The SHECKYmagazazine.COMICS_Only
Reunion Wrapup!

THE WEEK BEFORE THE REUNION

Our evil plan to throw the first-ever SHECKYmagazine.COMICS-Only Reunion involves flying from the east coast to the desert, and indulging in three days of cameraderie and debauchery amidst three weeks of gigs in Arizona and Nevada. Along the way, we meet many standup comics, drive several hundred miles and even tape a television appearance.

Baltimore, MD--(Mar. 25) The United ticket agent at BWI wrote "Involuntary Reroute" on our ticket and directed us to the America West desk, muttering something about our flight through Denver being cancelled.

We were told we'd now be flying to Reno through Phoenix. Ironic, since we would end up in Phoenix 48 hours later.

Already anxious about how the Reunion would go, we were hoping this wasn't some sort of omen.

Reno, NV--(Mar. 26) We arrive in the Biggest Little City in the World at 1 a.m., a half-hour too late to pick up our Ford Ranger from Budget. Already anxious about how the Reunion would go, we were hoping this wasn't some sort of omen.

Budget gave us a Hyundai Sonata the following morning. The Dodge Dakota Quad Cab they were going to give us in lieu of a Ranger lacked a snug top over the bed, so it was unsuitable. We headed south in our Sonata to Las Vegas and arrived just after sundown. Is there a more exciting site than Vegas shimmering in the distance? Yes, there is, but at the tail end of several hours of driving through the crumbling ghost towns and spent mining communities lined up along Nevada State Route 95, it's a tough sell.

We checked into the Plaza and proceeded to check out the facilities, making certain that it was the ideal place to hold the Reunion. We also checked out the 777 Brewpub over at the Main Street.

Phoenix, AZ--(Mar. 27) We approached Phoenix at rush hour. Fortunately, we were approaching from the northwest, so the traffic moved briskly. Good thing since we lost an hour going from PST to MST and I was scheduled to be at the studios of Access Phoenix at 7 p.m. I was scheduled to tape Strictly Standup, a standup comedy show produced by Phoenician Troy Conrad, at 8 p.m.

The taping went well, the other comedians were great to hang out with and Troy was easy-going.

Our hotel is on State Route 60, which runs parallel to the railroad and it's in an area of town that is obviously zoned "erogenous."

Every third establishment is what the urban planners refer to as "titty bars."

Camp Verde, AZ--(Mar. 28) We arrive at the Cliff Castle Casino in plenty of time for that evening's show in the Dragonfly Lounge. Today's drive of approximately 100 miles is the shortest one in four days. It feels like a day off. Tomorrow, it's back to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas, NV--(Mar. 29) We arrive in Las Vegas for the second of what will be three visits to Las Vegas in eight days. In the evening, we visit Catch A Rising Star in its new quarters in the Excalibur. It opened the previous night with John Padon and Mike Saccone. It was supposed to be Caroline Rhea headlining, but her flight was cancelled. The new club is immense, cavernous. Plans are outlined to hang giant curtains in the rear, making it as intimate as a 400+-seat room can be. We pack it in early, as we are expected to perform the next night in Mesquite, NV, 100 miles to the east.

Mesquite, NV--(Mar. 30-31) The Casablanca Resort will be our home for the next 48 hours. During that time, we'll do a show in their showroom and upload the April issue of the magazine from our hotel room.

Plagued by the vestiges of back spasms, I am forced to do a great chunk of the HTML grunt work in the passenger seat of the Sonata while it's parked outside our condo.

Propped up with hotel pillows, I finish HTML-ing the issue with a view of the snow-capped mountains surrounding the 8,066-ft. Virgin Peak.

We perform on Friday night with Justin McKinney and enjoy the buffet after the show. On Saturday, a whole new triplet of comics perform. Two of them, Louis Johnson and Pat Mac assure me that they will attend the Reunion. They are ecstatic when I give them their official Reunion I.D. badges.

