2016 February | Erin Jackson | Stand-Up Comedian

Big Sky

I just got back from a road trip that took me out to Montana and Wyoming for some college shows. Look at this photo! They don’t call Montana “Big Sky Country” for nothing!

It was my first time in Wyoming; I memorialized it with this photo. I’ve worked in 45 states now; all I’ve got left are Hawaii, New Mexico, the Dakotas and Utah. I’ve had several layovers in SLC airport, but layovers don’t count. I was in Montana last fall for a show with my favorite, Wendy Leibman, but were were in and out in the dark of night so I didn’t get to see how beautiful it was out there. I flew into Billings on Wednesday and then made the 2-hour drive to Sheridan Wyoming for my show that evening. On my way, I passed a highway sign for Little Bighorn Battlefield. I had about 6 hours until my show, so hell yeah for Custer’s Last Stand.

I got there about 30 minutes before they stopped letting people into the park so I didn’t even have to pay the $20 drive-through fee. There was a museum, several monuments, and an audio tour you could hear on your cell phone. I went through as much as I could before the rangers started pulling people out of the park. Such a cool bit of history. I love an adventure!

I put almost 800 miles on my rental car in the two days I was out there; Alamo Rent-A-Car was like “ummmm, never again.” It’d have been even more than that if the weather at Yellowstone hadn’t been so crummy. I probably added an extra 3 hours to my drive time by pulling over to take so many photos. But it was worth it. And it was easy driving. Those wide open highways are a joy to drive on, and with a speed limit of 80mph, my lead foot was in heaven. I often feel like I drive for a living and comedy is what I get to do when I get off. But I really do love seeing America. I have so many stories from almost every state. I would love to have a Hawaii story, next.

If you’re there, God, it’s me, EJ…

Memories

I’m back in the DC Metro area (McLean, VA to be exact) to do a corporate event tomorrow afternoon. And as I was headed towards my hotel, I realized I was driving right past the old Best Western Westpark Hotel building, which used to house Wiseacres Comedy Club. I don’t know how long it’s been empty; I haven’t been out this way in at least 6-7 years. But when I first started out in comedy, I was there every single Wednesday nite. Man. The open mics in that dark, dingy room are where I met some of my very favorite people. I learned how to write and workshop a joke there, learned how to be a good citizen of the comedy community. I was grateful for my 5 minutes on stage in that room, even when I went up 20th. And I never wanted to go home after those shows. Dinner and drinks after the mic? Absolutely. Work tomorrow? Who cares? That little dungeon will hold a place in my heart forever.

So much debauchery went down in here

Rob, Randy, Ryan, Jett, Diesel, Herbie, Dawan, Tim, Chris, Jimmy… I miss those days.

Those were great days.

Let’s Go Knicks

Last night, I went to the Knicks/Wizards game at The Garden with my boy T.O.N.Y. He’s a Knicks superfan even though he lives in DC and has season tickets to the Wizards. It was my first time at a game in the Garden since middle school and the first game since Derek Fisher’s firing, so it felt kinda like Christmas. My teams are 2-for-2 on firing crappy coaches this year and I’m all about it. During one of the commercial breaks the people with the t-shirt cannons came out and started shooting them into the stands and people in the crowd lost their s***. I’m always amazed by how crazed people become over the high-velocity propulsion of shitty, free t-shirts towards their faces. The video below is me saying as much.

This is me saying basically, “I wish a *#$%&^ WOULD hit me in the face with one of those t-shirts!” not 20 minutes before a *#$%&^ DID. #Karma #MaybeImMagic #Psychic #Knickstape

A video posted by Erin Jackson (@ejthecomic) on Feb 9, 2016 at 9:18pm PST

Not 20 minutes later, as if on cue, I caught a t-shirt with my jaw. I secured it with my right hand as it hit me so it didn’t go tumbling into the next row… It was like the David Tyree helmet catch and OBJ’s one-handed grab had an awesome catch baby. I don’t think that last sentence makes any sense, but I’m not deleting it. I’m sure that at some point in my life I’ve laughed harder, and for longer; I just can’t remember when. #TITF But not really.

I joked with T.O.N.Y. about how mad I would be—I would have demanded to see someone in management—if I got smacked in the face and wound up with a small or medium t-shirt. But, alas, it was an XL. They didn’t want it with Hov.

Russell Wilson and Ciara’s weave (pictured above) were at the game, They were sitting down on the floor next to Lala Anthony. I know Lala and Ciara are good friends because I may or may not really like her reality show, but I was having a hard time picturing Melo and Russ hanging out. They just don’t seem like they’d have a lot in common besides the professional athlete thing. I would love to be a fly on the wall at one of their double dates.

But I digress.

The Knicks have been on a terrible losing streak and though they came close, they did not break it last nite. They missed a 3 at the buzzer that would have sent the game into OT. But it was not meant to be. I’m looking forward to the team improving under new/old coach Kurt Rambis and hopefully snagging a higher profile coach in the offseason. We’re not a good team, but we’re not terrible either. And it’s been a long time since I felt that way. Anyway, I need to be packing a bag right now. The road is calling.