I often hear about the inferiority complex that we have here in Dayton. Of all the places I’ve lived in, Dayton’s complex is certainly one of the most noticable – but I’ve never lived in or been to a city that DID NOT have an inferiority complex. I suppose it is human nature to think that the grass is always greener on the other side. Here are some cities I’ve lived in and their inferiority complexes:
Community
Get Urban – What is next?
This past Thursday night we held the Get Urban Miami Valley event that we’ve been promoting here for the past couple months and it was a huge success! We had over 200 people register and a total of around 230 in attendance. The room at the Webster Street Market (a perfect venue for this sort of thing) was buzzing with many current urbanites and urban-curious folks who were there to hear more about why anybody would actually CHOOSE to live in the City of Dayton over the burbs. Our featured speaker Kyle Ezell gave a great presentation on what it means to "get urban" and he gave most of us a lot to think about in terms of changing a culture that for decades has valued suburb and exurb living over an urban existence.
First Big Tenant signs at Ballpark Village; Mead Tower Owners Not Smiling
This story began with an article in the DBJ in which Thompson Hine – Dayton’s largest law firm – was thinking about possibly relocating to Ballpark Village if in fact that development were to come to fruition. Well, it didn’t take long for them to go from thinking about it to actually signing a letter of intent…
Dayton Daily News
Link: Law firm signs letter of intent for space at Ballpark VillageLaw firm Thompson Hine has signed a letter of intent to lease office space at Ballpark Village.
The firm said it is the largest tenant to agree to take office space at the development at Monument Avenue and Riverside Drive.
By March 2009, the 110-employee firm will occupy the entire top floor of a new office building at Ballpark Village. The firm will also occupy part of the floor immediately below, taking a total of 45,489 square feet, the firm said.
This is some bittersweet news (as Phillip over at The Gem City blog says), as it means that Ballpark Village is a step closer to reality, but at the expense of yet another large business moving out of the Mead Tower (now called 10 West 2nd). In fact, that means that Dayton’s second largest building will pretty much go completely dark since MeadWestVaco (the only other large tenant) has already left. (CareSource is taking up several floors on a temporary basis until their new building is finished next year.) That is scary and sad, but it also means that there is opportunity to get new businesses in there. A big issue with 10 West 2nd is the parking garage across Ludlow – which is run down and not very secure. While the city is building a new parking garage on Main it should really look at doing what needs to be done to bring the Ludlow garage back to life.
It is also interesting that the DDN article noted that the new office building for Thompson Hine would be the first to be built in BPV. It sure sounds like there is a lot of news coming out about new developments in the BPV saga as of late – hopefully it is a sign that this pipe dream of a development is actually going to happen.
Deeds Park Riverfront Housing is a GO…
As expected, the Miami Conservancy District has lifted the tight use restrictions on the land that makes up Deeds Park. It should be noted that the proposed housing development will NOT include or affect the existing park space and bike paths – which are maintained (and owned?) by Five Rivers Metroparks. Only the area across the street where there is currently a big ugly unused parking lot and baseball diamond (that isn’t needed since we have Kettering Fields just next door) will be developed.
It is my opinion that this is a good move as it is redeveloping an area that could and should be prime real estate but is now empty. With Deeds Point (one of the most meticulously landscaped and beautiful vantage points in the region), immediate access to the largest bike trail system in the region, a spectacular river and city skyline view, a potential retail/dining/entertainment district just across the Mad River, and easy access to I75 – this COULD be the most sought-after residential real estate in the region. Not to mention that with another influx of downtown residents brings more probability of downtown amenities like a grocery store.
Dayton Daily News
Link: Board amends Deeds Park development agreement.
The Miami Conservancy District board of directors Thursday announced that they had unanimously agreed to amend a deed to allow riverfront housing on 12 acres of land at Deeds Park.