DAY ONE OF THE REUNION--IN THE BEGINNING

Las Vegas, NV--(Apr. 1) The day that we'd been preparing for has finally arrived. It's a beauty, too. Giant, puffy clouds and a healthy breeze take some of the edge off the bright sun's efforts to maintain the forecast temp of 86 degrees.

The nine-story tall banner on the front tower of the Plaza proclaims "BIG ONE DOLLAR DRINKS" and the port cochere is a circular beehive of shuttles, cabs, pedestrians and rental cars. A constant stream of people cross Main St. to enter Fremont St., which is the legendary Glitter Gulch, the place where it all began.

While waiting to check into the Plaza, I realize that I am standing in line behind "Occasional Thinker" Jim Myers. Behind me, in another line, is Wild Bill Dykes of New Orleans. If this is any indication, the turnout should be healthy.

We're told that we can't get into our room until 3, so we make our way to the bar at the Omaha Lounge where we find "Road Worthy" columnist Kid Dave Miller and SHECKY! Boston correspondent John Curtin, both of whom have been in the big city since Saturday, and Lauren Verge. The big plan calls for a welcome meeting at the 777 Brewpub, from 3 to 6. At five minutes to three, Kid Dave and Curtin practically beg my permission to head on over to the 777. "Go!" I command them.

Over the next 72 hours, they completely grasp the notion that they can do whatever the hell they want, that there is no real structure or rules to this here gathering. It's a concept that some find mildly disconcerting, but a sound one, as it ultimately enables us all to fully enjoy the freedom and 24/7 pleasures that only Las Vegas can provide.

A hassle with the Plaza bureaucrats over the free breakfast delays my arrival at the 777. The Plaza maintains that we were never promised free breakfast with our room rate. I am steamed, but I maintain my composure as I repeat over and over that we had a deal and I expect them to honor it. Already anxious about how the Reunion would go, we were hoping this wasn't some sort of omen.

We also found out that the proposed SHECKYmagazine.com golf outing has been cancelled... something about a lack of people signing up. Already anxious...

Over at the 777 attendees slowly trickle in and take over a large sector in front of the bar at the south end. By the time I arrive there are at least two dozen. Over the course of the next three hours, 40 to 50 people float in and out of the 777. Lots of flashes, lots of microbrew, some food, an enormous amount of talking and laughing at very high volume. We are frightening some of the unsuspecting customers who just wanted some egg rolls and a coupla beers. Six o'clock arrives way too early and it's time to migrate over to the Omaha Lounge, but not before a group photo. Joe Dunckel, who brought along his Mamiya and a full complement of photo equipment, becomes the official/unofficial photographer for the Reunion. Some of us teeter on chairs in the rear of the group as Dunckel sets up the shot.

Some people flash the SHECKY! thumbs up; in other shots, some folks display a different digit altogether, incurring the rath of the 777 management and hastening our exit. Note: If you'd like to order the photo montage similar to the one shown here, email Joe Dunckel and, for a reasonable fee, well...let him explain it! (Click here to email Joe!)

We make the two-block trek back to the Plaza without incident. We learn later that we've left behind the mayor's proclamation. (I pop on over to the 777 much later in the evening to try to find it, but the bartender and other Main Street employees don't speak Drunk. On Wednesday, we recover it from the Security Office, where it's been kept under lock and key for three days.)

Back at the Plaza, a steady stream of arrivees adds to the festive atmosphere. The large core of the 777 contingent continues the revelry at the Omaha, much to the inexplicable dismay of the bartender and other Plaza officials. They don't like the flash photography. We also conclude that they aren't accustomed to people having fun. Makes them nervous.

Overheard from the Omaha Lounge bartender gal: "They're supposed to be comedians, but they're not funny. I hate them and they're pissing everybody off."

