Los Angeles

We found a house! It's gorgeous and big and just what we hoped for. I believe expectations are reflected in results. Regardless of what people told us 'we wouldn't find' we stuck to our guns and decided for ourselves. Not really a lesson learned but a theory enforced. Nobody knows me better than me. And my wife.

In Los Angeles for three days of marathon meetings with managers and tv execs. Makin it do what it do! Gotta go - next meeing starts now!

USA Today

Lots of people have been asking about US dates and they have definitely come a lot slower than I'd like. But timing is everything and I have a plan to get some more US dates confirmed for 2010. Let's see if I still got the touch!

For the Fall of 2009 we have some sweet gigs so please come and say hello:

Sept 3
Phoenix, AZ
Herberger Theater Center
http://www.herbergertheater.org/node

Oct 16,17
Hampton, Virginia
American Theatre
http://www.hamptonarts.net/american_theatre/artist_info.php?products_id=3013

Oct 19,20
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Manship Theatre
http://www.manshiptheatre.org/site.php?pageID=3&eID=4169&backpage=pageID7eq737an7calstart7eq71254376861

Oct 21-25
Charlotte, NC
Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
http://www.blumenthalcenter.org/default.asp?blumenthal=59&objId=1125

Don't forget to become a fan of Basic Training by clicking here: http://tinyurl.com/nhonqc.

The end of Oz.

It has been way too long. Finished the tour of Australia on Aug 3rd and spent a week in New Zealand to try and relax. It's good to be back in Vancouver and the apartment hunt has begun. A place to call home has always been an issue for me, never really had a city to call home until now and it's no fun playing the game of viewing prospective places. It's kind of like dating but worse because when you date somebody you can usually tell by the sound of their voice if they're your type or not. A chic with a deep voice might have some trouble gettin to first base if you know what I mean. But with apartments people make them sound amazing in the ad and then you show up to find a sh** hole with shared laundry. But we keep swingin and I know we'll find a place soon. Maybe it will have a jacuzzi!

The rest of the cities in Australia were lovely, let me try to break it down for ya:

Wollongong - Our FAVORITE place. Such a wonderful experience. Great audiences and stunning scenery.
Darwin - Wish we could've had more time to see the outskirts.
Cairns - Gorgeous
Brisbane - Spent time with Ingrid and Harry which was such a treat. Great people.
Lismore - Yeah! Stayed at Suzanne's Hideaway. Highly recommended. Gorgeous scenery out in the mountains.
Newcastle - Reminded me of Harlem.
Sydney - Not all it's cracked up to be. The workshops with the at-risk kids made it all worth it.
Parramatta - Great food, great time.
Bathurst - The venue manager is a one man theater machine. Go Steve! (I think that's his name)
Warragul - Hit pretty hard by the fires. I don't remember the shows.
Bendigo - No comment.
Horsham - No comment. (email me and I'll tell you what I really think)
Geelong - What a beautiful theater. It's a pretty interesting seaside place.
Albury - One of the best stops on the tour. The Hothouse Theater company is way ahead of their time in so many ways. They really do a first class job from A-Z. Honoured to work with them.

Simon and Anne-Louise gave us a great send off from Sydney and we are so thankful to them for all their help.

Holy crap where does the time go? Zion is on solids and the show is getting better by the minute! We head to Lismore tomorrow. Darwin was an interesting experience. Spent some lovely time in Cairns and now we're staying in Brisbane with some very dear friends of ours. They've treated us well and it's a nice break from staying in hotels. Gotta get to bed. This show really takes it out of me. More from Sydney - three weeks in one place!

Week one!

the shows here are going over the moon! Ticket sales are excellent and the Merrigong Theater Company (I worked with them to produce and plan the tour) have been top notch with the marketing and support. Lydia and Zion are loving it - the weather is superb. Australian winter. Go figure. :)

The press day in Sydney was a bit surreal. Being chauffeured around from interview to interview, radio, newspaper, this way Mr Ashanti. And a sushi lunch to top it off.

104.9 Triple M in Sydney had me record their station identification using my impression of Arnold Schwarzedude.

Two shows left in Wollongong and then we head to Darwin!

Thanks to Amanda Buckworth for the awesome publicity work and I'll do my best to keep you updated.

This is all impossible without the fans so I salute you!

Wollongong Here We Are!

The flight was great, Zion slept over half the time and take-off and landing had zero effect on him. Go figure.

We landed in Sydney to a warm welcome by Simon (Artistic Director) and Anne-Louise (Artistic Associate) from the Merrigong Theatre Company. Seems like yesterday we were sitting in Edinburgh 2007 discussing this tour and now it's all here. Daniel Potter (cool last name eh?) is handling the lights and sound and so far is doing a superb job.

The press interviews and the promotion is truly first class here and people are very surprised to hear that this tour was on the books before the show opened in New York. They love hearing about people making things happen against the odds especially when they see so many names in the program. One step at a time.

Our accommodation is really classy and the family is settling in nicely. Jetlag really got us for the first few days but we've emerged unscathed thus far.

Opening Night is June 3 but there is a show on June 2 to work things out. Looking forward to getting on stage again. This is such a beautiful city (Wollongong). Right on the water and although it's been a bit rainy it's nothing compared to the rain in Vancouver. If this is winter in Australia bring it on!

Wollongong Here We Come!

Our anniversary was a blast. We found this amazing breakfast place called The Wooden Shoe (The Dutch) on Cambie Street in Vancouver. Nothing like a good stick to your ribs breakfast to start you off. Relaxing day, enjoying the little things that over half the people in the world do not have access to. Gotta stay thankful for the little things.

Tonight we take Zion on his first plane trip. We're both a little nervous about the little guy handling take-off and landing but the amount of advice we have from other parents has been both comforting and amusing. Everything from Jack Daniels to Tylenol to breast feeding has been thrown our way to keep his ears from popping. Jack Daniels. For a baby?

Got a fifteen hour flight ahead of us so we're loaded up with DVD's and a good book. My wife is reading the Pursuit of Happyness, I'm reading The Pixar Touch and for the third time I'll be reading the Four Hour Work Week.

When we arrive in Australia we definitely hit the ground running, a few days off to decompress are going to be very welcome. On trips like this I actually have to get in the mindset before I leave. In other words mentally I left for Australia yesterday. Getting in the mental space or the zone to do the show isn't an easy task so it definitely takes some build-up. Especially when it's fourteen cities. This will be the longest run of Basic Training ever done and I'm really impressed with the marketing efforts that Tina Walsberger and her team have put together. It never fails to amaze me when people spend the minimum on marketing and wonder why the ticket sales suck. Simon Hinton and his gang in Australia have obviously done their homework and it's great to be working with them. Even if the show doesn't sell a single ticket it means infinitely more to me that they put it all on the line and in a professional manner. Effort trumps statistics any time, any day. The economy can only be an excuse for so long and my life has taught me that what you give is what you get. It makes my skin crawl to travel the world and see what's really going on and to realize how much it differs from what the 'news' tells us.

After the Australia tour I'll be working on some exciting television gigs. That's a flaky world so best believe I will make something happen.

Had some great conversations with a well known director about a new one man show I'm hoping to perform in Edinburgh in 2010...more to come on that later. Leavin...on a jet plane...

Here's to peanuts and pretzels!