New Montesori School, and one step closer to Ballpark Village
We’ve recently learned that the Dayton School Board has selected the area on the north banks of the Great Miami
River directly across from RiverScape as the new location for the city’s latest Montessori
school. Though the exact details are not known at this time, it appears that this latest development will allow for the city to acquire the Patterson Career Academy property – the original location that the school board had slated for this new Montessori school and one of the three main properties that must be acquired by the city to make room for Ballpark Village.
It will be interesting to see if this means that the Miami Apartments will be demolished or rehabbed (though it could be a beautiful building, my money is on demolish), and if the rest of that small riverfront neighborhood will be brought back from the dead. There are several dilapidated properties there that should be torn down, yet ironically there is one fairly new and modern house that was designed by Rogero Buckman that sits directly across the street from the former Rockwells. And speaking of Rockwells – what will become of that stunning property? (please not another ill-conceived high-priced steak joint!)
With the acquisition of the Woolpert building having been secured by the city, all that is left is the blessing of the Miami Conservancy District on the development of the Deeds Point area for housing, and to find a new home for Requarth Lumber. And my last conversation with the president of that company leads me to believe that this is all very close to becoming reality.
Are Dayton Realtors hindering urban progress?
When we first moved to Ohio in 2001, we chose the Dayton region because my wife had family here – some in Kettering and some in Beavercreek. We knew little about the Dayton region so we relied on advice from family and real estate agents. There were some that said Beavercreek was the best place to be, others claimed Oakwood, and still others said Centerville. Many claimed that Springboro was where we should move to because it was growing like crazy and full of young affluent people. But there was definitely a common bit of neighborhood-searching advice that was given by ALL of our family and Realtors alike – STAY AWAY FROM THE CITY OF DAYTON! We listened to all of this advice and ended up in Washington Township (or as I called it – Centerville, since I still don’t really know the difference). Well, after realizing that suburban living wasn’t for us, we bought our downtown loft condo just 2 years later and we haven’t looked back. Unfortunately, even though we’ve lived downtown for almost 4 years and have somehow managed to avoid all of the muggings, shootings, murders, etc. that supposedly occur downtown on a daily basis (btw, that is all a myth), people still to this day ask us if we’re scared living here. And Realtors seem to still insist on pushing people further south and away from the city.
[Read more…] about Are Dayton Realtors hindering urban progress?
Special Event…
Date: October 4th, 2007
Time: 5:30-7:30pm
Place: Webster Street Market (Top of the Market)
This event is for you if you:
… have considered leaving the burbs for a downtown loft condo or a historic district house
… already live in an urban neighborhood and want to meet others that do or are thinking about it
… want to hear about the joys of "living urban!
CLICK HERE to find out more….
How Dayton can attract more residents
Yes, there are MANY things that the City of Dayton needs to work on to attract residents. Problems with crime, public schools, quality of life – these all must be addressed. But since the city is already working on possible two-way street conversions downtown, now is the time to be a leader in one nationwide trend instead of missing another opportunity.
Although Dayton’s suburbs are continuing to grow despite a current national trend of people moving back into cities, Dayton does have a few advantages over the burbs. One of the biggest is the fact that you can get around without the need for a car. No, we are not Manhattan or Chicago, but our city’s downtown was built for pedestrians while the suburbs are built for automobiles. And in a time when $5.00 gasoline is very foreseeable and progressive people are cognizant of the environment and their impact on it – it makes sense for Dayton to capitalize on this advantage and build on it.
In Dayton we already have one of the best bicycle trail systems in the state, and it goes right through downtown. We should be looking at adding bicycle lanes to all of our major streets when converting to two-way – not just one bike lane on one side of the street, but both sides. By doing this, we will see even more bikes in and around downtown than we already do, and we may see more new residents who enjoy the fact that they can bike to work (if not walk). And if the next phase of Riverscape does indeed come to fruition (and I’m told it will), we will see a new bicycle station complete with lockers, showers, bike rentals and bicycle repair services. Imagine if you could get to this bike trail hub from any urban neighborhood in Dayton by using any number of bike lanes that go through downtown… and imagine seeing Dayton as one of the cities with progressive "Complete Streets" programs. Yes, the Wright Brothers (who perfected airplane designs in their bicycle shop) would certainly be proud.
