaster that we had to avoid while playing wiffle ball or someone might get impaled by a decorative beagle. We finally moved out of the city to the suburbs, and a bigger lawn. What did Dad do? He went out and got a brand new dog, a clone of the original. Even when he had room for a deer, Dad decided that loyalty to a cement dog trumped the antlers of the nouveau riche.

Duet

Is there anything more beautiful than a mother and daughter playing music together? Sight and sound, emotion and thrill, passion and history, warmth and love. It's very deep music, with far more to it than what we can hear. It made for a beautiful afternoon, and one day I look forward to a duet with my son. I'll hum into a comb and waxed paper, and he can bang on a coffee can. Sure, a little different than two talented pianists, but we'll have pizza afterward, which will almost make up for the lack of musical chops. I just got back from Detroit and a weekend of fun shows. The highlight of the trip was a wonderful time with an old friend, walking together and having a cheeseburger for lunch, which almost made up for the lack of musical chops.

Squadron

A while ago, I wrote about losing a lot of my paintings when the Riley Arts Gallery in Manhattan Beach was completely destroyed in a fire. It was hard to lose so much work, and for a while I've been spinning my wheels, staring at blank canvases, starting a few paintings only to scrape them off or leave them half finished to paint over with white and start a different painting later. But I'm happy with this painting. It's about finished, and is 54x54". "Squadron" is its title, and before I sell it I think I'll hang it up in the house and look at it for a while.

Dayton, Ohio!

Dayton is one of those great American cities with an inferiority complex. The people are great, the shows are fun, but it seems that after every one, this is a common conversation:
"Loved the show, Tom! What do you think of Dayton?"
"Dayton is great! Lots of nice people!"
"What are you, crazy? I can't wait to get out of this boring hell hole!"
"...Uh...okay, well, thanks for coming!"
The comedy club is situated in the middle of one of those art directed shopping villages, a little fake town with lots of windows full of mock turtlenecks, smelly candles, and security cameras. My favorite selection was "peace" necklaces hanging next to the pocket sized cans of mace.
The weather has been cold and grey, so I'm using a photo of my wife's roses from Easter. Pretend it's Dayton. And you're happily shopping for candles and mace.

Raleigh, North Carolina!

Just back from North Carolina and had a fabulous time with friends, one of whom is the Assistant Attorney General of North Carolina. Unfortunately, I didn't get any traffic tickets or entangled in a huge zoning battle while I was there, so I didn't get to use my powerful connections at all. They took me to "Cooper's" for some great "Eastern North Carolina" barbecue (there is a difference), and we had a wonderful time, hanging out and enjoying the first hints of spring on a perfect day. In Raleigh they have this cart at the hotel that serves free shampoo, soap, and pens, too. There was a broom and some dirty towels on it, but I didn't want any of them. As far as shampoo in tiny bottles, though? I'm taken care of.