A commotion ensues when comedy legend Rusty Warren shows up wearing her SHECKY! t-shirt. Warren hasn't performed in over a decade. She's flown into Vegas from her home in Hawaii not only to participate in the now-cancelled golf outing, but to commune with "the kids," the relatively young men and women who have made standup comedy their livelihood and their lives. Even the people who don't immediately know who Warren is are impressed once they hear the accomplishments and the tales of gold records rattled off by Warren's travelling companion Liz Rizzo. The attendees practically line up to be the next one to have a pic taken with the Knockers Up! gal.

The Omaha Lounge is perfectly located for the Reunion. It is roughly halfway between the front desk and the South Tower of the Plaza.

From it's bar, one can survey over half of the casino floor. A steady stream of Plaza guests and visitors streams past. Throughout the evening, the size of the group of Reunionites ebbs and flows. Throw in one dollar drinks and you have a recipe for... major fun.

Some of the crowd formed clumps and headed for various spots on The Strip (to see Emo at the Riviera, to go to the House of Blues, etc.). Still others played poker. The New Orleans contingent took in the Pete Barbutti-anchored Naked Angels show in the Plaza Showroom. A few retired early, having consumed dollar drinks and two dollar pints steadily since their mid-afternoon arrival.

Back at the 777, Dan Rosenberg confided that when he and Dykes and Tim Coston initially checked into their rooms and he asked the operator to connect him to McKim or Skene, he was told that no such guest was listed under either name. They all briefly concluded that the entire Reunion might be an elaborate April Fools joke.

They conceded that, if the Reunion were an April Fools joke, it would have been the best goddamned April Fools joke that anyone had ever pulled on them. Sadly, we aren't that evil.

Traci and Rusty Warren engage in a conversation about the double standard for female comics when it comes to off-color material. Skene opines that she often has a hard time doing even mildly risque material without being labelled obscene. Rusty Warren replies, "I blazed a trail! What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Such sage words from the master are met with hearty laughter and another round of one-dollar drinks!

DAY TWO OF THE REUNION--HAIR OF THE DOG

Las Vegas, NV (Apr. 2)--Calls all around the Plaza manage to coordinate several clumps and clumplets of comics using their freebie breakfast coupons from their Plaza "Pleasure Pak." The Plaza Diner is a '50s-themed restaurant that offers decent food, served quickly. The entire east wall is merely a wrought iron railing, and the diners can easily keep track of the folks who are wandering past on their way to or from the casino.

I dined with Kid Dave and witnessed him inhale a prime rib dinner at 11 a.m. A rather large and boisterous crew, including, among others Jim Myers, Steve Ochs, David Doyle, John Curtin and Evan Davis, dines in the corner and regularly erupts into laughter. We later learn that they were taking turns telling Ollie Joe Prater stories. Traci meets Carole Montgomery at the California Pizza Kitchen over at the Golden Nugget for lunch with Rusty Warren. Traci reports the group, which also included Carole's husband and young son, were getting curious looks from other diners because of the frequent and loud bursts of laughter. We have learned that loud and sustained guffawing in public is a rarity in Vegas.

A vague plan was hatched to gather up a group to attend the Bill Kirchenbauer-produced Legends of Comedy show at the Frontier on the strip. We targeted the second show at 5:30 with the intention of continuing on to the first show of the evening at the new Catch at 7:30.

Others hung back at the Plaza to drink, gamble and/or watch Duke beat Arizona in the NCAA basketball finals on the giant screen in the Plaza showroom, dining on dollar beers and dollar hot dogs.

Ya gotta admire Kirchenbauer for producing this show. He puts on two shows a day at the Frontier and it features comics and actors doing impressions of Johnny Carson, Bill Cosby, Rodney Dangerfield, Roseanne and George Burns. It was curious to see a show like this one with a group of standup comics. We tend to find certain things funny or entertaining that the general public doesn't. We want to thank Kirchenbauer for comping us all in. (We might also suggest that he somehow persuade the Frontier to book an evening show with comics doing their own acts...call it "Future Legends of Comedy!" Hey, it'd be one more venue for us to play in Vegas. We could all use one more of them!)