Link: ‘Complete streets’ program gives more room for pedestrians, cyclists – USATODAY.com.
A growing number of states and local governments are rejecting a half-century of transportation practice and demanding that streets accommodate all types of travel, not just automobiles.
The concept of "complete streets"
More jobs coming to Downtown Dayton
Just in case you don’t read or hear about this in the local news, here is some good news for Downtown Dayton…
From Dayton Biz Bits
August 2, 2007
Technology Firm to Invest, Add Jobs Downtown
Enterprise Information Management, Inc., (EIM), a Virginia-based provider of information technology solutions, is moving forward with plans to invest $1.25 million and add jobs at its downtown Dayton office, following approval of a development agreement by the Dayton City Commission.
The investment will retain six full-time positions and add 100 jobs with an average salary of more than $55,000 over the next three years. EIM will lease and upgrade up to 10,000 square feet of office space at the Talbott Tower, 131 N. Ludlow St., and purchase new equipment. The City of Dayton is supporting the expansion with a $200,000 grant.
Since its inception in 1996, EIM has delivered complex technology solutions to federal agencies, including the Department of Defense. The company’s services include enterprise transformation, acquisition management and information technology services
Yes, the article said "100 jobs … over the next three years". Kudos to those folks that made this happen – it is a big win for our urban core!
Are you ready to “Get Urban”?
Those of us who live in urban neighborhoods by choice do so because we enjoy the lifestyle. We enjoy the fact that we can walk to many places as opposed to having to drive everywhere. We enjoy the history of the buildings and architecture that surround us. We enjoy the energy and the constant traffic (people and even cars) that goes by just outside our windows. And we enjoy living in diverse communities where we are close friends with many of our neighbors who also share our passion for urban living. Though I understand that urban living is not for everybody, I do think that more people would be open to the idea if they knew what it was like and knew what it was that attracts so many of us to it despite the challenges. Or better yet, if somebody were to somehow teach them how to actually "live urban". Hmm, if only there were somebody we could find that could speak to some of these people…
Well, we may have found that somebody – and we didn’t have to go any further than
Columbus! Kyle Ezell is the founder of Get Urban, Ltd. and is so passionate about city living that he has written two books on the subject:
Get Urban! The Complete Guide to City Living
and
Retire Downtown: The Lifestyle Destination for Active Retirees and Empty Nesters.
Kyle is a certified city planner, instructor of downtown housing at Ohio State University, and since 2005 has been a keynote speaker on the topic of urban living in cities all over the country – including San Francisco, Chicago, Columbus and more. He has organized "Ruppie" parties to help attract active suburban empty nesters to downtown neighborhoods (we have several Ruppies here in Downtown Dayton). And he has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Cool Town Studios, Columbus RetroMetro and yes – here on MostMetro.com.
So why am I telling you about Kyle and Get Urban? It could be because he seems to understand the potential we have right here in Dayton ("… When complete, Downtown Dayton could become one of America’s chicest Postindustrial Urbs. Life here, even in the often-bypassed city of Dayton, Ohio, will be hard for any urbanite to resist." – Get Urban! The Complete Guide to City Living). Or maybe somebody is planning a Get Urban event…
Yes, details are coming soon…
If Youngstown can do it…
In a previous post we discussed the negative spin our local media seems to have when it comes to the City of Dayton. And if you’ve ever heard our schpeel or read our About Us, you know that the reason we started this website was to give people an alternative view of our city that they don’t necessarily get with local news. We are not an official media source, but simply proud citizens that decided to tell the world how WE see our city. We realize that our city continues to face huge challenges, but we believe those challenges can be overcome. Sure, it will take a significant amount of financial resources that these days seems to be quite scarce, but by helping to instill a sense of Dayton city pride – both within the city as well as the overall region – it can be done. With the right message, anything is possible… Take a look at what Youngstown is doing:
A positive story in the midst of Dayton’s school-funding crisis…
Dayton will be feeling the effects of the failed school levy and subsequent fall-out for some time to come, and the school system’s budget situation has become a dark cloud over the city. But the following story proves that there are folks in this city (and region) that believe in the future and importance of at least one school in Dayton, and what seemed like a lost cause may just turn out to be a spectacular win.
