Growing up in my little town of Wawa, there wasn’t a lot for kids to do. Sure, wintertime we played hockey and went skiing, spring and fall we were busy with school and sports and extracurricular activities. But summertime was when we had lots of free time on our hands. Nicky nicky nine doors was a favorite pass time. I think originally you were supposed to go up and ring someone’s doorbell and then run away – nine times, hence Nicky Nicky Nine Door - but we always got bored around the 4th or 5th. I still don’t know where the Nicky part gets played. Pretty innocent compared to what teenagers are up to today.
About the time I was 8 years old the Roxy Theater in Wawa started running “All Nighters”, showing movies from midnight until dawn. As a kid if you pulled an all-nighter, you were way cool. Some older kids would sneak in beer and sometimes the theater would show dirty movies like Porky’s. If there were too many kids in the audience, the owner would put his hand over the projector to blur out the nudity. All the kids would boo and throw popcorn at the booth. I wouldn’t know though, my parents never allowed me to go. Yeah, I still don’t think it’s fair – all the other kids got to go…
Here it is all these years later and I got to pull my first ever “All Nighter” at the movies. And not just any movie theater; a drive-in . 4 movies starting at sunset with the last end credits rolling as the sun starts to rise. You should see The Dark Knight if you haven’t already. The other three movies kind of blurred together into one big confusing movie. I think I remember Marky Mark battling Agent 99 at the center of the earth. Anyway, I pulled my first all-nighter. I’m now officially cool.
This week I also became uber cool in the horror fiction circles. My buddy, author Brian Keene gave me the most awesome shout-out any horror nerd could ever imagine. Here’s an excerpt from “Ghost Walk”
“…Maria finished her assignment half an hour before the deadline and e-mailed the attachment to her editor. Her little television flickered in the corner. Conan O’Brien was interviewing Canadian stand-up comedian Pete Zedlacher. The two were laughing about something, but Maria couldn’t tell what because she had the sound muted…”
Want to find out what happens next? Pick up a copy of Brian Keene’s Ghost Walk at your local bookstore. Thank Brian, I’m sending a copy to Conan’s people to get this American tv appearance rolling.
Friday I’ll be at the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival , moshing to Mastodon, Airborne, Disturbed and Slipknot . Then Saturday morning we’re off to the most magical place on the planet, Northern Ontario for a well-deserved fishing vacation. I wish I discovered this lake when I was a kid, maybe I wouldn’t have wanted to pull an all-nighter at the Roxy.
When I get back, it’s all business until the end of the year. I leaked a hint a few updates back that I’d have some exciting news to share coming up so here it is. No official dates yet but, this Fall I’ll be touring coast to coast with the Just For Laughs Festival . 30 cities across Canada in gigantic soft-seat theaters. As you can guess, I’m stoked ! I’ll let you know the dates when they come in, all I know so far is it will take place between mid-October until mid-November. I can already anticipate it’s going to be heart-breaking to go back to regular show business after this huge tour, but thems the breaks of Canadian showbusiness. Until Brian’s fiction comes true and I land a spot on Conan .
‘Til then, I’m gone fishin’.
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