Laughter is the Best Medicine

I've been trying to make people laugh since I was four years old. My first heroes were comedians, starting with Jerry Lewis, Don Knotts, Tim Conway, and Robin Williams. I loved watching Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, Three's Company, Taxi, The Jeffersons, and Good Times. I was even a fan of lesser known sitcoms such as Bosom Buddies (starring Tom Hanks), Duck Factory (starring Jim Carrey), Ace Crawford: Private Eye (starring Tim Conway), It's Your Move (starring Jason Bateman) and Sledge Hammer! As I got older I watched Cheers, Night Court, and Seinfeld. I'm sure I could list over a hundred sitcoms that I've enjoyed throughout my life.

While most other teenagers idolized rock bands and rappers, I idolized The Kids in the Hall, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Robin Williams, Brian Regan, Gary Shandling and Andrew "Dice" Clay. My dream in high school was to become the sixth Kid in the Hall. I wanted to grow up make people laugh my career. Whether it was as an actor or comedian.

I did start performing stand-up comedy regularly for a local promoter for about a year but stopped when he moved out of town. Unfortunately, I suffer from depression and low self-esteem and am the type of guy that needs someone to keep encouraging him to succeed. To even try. I tried convincing friends and family to make a funny movies or perform live sketches with me. Most would get excited and say, "Yes" and I'd get excited about them being excited. Every time I would think, "This is it! I'm finally going to do this", only for my friends and family to either get bored with the idea or just give up.

This kept happening for years and years, until one day I showed up at my friend Wero's house and told him I wanted to start a podcast and that we needed to start it immediately. That night we recorded our first Keggercast on Spreaker.

A group of old high school buddies started getting together once a year. We called our reunions "Keggerfest". Keggercast was originally intended as a way to keep our buddies updated about each other's events (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) and give information about our upcoming reunions. We recorded an episode of Keggercast weekly at first, then after a few months we were recording less and less episodes until we stopped completely.

A little over a year after our last podcast on Spreaker I decided to bring back Keggercast as a YouTube show. This time I would be interviewing local performers, artists, and others involved in arts and entertainment in Imperial Valley, CA. My girlfriend Michelle was a great support and helped me set up my equipment and invite guests onto my podcast.

Eventually, Michelle and me expanded Keggercast to put on live comedy shows locally. We've put on many comedy shows over the past three years (with a Covid break in 2020) that received great reviews and praise. Unfortunately, most local businesses aren't willing to invest in having comedy shows in their venues. They're more willing to pay garage bands to play famous bands' songs than they are to pay comedians to tell original jokes.

My dream job today is the same as it was when I was 16 and the same as it was when I was 4; I want to be able to make a living making people laugh and forget that life sucks, even if it's just during my 15 minute set or while watching me interview a local musician on Keggercast.

If I could get people to support Keggercast, either through sponsorship or membership, I would be able to provide higher quality podcasts on YouTube and put on free comedy shows locally. Believe me when I say that the Imperial Valley needs more local entertainment.

Those that contribute financially to Keggercast would be invited to be on our podcast to promote their business, shows, talent, art, etc. and would have their names printed on flyers as sponsors. Keggercast Entertainment would re-invest part of the contributions to promote Keggercast and its supporters on social media and, if possible, on local television and radio.

Unfortunately (I know, I've used this word more than once here), I am not a good promoter. I've tried all the major social media sites and used their paid advertising tools, but they don't seem to help me. I even created two separate Patreon pages. One for my stand-up and one for my podcast. Neither has attracted any members, other than my girlfriend.

You know, every time I buy a lottery ticket or enter a contest I dream about what I would do and how my life would change if I won. Right now, I'm imagining that I will win this challenge and use the prize money to put on the greatest comedy show the Imperial Valley has ever seen, or maybe put on a comedy festival. But in the end, I'll be happy just gaining a fan or two that follows Keggercast and supports local comedy.