[Read more…] about A positive story in the midst of Dayton’s school-funding crisis…
Hilariously Hyper Hahn
Greg Hahn On The Marines, One Eyed Women and The Bob & Tom Show
Having heard Greg Hahn’s high-velocity rants on the radio and seen his blisteringly bombastic stage performances on video, I fully expected to find that, off stage, he was a quiet, laid back kind of guy. I was wrong. From the moment he answered the phone for our first interview, it was clear that he was just as manic and off stage as he was on. In all sincerity, I had to slow down the recorder to transcribe our interview as it was somewhat akin to listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks on a meth jag. I conversation meandered around, jumping from topic to topic, seemingly at random. I knew that it was going to be an interesting interview when I had mentioned that it took a special type of person to get up in front of an audience, under the glare of the spotlights. I told him that I was really only comfortable dealing with the world from the safety and comfort of my computer.
“Right…it’s a special thing…I mean, you write and I can’t even think about sitting still for that long. It would bore me instantly and I wouldn’t be able to come up with anything…hang on…I gotta plug my phone in…”
…and thus began the interview. One of several conversations that I have pieced together over the years, to give a clearer insight into Greg Hahn’s career and his creations. During our first conversation, I asked Greg if he had always been this way.
“Yeah! I’ve always been ridiculous, you know? Always, ’cause that’s the fun part! Like when you’re in school…the more serious the situation is, the more you want to be a riot. Like in a quiet classroom, you know, or like a funeral or say like a church…I won’t go so far as to say a funeral …but like church. Wherever you’re supposed to be really quiet is like where I wanted to go completely bananas, you know.” Hahn quickly added, somewhat paradoxically, “But then I get put on the spot, like ‘Hey! It’s the funny guy!’ so, like you go to a party and that’s where you’re supposed to be completely over the top and that’s where I would clam up. It’s a weird combination of things.”
Having seen him on stage and spoken with him in person, it was somewhat difficult for me to imagine that he could ever be involved in such a regimented organization such as the Marines. I asked him if his apparent ADHD and penchant for spastic humor ever got him in trouble with the Corps.
“Uh, I don’t know…it was quite ridiculous in the Marine Corps. You know, I had my people shooting their weapons all over the place. I used to blow off stuff at my apartment complex that caused the S.W.A.T. team to come over. You know, that was like the closest I ever came to being in trouble…like I’d bring flash-bangs or artillery simulators home and blow them off. Other than that, things have been pretty smooth.”
Knowing that Hahn had achieved the rank of Captain, I was curious as to whether his antics ever got him bucked down in rank or caused him any other problems in the military.
“No, no. Officers…normally it’s hard to get yourself knocked down a rank. Those guys that are just working their way up, like from like Sergeant to Corpsoral (E-4) or something like that, but once your so high, it’s hard to get knocked down.” Hahn ended that thought by saying, “Either you rank or you get kicked out right away.”
With his military background, I was sure that Hahn had to have taken part in the many USO or other military comedy tours.
“I didn’t do Iraq, but I went to Bosnia and Kosovo…all that stuff. That was a good time. The military stuff kills there…I try to expand on the military stuff and it does real well. But you know, my military career was a long time ago. There are other guys that have had real careers in the military. I was just like four years in…three active duty and one in the reserves. A lot of these guys have been in the military for like ten or twenty years…a whole big career. I touch on it in the act, but it’s not the whole act.” Hahn then jumped subject, detailing some of his pre-Marine life. “I went to college. I had a job. I was a moron in college, so I can like totally relate to people whose max education is high school and they go to college and they drink and I am totally in the same boat with those people.”