After a group pic, we disperse and make plans to meet at the other end of the strip for the 7:30 show at Catch. At one point we realize that our Sonata contains a significant portion of the SHECKY! Royal Family: Editors McKim and Skene, and columnists Adam Gropman and Dave Miller. We note that, should we be involved in a fiery crash, control of the magazine would revert to Myers and Ochs. Gropman arrived in the middle of the previous night after an all-night bus trip from Salt Lake City. He vows that he will never board a bus ever again.

We arrive at Catch to find a larger contingent waiting. At least double the size of the gang at the Frontier. Some are already seated in the showroom. We are daunted by the prospect of being seated near the front of the house, but we take our seats stage left. We are comics, after all, and we like to sit in the back. We also feel for the comics who must go on in front of a mob of their peers!

After the musical warmup, the show begins. Kevin Jordan opens and manages to mention SHECKYmagazine.com at least a dozen time, turning it into a running gag. After Jordan wraps it up, the musical director informs the crowd that Rusty Warren is in the house. He has Rusty do one of those stand and wave things to the audience. It turns out he had all her albums and he's thrilled to learn that she was in the crowd! She receives a warm ovation.



Rocky LaPorte closes out the show and it becomes clear that there couldn't be a better comic to perform in front of a bunch of comedians than LaPorte. And it must be pointed out that the SHECKY! contingent turned out to be a great crowd. I don't know what I expected, but I had a blast being an audience member. We're comics-- unless we're on the stage, we don't like to be anywhere near it. We tend to hang in the back, in the dark. After our experience on this night, however, we've concluded that it's not a bad idea for a comic to be an audience member once in a while. It gives you some perspective. After the show was over, we all gathered on the giant stage for a group shot. Taking in the show at Catch turned out to be a highlight of the Reunion for many. We thank Kevin Kearney and Lynn Garlock of Catch A Rising Star for the good time and we wish them well in their new location.

After the photos were taken, we all disbanded and headed our separate ways. Eventually we migrated to the Golden Gate Casino, just across Main from the Plaza. A party of six had a blast in the recently remodeled pocket casino's dining room. And even though we had hung with Don Weir, Pat Mac, John Curtin and Dave Miller on only one other occasion prior to the Reunion, it was like getting together with a gang of old friends. It was meals like this one that typified the spirit of the Reunion. No consideration of who might be seated two tables away and how they might be able to help your career. No cares about an upcoming set in front of industry big cheeses. Just a lot of stories of the road, sharing of information and always plenty of laughter.

Is there anything comics like more than a session of back-slapping, throw your head back and laugh revelry around a table late at night in a cheap restaurant?

We shuffled across the street to Binion's afterward for 75-cent Buds and then we spilled out onto Fremont St. to catch the Fremont Street Experience light show in the canopy that looms over the Gulch for six blocks.

The Experience is an unqualified success. Prior to the erection of the high-tech extravaganza, the downtown was a bit seedy, a little frayed at the edges. Now, however, since the light show has gained notoriety and the automobile traffic on Fremont has been cut off, the thorofare has taken on a mall-like character. It's a mall with relaxed open container laws! Purists have advanced the notion that downtown shouldn't have been pimped up in such a manner, but you can't argue that it hasn't revived the fortunes of the neighborhood.

And with the show attracting hordes out onto the street at the top of every hour, between sundown and midnight, it has made for a street festival atmosphere in tiny doses throughout the evening.

Our favorite Fremont Street story: The Downtown tourism board hires showgirls/fashion models to linger in the middle of Fremont St. to pose with tourist for pictures. Everyone from frat boys to Japanese tourists to cowboys sidle up to the beauties to pose for countless pics. Upon seeing this, Jim Myers strolled up to a pair of the models, stood between them, draped his arms around them and posed. After a few seconds, one of the gals asked. "Where's the camera?" In typical Myers fashion, he replied, "There is no camera."

