It’s been a few weeks now since the end of the Just For Laughs tour and I’ve been adjusting to life back at home (and without a tour manager) accordingly. Namely I’ve been late to a lot of things and I grossly mishandled a night’s accomodations out of town.
One thing I wasn’t late for however was an appointment with my investment advisor who is trying to help me figure out how to make money I made this year last for several years into the future. It’s not an easy sell to someone who’s first financial advisor, my dad, had no training whatsoever and always gave ridiculous advice like “always pay twice the minimum monthly balance on your credit card”. That advice kept me solidly in debt until about 5 years ago. As it turns out, there are a lot of different things you can do with money and the more money you have the more people there are happy to help you. Fortunately my investment guy has been giving me advice since I had very little money and that money has grown so far, so I’ll keep listening.
Then I went to an appointment with my accountant who concluded that, yes, I had a very successful year and why that is a bad thing for tax purposes. Canada is one of the few countries in the world I think where, if you make money your first course of action is not to be proud and spend it but to hide it like a pirate so the government doesn’t take most of it. My conclusion is that Canadians who do have a lot of money and spend it openly (and have not yet been sent to prison) are among the most clever thieves in the world.
Other than that I’ve been taking R and R to the next level which included a 4 day trip to Montreal to see friends where I drank pretty much the same amount as I did each orientation week of university combined. As a result I’m trying to figure out a way to live in a steam room for a month eating only low-cal rice cakes which strangely is not how most of my friends and family like to celebrate the holidays. So….January it is.
Tonight I’ll be attending the holiday party of one of the agencies who has booked a lot of work for me this year and I will try to only drink a “reasonable” amount. But that will likely prove difficult since I still treat most situations with an open bar as an experiment in new types and quantities of drink. As in “I’ll have a pint of Johnnie Walker Blue with a hint of absinth please.”
Anyway, I am also back to the writing board preparing for a big New Year’s Eve show (it falls on Dec 31 this year) at Massey Hall which I am very excited to be headlining and sharing the stage with the legendary Andrea Martin and good friend Ryan Belleville among several other very talented comedians. If you happen to be reading this in time, discounted tickets are on sale before December 9. And then the unreasonably-priced tickets are on sale after that. So if you’re interested in ending the year on a high laughing note in a magnificent venue for a reasonable price, get your tickets now!
OK, good talk everybody. And in case I don’t see you before Christmas…don’t forget to pick up some reasonably-priced presents for your loved ones. Or write them a poem, with an IOU for better presents at a later time.
A RT from @patterballs. That's like Easter dipped in St Patrick's Day goodness. 3 hours ago
RT @showbizmonkeys: @Alan_Thicke, Caroline Rhea, @HarlandWilliams, @ScottThompson_, @patterballs, & @mrseancullen all appearing at the @WpgComFest Apr 5-15! 3 hours ago
RT @WizardBrian: @patterballs I smell a sitcom. #GOPartyOfFive 3 hours ago
THE POST-TOUR, PRE-CHRISTMAS PERIOD
It’s been a few weeks now since the end of the Just For Laughs tour and I’ve been adjusting to life back at home (and without a tour manager) accordingly. Namely I’ve been late to a lot of things and I grossly mishandled a night’s accomodations out of town.
One thing I wasn’t late for however was an appointment with my investment advisor who is trying to help me figure out how to make money I made this year last for several years into the future. It’s not an easy sell to someone who’s first financial advisor, my dad, had no training whatsoever and always gave ridiculous advice like “always pay twice the minimum monthly balance on your credit card”. That advice kept me solidly in debt until about 5 years ago. As it turns out, there are a lot of different things you can do with money and the more money you have the more people there are happy to help you. Fortunately my investment guy has been giving me advice since I had very little money and that money has grown so far, so I’ll keep listening.
Then I went to an appointment with my accountant who concluded that, yes, I had a very successful year and why that is a bad thing for tax purposes. Canada is one of the few countries in the world I think where, if you make money your first course of action is not to be proud and spend it but to hide it like a pirate so the government doesn’t take most of it. My conclusion is that Canadians who do have a lot of money and spend it openly (and have not yet been sent to prison) are among the most clever thieves in the world.
Other than that I’ve been taking R and R to the next level which included a 4 day trip to Montreal to see friends where I drank pretty much the same amount as I did each orientation week of university combined. As a result I’m trying to figure out a way to live in a steam room for a month eating only low-cal rice cakes which strangely is not how most of my friends and family like to celebrate the holidays. So….January it is.
Tonight I’ll be attending the holiday party of one of the agencies who has booked a lot of work for me this year and I will try to only drink a “reasonable” amount. But that will likely prove difficult since I still treat most situations with an open bar as an experiment in new types and quantities of drink. As in “I’ll have a pint of Johnnie Walker Blue with a hint of absinth please.”
Anyway, I am also back to the writing board preparing for a big New Year’s Eve show (it falls on Dec 31 this year) at Massey Hall which I am very excited to be headlining and sharing the stage with the legendary Andrea Martin and good friend Ryan Belleville among several other very talented comedians. If you happen to be reading this in time, discounted tickets are on sale before December 9. And then the unreasonably-priced tickets are on sale after that. So if you’re interested in ending the year on a high laughing note in a magnificent venue for a reasonable price, get your tickets now!
OK, good talk everybody. And in case I don’t see you before Christmas…don’t forget to pick up some reasonably-priced presents for your loved ones. Or write them a poem, with an IOU for better presents at a later time.