During another phone call, almost exactly a year later, I brought up the topic of the military once again as my eldest son had joined the Marines and was set to leave in a short time for boot camp.
“Good for him! Well, he’ll get in the Marine Corps and, I mean, at boot camp, it’ll be…the first week…what a hassle! No sleep! Oh my god! Everything is uncomfortable. He will have…it’s that old cliché, ‘You can’t take that away from him,’ you know?” Actually sounding nostalgic for a moment, Hahn went on to say that, “He’ll have the memory of things he did and what happened and things he saw for his whole life. It’s a good memory. It’s fun. Tell him he’ll tell every girlfriend he ever dates from here on out his Marine Corps experience, what he did in boot camp and what happened and what kid tried to drink his own piss and the rifle range…no, he’s got all kinds of great memories coming.”
I wondered whether much of Hahn’s stage act was comprised of actual experiences that, within the wide open confines of Greg’s imagination, he blew up to totally preposterous proportions, creating a comic character that everyone seems to find universally hilarious. Was it a conscious decision to create a rapid fire monologue out of exaggerated portions of his own life?
“Yeah, stuff I’ve experienced, stuff I’ve done, you know what I mean? I always say, like my whole point is ‘get to the funny part quick’. Like, me as an audience member, like whenever I watched comedy, I would get bored like instantaneously. I don’t like a long set up, myself so my jokes are almost like, a couple of words or a funny noise or a face or whatever. Like, whatever is funny I try to bring it in immediately.” Hahn reflects that, “So, since I started out, I’ve always…it takes a while, it takes a number of years to get people to understand what the hell you’re doing. Because I used to come out on stage and , you know, fall down or flop around and throw prunes and, you know, throw stuff around, and people didn’t know what the hell was going on.”
With the unending physical comedy that his body endures during every performance, I thought that he must have had some accidents and injuries over the course of years.
“No…” he said, quickly adding that, “I have flown onto a full table of beer, though. The table collapsed when I flew off stage and landed on a table…I didn’t get hurt, so it was alright. It was kind of funny, actually…a good way to close a show. ‘Hey, hey! My finale’!’”
As a regular guest not only on The Bob and Tom Show, but also on The Bob and Tom Comedy All-Stars Tours, Greg attributes much of his success to Tom Griswold and Bob Kevoian, the creators and hosts of the show.
“Well, I think The Bob and Tom Show, for me, has made my career. It has totally given it a kick in the you-know-what. It’s really interesting because I was playing in a club in Indianapolis called One Liners, and they were like, ‘Hey, you’re going to do The Bob and Tom Show tomorrow!’ I had heard that Bob and Tom was big, but I’d done a lot of radio and you don’t get overly excited, like, it’s not a career changer. You know, after a while, you just kind of take one day at a time.” Hahn remembers the immediate results that the show had on his career, “So, you do The Bob and Tom Show once and the next thing you know, you show up at a place you’ve never been before, like Wichita, Kansas, and the place is packed! You go rolling up in the parking lot and there’s nowhere to park. That’s when I first learned the power of Bob and Tom, playing Wichita…that place was slammed and I’m like, ‘Holy Smokes!’ and it just got better and better. It’s really something!”
The Bob and Tom Comedy All Star Tour have really become an entity unto themselves, traversing the country, bringing the nation’s top comedians in one headliner laden show.
“Yeah, The Bob and Tom Tour is like a total party. You know, I can just come out and go completely nuts. I don’t have to pace myself or anything…just total nuts, you know? That’s the thing…I come out, explode, then go have a diet Coke backstage. It is truly the world of Jäger-bombs and body shots.” Hahn went on to explain the dynamics of the tours by reiterating that, “It’s just a Bob and Tom party, because you’ve got all these headliners who normally don’t see each other on the club circuit, because we all headline. Our egos are too big. We wouldn’t dare want to open for each other, you know what I mean? But, on The Bob and Tom Tour, it’s all headliners, so…man! The green room is a riot! It is fun, it is fun. You are truly seeing comedians that are having a fun time where, in a club, it might be minor torture because you could have to sit through the opening act and the middle act. Honestly, I’ve never had so much fun doing comedy in all my life!”