DAY THREE OF THE REUNION--GETAWAY DAY

Las Vegas, NV (Apr. 3)--Once again, clumps of comics meet in the Plaza Diner for breakfast. Many discuss their travel plans, as many are planning to depart this day. Others review the activities of the previous 48 hours or so. A good number are sticking around and, as such, they are interested in firming up plans for the evening.

We divested ourselves of a couple dozen SHECKYmagazine.com T-shirts by handing them out to those hardy souls who remained behind. Upon receiving his T, Mat Becker immediately threw his bags to the ground, took off the shirts he was currently wearing and donned his SHECKY! T--right there in full view of the Plaza Diner diners. There will no doubt be a memo circulating throughout the offices of the Plaza about "the convention of comedians who weren't very funny" which will probably cite the "crazy guy who disrobed in front of eating hotel guests." And there will be a red flag raised in the Plaza database when we phone them next year to make plans for the Reunion 2002!

We decided to spend the day with old friends Mike Saccone and Jim Myers. While we're waiting for Mike to show, we spent some quality time with weary attendees Curtin, Gordon Feinberg, Lauren Verge, Dave Dennison, Becker and John Curtin.

We were thrilled (sort of) when we noticed that a table on the far side of the diner was occupied by none other than The Lettermen!

(No doubt here at the Plaza for an interview on KDWN-AM, which is housed in the second floor of the hotel.) Becker said, "It's a '50s diner...maybe they think people will know them here!" then he finished the meal by balancing a forkful of hash browns on his chin while others snapped pictures. We are certain that this will generate memos as well.

Throughout the day, groups scattered and re-formed, mounting trips to the Strip, the Improv at Harrah's and various other locales.

DAY FOUR--ONWARD TO WINNEMUCCA! Las Vegas, NV (Apr. 4)--We took Jim Myers to the airport. It's only about a 15-minute drive from the Plaza. When we returned to the Plaza, we ran into Curtin and humped him over to McCarran as well. We had nothing to do and we only hadda be in Winnemucca for a one-nighter on the fifth. So, when we said our goodbyes we settled our tab and pointed the Sonata north for the 7-hour drive through the Toiyabe National Forest and over to Winnemucca.

"Is there a better way to tell a comic you love them than to get them to the airport?"
--Jim Myers

We got into the hotel room at Winners Casino a half-hour too late to catch Steve Gelder on Jeopardy! The next day we got a lot of emails from people who attended, thanking us for throwing the Reunion and asking us if there would be a repeat in 2002. We're stil catching up on the emails and catching up on our sleep, but we are slowly coming to the realization that there will be another Reunion. There must be another. We theorized about the importance of comics hanging out together in a neutral location, with no one but comics. We pitched the idea to our readers and they responded. A good number of them were prevented from attending for a number of reasons. But a healthy number of them came. And those that came, it is safe to say, had an absolute blast. They proved the theory many times over.

I think that very early on in the Reunion it became clear to all present that what we were experiencing was more than just a good time in Sin City. We fostered a tremendous sense of community, we re-connected with old associates, we established new connections and we demonstrated to ourselves and others that no one understands a comic better than another comic. In many ways, we re-inforced the mission of the magazine. And, in turn, the magazine will try to re-inforce the mission of the Reunion.

We hope that over the next few months and years, the spirit of this gathering will slop over and fan out and result in multiple, smaller, localized gatherings that foster that same community, but on a smaller scale. It is hoped that all the comics out there will try to promote regular meetings among the other comics in their respective markets. We are also hopeful that if comics find themselves on the road, they might look up the other comics that might be in town. And we hope that folks try to keep in touch via email.

We hope that all who attended had a good time. And we thank you for coming as we certainly had a wonderful time. See you all next year!