Mike's Morsels of Wisdom

Lakes...They're Great!

With HFT I get to travel around the Great Lakes quite a bit. Whether we're trucking through Chicago or making the trek along Ohio's north shore we have gotten to know these massive fresh water seas that reside in the unassuming gut of North America. Everytime we get around these "lakes" and especially when we're actually on them, an passion of mine rises to the surface like a bouy held under for too long. The passion I speak of is wrapped in mystery and mourning, grandeur and failure, function and form. It is...the Great Lakes Shipping Industry. It's History: Past and Present. I am utterly crippled with fascination for ships that navigate these inland waterways. They haul grains, oils, miscellaneous cargos, lumbers, ores and even people (did you know they have Great Lakes Cruises?). I sit in wonderment as I read my book entitled "Stormy Disasters" and learn about the storms that brought these great vessels to their moist knees. I listen in quiet reflection to the nautical melody and haunting lyrics of "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot. And now, with my recently purchased Great Lakes Shipwreck Map I can chart and ponder the geography of which ol' Gordy himslef sums up perfectly,
"Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the Gales of November remembered."

A brief history in HFT injuries.

A couple of weeks ago, I sustained a pretty bad ankle sprain in a softball game. The picture to the left shows my ankle swelling to egg-sized proportions that day. The nice thing about working with HappyFunTime is that I was able to stay off of it for a couple of days which really helped in the healing process. The tough thing about doing the comedy thing is summed up in an age old adage...The show must go on! We had a few shows out in New York last weekend and my little "anklette" (as the members of HFT affectionately call it) wasn't quite ready for "high energy improv." Long story short, I borrowed a cane from a friend and hobbled my way through the comedy. I'm pleased to announce that it is doing quite well now though it is still a little sore. For those with strong stomachs, take a look at what happens to a sprained ankle when the swelling goes down and the drainage starts to build up. Compare with my healthy, rail thin ankle here.

Through the years, we at HFT have sustained a variety of ailments and injuries. In all of them we have had to "play through the pain" and many times, the injury becomes a part of the comedy. To the viewing audience, this is amusing. To the injured, this is a humbling experience. And to the rest of HappyFunTime, it is sheer bliss.

For those who have never had the opprtunity to experience a HFT show with the thrills and chills of bodily harm thrown into the mix, here are some highlights...

April, 2002. Twin Cities area. This is probably the first on record and subsequently, difficult for some to even remember. However, the pain still lingers. A show somewhere near Minneapolis. Wes is playing a cheerleader in a scene (a beautiful sight to behold). He trips of the front of the stage and his ankle over-extends forward. He's down! But with brute force and iron will he acts out his pain as the character and continues on in the show. This injury causes some pain for the next year, and now everytime it rains, Wes does the splits and screams, "Go Cheifs!"

July, 2002. HFT's First Summer Tour. We make a stop at the Fitz Family Farm and before departing, a wasp swoops down like a B2 Bomber and stings me (Mike) right above the eyelid. The following morning I wake up and my eye is swollen to the likes of a big, juicy strawberrry. I looked like a drunk pirate. Not coincidentally, I ended up playing a drunk pirate in many scenes through the rest of that tour. "Look in my good eye!"

September, 2002. Souix Falls, SD. The last "split weekend" in HFT history where Wes, Nica and myself do a show in Baltimore while Nate, Dave and Dan do a show in Souix Falls, SD. Dave and Nate pick Dan up in southern Minnesota and Dan is complaining about "stomach pains." They do their first show and Dan powers through the scenes but is doubled over on the side of the stage in between scenes. After the first show, he asks to go to the hospital. While Nate and Dave are performing a second show (yes, just the two of them!), Dan is having emergency Appendix removal. Turns out it wasn't just the greasy cheesburger. Just this past year, Dan let us know that he is finally able to get off the couch. He now weighs 680 pounds.

July, 2003. LiFest. After announcing the headliner band on the Grandstand Stage, Wes is running in the dark, without a flashlight, through a field where the pyrotechnics team has set up a firworks display for the night. Why is Wes running through here? He wants to ask the pyro guys if they have a couple of sparklers so he can show up at our next show and pretend to give the crowd a "fireworks display." In his scurry through the field he runs right into a metal pipe sticking out of the ground which pierces him directly in his exposed leg. Wes shows up at our show bleeding quite a bit and worst of all, with no sparklers. As always, he pushes through the pain and does the show. He still has a nice scar to this day. And everytime he watches fireworks he does a flip and screams "Ouch!"

July, 2004. Summer in the Son, Grayson, KY. Nate's fabled, "Kentucky Toe" incident. Read the account right from the source on his blog.

When will the next injury happen? Only God knows. Until then, keep living healthy and give blood!