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I'm a Comedian who loves to write blogs about my past experiences, no matter what they are.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

UNCLE MIKE!

                                  What's happening beautiful people? It's been a while. I try to write a few things at once and I know I'm not focusing on my blogs but I promise I'll try to put a few of these together before it gets busy so I could let you know whats on my mind.
                                  Last week I got a call from a dear friend, Mike Kessler, telling me he was moving to New York City for a while. If you know Mike, this isn't a big deal, he's a rocker roller type guy. He mentioned the reason why he was going back to me about a month ago, but I put the thought off. I've known Mike for about 21 years. We met in Boulder Colorado while I was in the Halfway house for a probation violation.  He wasn't in the house with me, I met him at a Nissan Dealer he worked at with another friend of mine.
                                  Mike and I hit it off immediately, we were both from the New York City area, we both were wheeler, dealers and we both loved drugs, from reefer, to pills to powder, we were always doing something. Mike met me at the end of my marriage and the beginning of my comedy career. I remember him and his daughter taping my set in 94' , so I could enter an open mike contest. Mike also knew my daughter when she was a year old. I would bring her over his house to play with his daughter and their dog. Mike also saw me at my worst and excepted me for who I was, he never lay judgement, he knew about all my scams those days from flipping drug dealers to selling fake memberships to the Mafia, he would just laugh and take the knocks along with me and he would always stick up for me.
                                 In 95', when I got my balls together and dove into comedy, it was Mike who found me a car for six hundred that lasted me for 4 years of hard Madflavor driving from coast to coast. I remember the night I left him giving me his last 20$ for gas. I called him every few days to report my comedy progress and in a way he was always very proud. When I got arrested in Seattle, he wired money to my books, without judging me or giving me an ear beating. Finally when I called him to tell him I was going for broke in L.A., he was one of the few people that said, I had nothing, so I had nothing to lose.
                                I was in Los Angeles for about 2 years when I got the call from Mike that he wanted to move out here with his family because his daughter wanted to model. We picked up right were we left off in Boulder. He would pick me up about 8PM and we would head out to do our thing, first off, I  would always do a set or two and pick up cash, then we'd head to the Comedy Store do the last set of the night, get a cocktail, head home and cop what we needed on the way, we'd either stop at El Compadre or at the Martel Cartel to pick up powder for me then we'd go to the corner of Selma and La Brea and get a few rocks for my Uncle Mike. I'd do a bump, he'd do a hit, and we'd go our seperate ways. Uncle Mike wasn't only my drug buddy, he was also a Manager, driver of sorts, it was Mike who made me go to the Spiderman 2 audition, I was hung over and tired, he asked me how many people would kill to go in there? He was right. It was also Mike who told me to try WeightWatchers because he loved me and he didn't want me to get sick. It was Mike who never once tortured me when I stopped drugging and doing blow, Mike was a special type of guy and in reality the closest thing I've had to a real Father.
                        Uncle Mike is sixty five years old, 17 years my elder and do you know that 3 years ago at 62, he was the top salesman at a Subaru dealership in Southern California. They were getting complaints that he would give Demo drives high so the Corporate offices made him take a UA and he came back positive for 8 different drugs! They made him quit. He was depressed for a few days because he was uncertain of his future, he wasn't eligible for retirement benefits for a few years, he was also a decorated Vietnam Vet, something I forgot to add. But still he didn't know what to do.

                     He soon found out that he was eligible for unemployment benefits and since he had worked forever he got the highest payment per quarter. He started working out and got off the drugs one at a time. He also picked up one of his first passions, the guitar. He cleaned up and little by little, and he started looking better. He got a little gig with an art guy to keep his mind fresh but he continued to do his thing. Last fall, he went to Florida and reconnected with some guys that he had been in a band with before the Heroin epidemic had hit. They spoke and decided to get together and jam, they had a great time so they decided to do something unheard of for guys their age, put the band together. They shot for January of 2012, one of the guys was building a studio and fixing up his basement to turn it into bedrooms so they could all live together, rehearse and record for 8 weeks. These guys are all the same ages, I think he said the youngest was 62. At that age to start anything takes balls!

                    I really applaud my Uncle Mike, because of everything he's done for me but most important what he's done for himself. He's raised 2 daughters, he got divorced at the end after 20 years because he's crazy, but they remained friends, but most important, for being there for me all these years. My wife is pretty straight, she never did drugs and she once told me that I was lucky to have Mike in my life because he really cared about me and I have to tell you I didn't know how much I loved Mike until I got that call telling me he was leaving. All I could tell you is that it's never too late, thats the gift I got from Mike, you could do whatever the fuck you want to do in this life. All those years I thought it was something about me but it was his strength that pushed me along, the things you realize after you've lived it!
                  Thank you for reading! Before you ask, the documentary will be released March 17th. The One Man show I'm doing to wrap around the doc is February 29th at The IceHouse on a Wednesday, I hope you guys can make it out, I'll keep you posted. The surgery went well, thank you for the love and support. I'm still coming down off the vikes and the magic juice they gave me at the hospital, I'm sorry about the rambling but I have to clear the mind somewhere!
             Have a great weekend....Stay Black!

                        

5 comments:

  1. Thanks Joey! That was a great blog. Very inspiring!

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  2. Im feeling this joey. currently livin life after realizing a week ago that: "you could do whatever the fuck you want to do in this life."

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  3. Joey, not only are you lucky to have MIKE, but he is lucky to have you.

    You are a no B.S. type of guy and a friend till the end.

    We all need more people like that in our lives.

    Get well soon

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  4. That was inspiring man. Thanks for that. Everybody needs a true blue friend in their life. I found these kind of people that you talk to without using words sometimes. Uncle Mike sounds like a stand up dude. Again, thanks for letting us know a little bit about a dude that meant so much to you.

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  5. Thanks Uncle Joey, this entry really hit home. Wisdom. Much Love and Respect.

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