I am sitting at Cups Coffee in Fort Collins, CO. The chair is comfortable on my bottom. My eyes are heavy. I feel like I’ve been drinking alcohol constantly on an overseas flight that finds me jet lagged in Singapore.

I had the first set of my 2016 comedy tour on Friday night at Wolverine Farm Letterpress & Publick House.

You know you’re starting to live your dream when your name appears in chalk.

The space was exactly what I was hoping. It was full of art, locally-made goods, beer and coffee.

Claire was there in the evening to help us set up for the show. She and my partner arranged the room while I drank tea, ran through my segments and played guitar.

Here is a shot of the room before anyone arrived.

I find great comfort in a lone microphone. I see potential. I see chaos. I see fear. I see excitement. I see my destiny.

The crowd arrived, including some good friends I have not seen in a long time. (It is always too long with good friends.)

I don’t want to give a detailed play-by-play of the show (we will upload video when we find a stable internet connection), but I will say that some moments worked and some moments did not quite work. That is the fun of what I do. I have an idea in my head. Sometimes I am able to translate that idea into words and movements that connect with an audience. Sometimes, I am the tour guide who leads through the dark, mistakenly thinking his match is a flashlight.

The true power and beauty is that the audience will go with me, even through the darkness when I am stumbling and dragging them. We all eventually make it out the other side. We are now one. We have bonded. We have worked, sweat, laughed, groaned and toiled to make something that is uniquely ours. No one can take those moments away. No one can destroy what we’ve built, because it lives inside our heads and hearts (and online videos).

I want to thank the following for facilitating that journey: my partner who is videographer, promoter, manager, confidant, photographer and audience member; Todd, Beth and Claire at Wolverine Farm for allowing me to bring my show to their space and for making me feel welcome; the GoFundMe supporters who believe in me enough to help send me on the road; and, finally, the audience. Thank you for going with me from beginning to end. I hope to see some of you again this Tuesday at the Downtown Artery in Fort Collins, CO at 5:30p.

I leave you with a picture of audience members and I as we demonstrate potentially-inappropriate hand gestures.

Until next time.

-Joey