I always wondered if the constantly changing line ups would throw some of the comedians off of their groove.
“Not really. I mean, it’s different personnel. You’ve got someone new to goof off with in the green room. But, as far as the show itself, I don’t really sit out there and watch it. We sit in the green room totally goofing off talking about, again, because it’s a meeting of people who don’t normally see each other, so we can talk about challenges on the road, which comedy club has the most horrific condo, which guy tried to rip us off the most and compare notes.” Hanh explains. “Then, when they’re like, ‘Hey! You’re up next!’ I just go out there, sprinting onto the stage, freak out, then race back to the green room. So, I don’t know what’s going on out there. I just know that I go out there and give the audience their money’s worth and make sure that they’re happy that they showed up.”
Along with being one of the most manic and funny men on the comedy circuit, Hahn also has some other special talents. The first of which is his exceptional drumming skills. Had he originally wanted a career in music, perhaps hooking up with a band in high school or college?
“No, man…but I always had a drum set with me, even through college, like in my college dorm, because nothing wraps up a big party night when you’re hitting all the frats then a 3am dorm drum solo. I always had a drum kit and I took lessons in like fourth and fifth grade, and that was it. I did actually play in the jazz band in high school, but they’d only let me play like one song.” Contemplating the possibilites, Hahn said, “Now if I put together a big show, I would put together a band for sure. But the trouble is, I ruin every single song with a gigantic drum solo, so…”
Another of his non-comedic attributes is his wicked reputation as a Ping-Pong master. I was curious if this was something that he developed a skill for while he was in the military, much like Forrest Gump.
“No, I played as a kid. As a kid, I lived across the street from the guy that was like one of the top players in Florida and he taught me how to play. And it’s not like I’m a tournament player, but any punk that’s in the audience or like when I was in college…I mean, any street player I can beat, or normally I can beat. I’m sure that there’s some fat guy wearing a sweat band that’s got a Ping-Pong table in his garage and belongs to the Ping-Pong Club that could be trouble and could probably do me in, but I don’t run into that. I’m a comedian, so I think I’m unbeatable!” Then the gloves come off when Hahn starts trash talking. “That’s like Daniel Tosh and these other punks that think they’re good, and they show up and I have to talk smack like ‘Are you right handed? Are you sure you’re not playing with the weak hand?’”
We ended one of our conversations with what has to be one of the weirder road stories that I have heard. Not the weirdest…but definitely outside the norm.
“When I first started out, I used to throw stuff out into the audience and then there was this lady one night, who kept opening this umbrella in the front row while I’m doing the show, right?”
I suggested that perhaps the woman was confused and thought she was at a Gallagher show.
“No, I wasn’t even throwing anything. I guess she just thought it was funny. She was drunk and thought it was funny to, out of nowhere, just open her umbrella up in the front row. So all I’d see was this big umbrella open up. I happened to have had a large glass of ice water up on stage, and I thought, ‘Man, that would be great that the next time she opens that umbrella, I’ll spin around and grab this huge glass of ice water and chuck it against that umbrella. Oh it’ll be a riot! It’ll be a riot!!’ So I’m doing my show and BOOM, the umbrella opens up and I spin around and grab the ice water and fling it at her and as I’m throwing it, she closes the umbrella, the ice flies over her head and nails the woman behind her.” The story goes from bad to bizarre as Hahn recounts that, “All I could hear was the woman behind her scream, ‘My eye!’