I woke up Monday morning at 4:30 am to get to the airport. Well, I say I woke up. What I really mean is I got out of bed. I slept not a minute all night. My travel anxiety is pretty bad usually. I don’t stress at all once I’m traveling, but I do worry constantly leading up to the travel date until it gets started.
Made it to security around 5:30 and was not at all surprised to discover a 4 mile long line (PHOTO 2), and that’s pretty much how I like to start my day. TSA security screening at 5:30 in the morning. Either that or a swift punch to the crotch. Both are better than coffee.
I shouldn’t complain about TSA. I shouldn’t… but I will. The instant-cancer full body scan doesn’t bother me, but this does: they take my belt. I’m a tall, skinny dude. My belt is not decorative; it serves a purpose. It holds up my pants! They take my belt, and then say, “Step in here and put your hands over your head. Sir, both hands. Sir, please pull up your pants. Sir, I said both hands over your head.” MAKE UP YOUR MIND! And do it quick, because I’m the one mooning the airport right now.
Anyway, 8 hours later I arrived in Seattle, WA after two flights and a few hours later made it to Saint Martin’s University in Olympia, WA. At this point, I’d been up for 15 hours including 8 hours of flight time, 2 hours of layovers, and 1.5 hours of driving. Now I still have to go on stage. Just ONCE I’d like to be fully rested before a show. But alas, I had a bunch of gummy snacks the school provided and psyched myself awake. It was going to be one of those “I’m running on pure adrenaline” shows.
The show itself was a blast. I employed a very simple stage set up because, as you know, I only carry on when I fly (PHOTO 3). A solid audience of 40-50 showed up, which would ordinarily seem pretty small, but they were set up in a room that felt full for that size audience. The students were in great spirits and very eager to participate. I went into more straight stand-up comedy than I have in probably two years. Maybe a full 30% of the show. It felt good.
After finally getting to sleep, I had an entire day to waste before a 10pm red eye flight back to Connecticut. I began at a local diner which seemed very popular, and for good reason. My waffle with strawberries and more was excellent (PHOTO 4).
Luckily, the magic community is pretty small, and mostly very friendly. A lovely magician who I met via online magic forums Nash Fung lives in the area and graciously agreed to hang with me for the day. He picked me up from the rental car agency and gave me the tour of Seattle.
The infamous Seattle fish market was wicked cool, and smelly. Among the many shops and vendors was a very old, traditional magic shop, which was super cool. They don’t really exist anymore. It had a great balance of touristy stuff and real books on magic for dedicated magicians. If I wasn’t carrying on the plane, I might’ve bought a handful of new books.
We walked by the Space Needle which is very cool indeed, and then hung out in a bar for a few hours spitting magic tricks back and forth. I admire Nash. He’s got a great look, smooth hands, and a captivating personality. We’ve got almost polar opposite performing styles, but our philosophies on magic were stunningly similar.
Eventually I caught the red eye back, which transferred in Charlotte at 6:00 am after flying all night, and landed in Hartford, CT at 9:30 am. Drove 30 minutes home and promptly died on the couch.
My job is fun.
*****