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Last Wednesday David and I made the executive decision to drive all throught the night from Memphis to Chicago in order to surprise our good and great friend Christopher Hickey in his sleeping bed. We were successful. We arrived more quickly than you would think on a highway surprisingly devoid of insects. We pulled into a dark city amidst a cold heavy rain and, after rousing our friend, made way to Wrigley Field where I quikly purchased a Cubbies hat and tickets to the game. Watching a classic argument unfurl in the process. "Two tickets, twenty bucks" said the regular guy with his wife. "Don't buy them!" Said the scalper. "Shut the fuck up," said the regular guy. "We'll take 'em" said Us. "Aw, I was gonna give you mine for free" said the scalper. Yeah right. The kicker is that we didn't even actually see the game. Rain delay. We decided to leave and have a drink at the Improv Olympic. One turned into many and that was the start of a crazy weekend.

On Thursday another old buddy, Mike Catino, flew out to meet us and things really went bananas. Thursday: we went to a place called mothers where we rocked out to live band karaoke. I sang "Mother" by Danzig and quickly messed the whole song up.

Friday: Billygoat Tavern, Millenium Park, Chisox game. Not many people were there due to the weather so we got to sit front row on the third base line. Rediculous. Oh, I forgot to mention that before the game we stopped into a wig store called "Wigfield" and purchased some wigs. Which we then wore all weekend. After the game we went to a place to get some classic Chicago style pizza. If you've never had any, a rough approximation would be swallowing a brick. (Which I've heard from more than one person.) Then, out again. Gallavanting all around town. Ending our night in Lincoln Park at a place called Franks. We then took the cab ride of our lives home. Getting trapped on a highway exit ramp and lost several times. In the end, the price of our ride was somewhere in the sixty dollar range.

Saturday: We moved to an apartment in the Lincoln Park area and made our way out for the evening. Craziness in a blur. One bar- bad vibes. So we left Chris and friends behind. Almost as soon as we left there were fights. We ended up in a place called "The Station" and after 3 shots I can't really tell you what happened. I can tell you what other people have told me. In a walk from that bar to "Franks" my brother and I put on a show for a couple of miles. When we arrived at the bar we took it over and everyone wanted to wear my wig. I took pictures of everybody and, once or twice, almost got into a couple of fights due to my quick camera trigger finger. I avoided the fights by telling people that Herb Ritts was my mentor. Even though most everyone had no idea who Herb Ritts is... I don't even know who he is. Our new lab-tob is overloaded with pictures of people I don't know. Every night was a mixture of silliness and maniacal fun. I guess those two things are the same but I like the way that sounds.

Sunday: much the same as the other nights except we went to the zoo both Sunday and Monday. The zoo was two blocks from our apartment and it was free. I love zoo. The Brooklyn zoo is my favorite but any zoo is great. A lion roared right at me and it was like five feet away. That was Amazing. Last night we had a set at Zanies. That was OK. Not our best set ever but it was all right. Zanies is a great club and hopefully they'll have us back.

Overall, Chicago is a great city and known as a haven for Comedy. At one point in my life I reached a crossroads and relished thoughts of moving here and getting into Improv. Instead, I chose to move back to Boston and begin stand-up. Life has come full circle and here we are. Another crossroads. After being here for a few days I get a sense that Chicago is, indeed, a great Comedy city and I'm happy and inspired for having passed through. I now find myself ready to move on to our big adventure in the West. I hope Los Angeles is ready for the Walsh Brothers...

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