…and it’s not just her eye….it’s her good eye. She’s got a real eye and a glass eye and I nailed her in the real eye. Like, I mean, a nightmare was facing me that I couldn’t possibly imagine. So anyway, the show was over and I had to sit with her and buy her drinks…well, her and the people she was with….and luckily the eye cleared up and she was alright and the club invited me back. That was a rough one, man. It’s like one of the things you learn when you’re starting out. It’s like, ‘O.K. That’s it for chucking things into the crowd.’No, I wasn’t even throwing anything. I guess she just thought it was funny. She was drunk and thought it was funny to, out of nowhere, just open her umbrella up in the front row. So all I’d see was this big umbrella open up. I happened to have had a large glass of ice water up on stage, and I thought, ‘Man, that would be great that the next time she opens that umbrella, I’ll spin around and grab this huge glass of ice water and chuck it against that umbrella. Oh it’ll be a riot! It’ll be a riot!!’ So I’m doing my show and BOOM, the umbrella opens up and I spin around and grab the ice water and fling it at her and as I’m throwing it, she closes the umbrella, the ice flies over her head and nails the woman behind her. All I could hear was the woman behind her scream, ‘My eye!’…and it’s not just her eye….it’s her good eye. She’s got a real eye and a glass eye and I nailed her in the real eye. Like, I mean, a nightmare was facing me that I couldn’t possibly imagine. So anyway, the show was over and I had to sit with her and buy her drinks…well, her and the people she was with….and luckily the eye cleared up and she was alright and the club invited me back. That was a rough one, man. It’s like one of the things you learn when you’re starting out. It’s like, ‘O.K. That’s it for chucking things into the crowd.’”
At the conclusion of our last conversation, Hahn extended his thanks and best wishes to my son as he left for Marine Corps boot camp.
“Well, thanks a lot for the interview and tell your son he’ll love the Corps and tell him to bring his golf clubs. That’s what they always told me; ‘Bring your golf clubs!’” Hahn paused for the briefest of moments before adding, “I don’t know what that means.”
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD0WROU9D7Q’]
Shock Treatment
Wiley’s Welcomes America’s Greatest Storyteller
I prepared for my upcoming interview with comedic storyteller Ron Shock in the same manner that I approached all of my subjects. I researched reviews of his performances from across the country. I listened to all of the stage material of his that I could find. I read all of the somewhat vitriolic rants on his web blog. I collated and compressed all of my thoughts down into a series of poignant, thought provoking questions, took a deep breath and dialed his telephone number. As soon as I heard his raspy, whiskey soaked voice answer the phone and he launched unceremoniously into a review of his day, I did what any professional interviewer would do; I threw my notes right the fuck out. I realized instantly that there was absolutely no way in hell I was going to be able to force this interview to follow any semblance of order.
Ron immediately put me at ease with his laid back, conversational tone; the hallmark of a true storyteller. He makes you feel as if you were sitting on the back porch, listening to stories being spun by your favorite grandfather. Not the one who used to whack you with his cane and tell you that you’d never amount to anything, just like your father. No, not him. The other one; the nice one. Ron Shock would reminded you of that grandfather, spinning stories about his life, making them all seem so funny and fanciful. Well, maybe “grandfather” is not the right depiction to use. Maybe a grandfather after he’s smoked quite a bit of “medicinal marijuana” for his “glaucoma.” A cross between Garrison Keillor and Ken Kesey, really.
Our hour-long conversation ranged hither and yon, touching on topic after topic, such as politics, poker, religion and bowel movements, shifting between these subjects seamlessly. Now I realized why the man, one of the Original Texas Outlaws who sprang from the same scene as Sam Kinison, Bill Hicks and Brett Butler, was known as The Greatest American Storyteller.
J.T.: You’re performing at Wiley’s Comedy Club on June 21st through the 24th. You wrote to me saying that you really liked playing that club. Is it the area’s ambiance? The type of crowds?
Shock: You know what it is? The owner is a comic. The previous owner, Wiley himself, while not a comic, loved comedy and there is that love of comedy and Wiley’s isn’t like other clubs because they’re (the other clubs) are in it for the money. Wiley’s is actually in it for the comedy.
J.T.: Well, I’ll ask the most obvious question that you’ve probably been asked a billion times, ‘how did you get into comedy?’
