[Groop]Beating a dead horse

[Chad M. Riden]

> Come on folks, it's about customer service here.  I know a lot of
> professional and amatuer artists (in fact I'm married to one),
> and they  can often get caught up in themselves so much they lose
> perspective  with the rest of the working world.

That's true.

I identify with both sides of the issue..

A common complaint among comedians is that when people find out 
they're comics, they say, "Oh, yeah? Tell me a joke." It gets old 
after a while.. but you can't be a jerk about it. I try to be funny 
and give them a flier or a sticker or something but doing material 
by request just seems weird.

I've been lucky..  the heros of mine that I've had the good fortune 
to meet have been very nice and generous with their time. They 
don't *have* to be nice people, they just generally *are*.. and 
when I meet people like that, it makes me feel like my admiration 
is well placed.

I think if you choose to do something that thrusts yourself into 
the public view, there are certain concessions you make in the 
process. How you deal with that is what makes the difference.

I'm not sure if he still does it, but Steve Martin used to have 
business cards that say something like "This hereby certifies that 
this person has met Steve Martin." He didn't like signing 
autographs and instead would hand out the cards. I've stolen that 
idea and made "Official Chad M. Riden Fan Club Membership Cards" 
that are really cheesy. Nobody *wants* one, mind you, but they're 
fun to hand out.

It comes down to common courtesy. Everybody should be polite and 
reasonable.. unintrusive and respectful of privacy and people's 
feelings.

=====
Thanks for putting up with my crap,
Chad M. Riden

http://www.ChadMRiden.com/ - Chad's "Jokes of The Week," parody
songs, and stand-up comedy mp3s. New crap every Wednesday.
http://www.MangyK9.com/ - Sketch comedy videos, humor columns,
games and other funny stuff.
http://www.NashvilleStandup.com/ - Nashville-based comedians band
together to mock the world.