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On the Road Again Penn - 7/07/04
My novel, Sock is out for
real. No kidding it's out there. I flew to NYC on Sunday
and Monday morning we started at about 6am. Man, that's
hard with the time change, but it would be hard on Vegas
time. On Monday I did a couple of TV shows talking about
the book. I didn't have to do any bits. Most of the
interview was P&T at the Rio, and Bullshit, but I didn't
have to have a bit so I could go with a flow. It's a nice
change up to be interviewed without always looking at the
clock to see when we have to set up the bit. Of course,
these are little tiny shows, but it was fun. Man, I was
tired.
In the afternoon, I did "Inside Edition" about the Houdini
museum giving away tricks. I mostly just ripped off
Teller's ideas and added a few jokes. It seemed to go
well. Monday was my only easy day.
Tuesday, I had to get up at 5:30, after not much sleep at
all, and I headed to a Classic Rock station. Man, "Sock"
is made for Classic rock. They had put together a package
of songs from every chapter that really flattered me. It
was very cool, very amazing. People seem to be getting
this book and it's blowing my mind. While I was waiting to
go on one show, I did wrap-arounds for the Scott Muny show
which I DJ'd an hour of. I got to pick the music and sell
P&T, Bullshit, and Sock. It went very well. On the live
interview, we talked PETA, MOORE, and Bullshit. I did a
LOT of selling of "Michael Moore Hates America." Man,
people seem pretty excited about that movie. I gave them
his quote about hoping more Americans die so "god, and the
Iraqi people forgive us."
I went back to the hotel and tried to grab an hour sleep.
After that, I did a photo session and long interview with
the Daily News. The interviewer was from a Cuban family,
and although he knew and dug Randi there was a lot of work
to do with psychic things he "couldn't explain." I talked a
lot about "Sock" but it got some Randi stuff in there.
I jumped into the car with my handlers and after a quick
sandwich, I hit the reading in Bryant Park. Richard Frankle
came by and it was great to see him. Lots of old friends
in NYC. I read Chapter 1 and answered a lot of questions.
It was great. I answered a LOT about Bullshit and why
Teller doesn't talk and how we met and I never mind that,
but I also got to talk about the Atheism of "Moby Dick,"
and my Mom and Dad and the church I grew up in. There was
some real talk talked and it meant a lot. I was really
worried about this, but it went great.
I grabbed a muffin and headed right over to VH-1's "The
Best Week Ever." It was just doing jokes about the news.
It'll all be edited. It's not "Tough Crowd" it's an edited
show, but I got some good laughs from the crew. I really
like having nothing prepared. It was nothing about P&T or
the book, it was just thinking on my feet and being funny.
I went right from there to Carson Daly. Teller did this
show alone a few weeks ago and killed, and now it was my
turn to do it alone. They insisted on a trick, so I came
up with one. I put some stuff together with Jamy and I was
pretty ready to do a little adlibbing with magic. I did a
quick talk through with Carson in the afternoon. It was so
simple. I didn't tell him much. There was no work. I
told him I was going to do a trick and I was going to be
funny. We did some comic bonding and we were ready to go.
David Cross was the lead guest and, because of me, he did a
joke magic trick. I watched closely in the dressing room
and changed my whole bit. It was fun to be using magic and
also to be loose enough to really go with the flow. I
think I did very well. Because of being able to change the
plan, I was really part of the show, and the trick - well,
it might fool you. Jamy was very happy. It felt really
good being out there. I have never been that loose with a
magic trick.
After that it was just another reading at a big book store.
I read Chapter 12 and it felt a bit long. Maybe it was
just harder work. It was a good crowd, and again, I got to
answer questions about real stuff. It was pretty heavy and
literary. It was fun. We had to go to the airport and fly
to Boston. We didn't get to the hotel until after Midnight
and then up at 5:30 AM again. It gets tired out here in
book world. It's a wacky different thing. I having fun
and doing some cool stuff. It'll be so nice and restful to
get back to the Rio, but this is fun.
Penn
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