Shock: I had a little consulting firm at the time, but it pretty much ran itself. The service I provided was done by computer and it was easy for me to have time off. I went to college. I’d take six hours a week out of my not-so-busy-fucking-schedule. Just to take courses that interested me and I didn’t know anything about the theater, so I took ‘Introduction to Theater.’ Well, Hayden Rorke, who played Col. Bellows on ‘I Dream of Jeannie’, was friend of my professor. He comes on a day when we had to do a skit that we had written ourselves. I performed my skit and afterwards, he said ‘That was pretty funny! Let’s go have lunch.’ We had lunch and he asked me what I was doing in college at my age. I told him that I had been a success in business and had made money and now I was bored beyond belief. He told me ‘You ought to do stand up comedy.’ The following Tuesday, I went to a local comedy club and it was like a light shone on me, like ‘This is what you’re supposed to do.’ I went on stage that Sunday, amateur night…and I bombed. Horribly. A fight breaks out between the comics and spills into the room while I’m on stage. It can’t get any worse. Monday morning, I put my business up for sale and I’ve been a stand-up comic ever since.
J.T.: How would you describe your show to the uninitiated? Is it a political or controversial type of show?
Shock: No, I don’t do political stuff much. I will go after certain controversial figures, I don’t go after groups, I name names…individuals…like Oral Roberts or Pat Robertson. I’ll take something ludicrous that they’ve said and from there go into a rant from there. My show has no point. I make people laugh. That’s what I do. There are things that I feel very deeply about in life, but I can’t make them funny, and I don’t want to preach without making it funny. My calling seems to be as a stand-up comic, not as a comedic philosopher. So, no…I don’t have a point, other than there’s a lot of funny shot out there if you can start to look at it from a funny point of view. I do a lot of long stories, I mean, I’ve led a very interesting life.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayt2YNgKpBs’]
Community vs money? Is it really that simple?
Here is an interesting post on Cool Town Studios that briefly talks about our society’s growing economic trend of spending money on events and experiences rather than material luxuries. The idea of spending money on local businesses that offer authenticity rather than national chains that offer formula-based mass production is already significant in many other cities – can that attitude find its way in the Dayton region? With places like The Greene packed with people while our independents fight for survival tells me that our region has a long way to go before this idea gains traction here, but how long will it be before people grow tired of generic experiences that can be found in Anywhere, USA and begin to discover the many great locally-owned businesses we have here? How long will it be before this region’s residents figure out that the key to happiness does NOT mean isolated living in a suburban McMansion, but it can be found living in an urban neighborhood that has true character and true community? Does Dayton have the foundation in place for attracting people who want to live in culturally diverse communities, or will we continue to see those people simply move to bigger cities to find the urban lifestyle they are looking for?
Cool Town Studios
by Neil Takemoto
Link:
Community vs money? Is it really that simple?.
Balancing a sense of community vs. financial wealth isn’t a known inversely proportional correlation, but probably more so than you think…
Update (6/26/2007): Our fellow blogger David Esrati has a similar conversation going on over here – it is nice to see this conversation happening out there…
Ballpark Village – Just a little bit longer…
It looks like we have to wait until August to find out if we will be getting the long-anticipated riverfront development tentatively called Ballpark Village. The good news here is that the city has secured buy-rights to the Dayton Career Academy (one of three main properties that must be acquired), and that the Requarth Lumber building is to be saved and incorporated into the development.
Dayton Daily News
By Joanne Huist Smith
Link: Decision about Dayton’s Ballpark Village project delayed.
The region will have to wait until the end of August to learn if Dayton’s downtown waterfront will be transformed into Ballpark Village, an entertainment area with retail, housing and offices.
…"We see no indication that the project won’t work as conceived," Dickstein said.
Also on Wednesday, the City Commission secured the Dayton Career Academy, 441 River Corridor Drive, from the Dayton City School District with a $3 million option-to-buy contract.
The city also is trying to work a deal to buy Requarth Lumber, 447 E. Monument Avenue. The plan calls for incorporating that 1895-era building into the development.
("Requarth Lumber" image taken from http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=540639750&size=l)