I made it through April. That’s really the only way to put it. In a month where I travelled to Dallas, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Las Vegas, Halifax, Chicago, Toronto, Regina and then back to Edmonton it honestly feels like I’ve been on the road for about a year not a month. Now, as I fly back in Air Canada “Executive class” having used an upgrade certificate, I DARE them to not give me “Super Elite” status next year…

Obviously it’s nice to get to see lots of different places and get re-acquainted with old friends. And it’s nice to know that my particular sense of humour is shared for the most part all across North America. But the downside of being the only person that I know sometimes in a city is, well, it gets pretty lonely sometimes.

I can already hear some of you itching to travel saying “tough shit. Suck it up Patterson”. Duly noted. I know that I am a lucky sunvabitch to be able to do what I enjoy most and getting paid for it. Matter of fact, if the pay is broken down to sheer stage time, I might actually be approaching the per hour rate of my lawyer friendsJ

But being away from home all this time has to be factored in to the fee. When that gets factored in, I think I’m down to about $10 an hour. I’m pretty sure Tim Horton’s workers in Alberta make more than that.

In any case, it was an incredibly moving month for me, figuratively and literally and I do thank all of the various groups who kept me employed this month: The Debaters, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, Frito Lay North America, Manulife Financial (via the Sweeney Agency), Co-operators Insurance and the Credit Union of Alberta (via Speaker’s Spotlight). If I had to pick an “Employer of the Month”, I would have to say it’s Frito Lay North America. No offence to my other bread-butterers, but 5 days in Vegas, all expenses paid and being paid well on top of that (payment hasn’t come yet, but I’m optimistic) is pretty tough to beat. So congratulations Frito Lay on being my “Employer of the Month”. I’m not sure how I will reward you for that yet, but I’ll figure something out…

Now, I shift focus in May to writing and performing a whoooooooooooooooole lot of new material. I need to prepare a gala set for the Just For Laughs festival this July and most importantly I need to get back into some comedy clubs making paid patrons laugh. It’s unlikely my insights into potato chips and financial industries will do it, so it’s back to the drawing board.

The first two months of May I’ll be around Montreal for the most part, cheering on the Montreal Canadiens playoff run (and yes Lloyd, I’ll cheer on the Bruins tooJ) and launching a brand new stevepatterson.ca. I think it’s time to jump into the year 2010 finally and get re-acquainted with supporters who haven’t had any reason to drop by for a while.

Then, I think I’ll switch scenery to New York City and see if the stuff I’m thinking of up here can make New Yorkers laugh too. Nothing confirmed yet, but the second I do confirm appearances I will post them on the site here so you can hopefully drop by and laugh or heckle.

Other than that, I’m looking forward to having a healthy May after a month of mostly airplane food, airplane air and inactivity. There’s a reason stand-up comedians aren’t as fit as running around occupations. But mark my words friends, by the time of my next tv taping in July, I’ll be in much better shape than I am right now. Sorry gut, but it’s time to go!

Alright everybody, that’s all for now. Please check in again soon to check out the progress of the new site and by all means drop me a line to let me know how you’re doing. With this month being relatively stationary, daddy’s going to squeeze in more reading time too. Go Habs!