I generally have a pretty positive disposition about most things. I try. I strive to be a positive person, if I can’t be positive I at least want to be funny. Or asleep.
I did some shows out of town this past weekend. I was really glad I got to do a quick run with a close friend. By the time I got back I was so tired of driving, all I wanted was to sleep and spend time with my man friend.
Monday, I was still in a pleasant mood from doing comedy all weekend, spending time with friends, and catching up on The Walking Dead with my companion and chardonnay. Then after work. One. Stupid. Thing. RUINED IT. I was mad at myself, I was mad at the situation, and I was just P.O.’d. I was on Star Bar and I was determined not to let my pissiness screw up the thing I love most. I do not do well when I’m mad/annoyed before I go on stage.
For example, last year I was interested in a guy that I doubt he felt the same because I got mixed signals 24/7.We both wanted to see the new hot horror flick. We got to the theatre and the movie times were wrong on line and I was on the 1AM Secret Show so we couldn’t see it in the allotted time. He was displeased and visibly annoyed. We settled for watching a few bands at Star Bar. It was a bluegrass-y night, which I didn’t mind but his disappointment radiated. He played on his phone and wouldn’t make small talk with me, let alone stand near me. It made me feel awful. I didn’t have anywhere else to go before the 1AM and I debated every alternative but I settled for staying. I got to Smith’s really early and was mad and told all my friends about it (sorry y’all) and that energy carried on stage. I plopped. I didn’t bomb. I plopped. I didn’t feel joy on stage and I let that dingus take it away. I was so mad at myself for letting someone/sometime affect my comedy.
I vowed to never let external stuff like that affect my comedy negatively. So Monday, before Star Bar, I got wings. SPICY CHICKEN WILL SAVE ME.
I had a buddy who had an even worse day so we both needed to turn our frowns upside down. We both couldn’t decide where to go so we ended up at Corner Tavern in Little 5, right by Star Bar. He got the nachos and I got t
he recommended 5 hot lemon pepper wings. I have had quite a few bar hot wings but I was impressed when their menu said “All Natural, Local, Hormone & Steroid Free”. I can deal with a lot for the sake of convenience and $1 pints of High life.
I don’t know what the hell these were.
As y’all probably know by now, I like my wings with a nice balance of crispy and saucy. These were like frozen then fried chicken wings(not sure if they were but over-breading tends to be a way to coverup frozen-nes). They can be all those good things that they listed on the menu and still be frozen.
They did crisp them up nicely but it wasn’t the wing I had my mouth set on. I rarely order lemon pepper but I was intrigued by the idea of “hot lemon pepper”. So they just put a weak hot sauce and added pepper and lemon juice. Lemon pepper is traditionally a dry rub meant for wings with little to no breading. Where as this breading made it so there was no possible way to marinate them in citrus. Heavy breaded wings soak up sauce easily so depending on the viscosity of the sauce, you don’t get much flavor. I honestly didn’t feel heat, lemon, or much pepper. It wasn’t a bad sauce, just not what was listed or I expected. I ate them because I was hungry and my buddy and I started talking about emotional things so we ended up eating a lot more.
We wrapped up dinner (by the way, the nachos were pretty good) then headed to Star Bar. Both of our spirits lifted. Even though the wings weren’t my favorite, they got me my out of my mood. Unlike the incident I recounted earlier, I took my bad attitude and forced myself to have a good time and have some wings. It worked. I got on stage and was happy.
No one or nothing can take the joy of wings and comedy from me.
Annie Lockwood 