Mark Hayward Is My Hero

I just finished up three days at the Cass County Fair in Cassopolis Michigan. It’s a nice little fair with barns, animals, food on a stick, a demolition derby, and a tractor & truck pull. You know, all the good stuff. The problem was that it was 97 degrees and humid each day with a heat index of 114. Ug. It’s hard to get an audience involved when they are so hot they don’t even want to breathe. The show must go on though. I actually got lucky most of the time and had at least one family or group at each show who was into it despite the heat. Since there were no air-conditioned buildings for me to rest in, I was trapped in my car between shows. I’d just go park in the shade somewhere, drink lots of water, and read or take a nap. I didn’t want to have to spend that much time in my car, but it was way better than being in the heat.

Another thing that helped (mostly) was that the kids from the nearby vendors and stuff would come to every show. Sometimes they couldn’t help themselves and just had to spoil a punchline before I could say it, but for the most part it was just great to have people watching. This was my first year at the fair, so I don’t have any basis for comparison, but the heat had to be keeping people away.

My favorite regulars were Ernie and Mike. They came to the fair every day and watched every show that they could. After Mike finished with his job at McDonalds the brothers would come over to the fair grounds, wander around for a bit, and watch all three of my shows… without giving away any of the jokes.

Halfway through my last show, after suffering through the heat for three days, a cold front moved in. It made that last show a really good one since the audience was much happier, but I couldn’t help but be annoyed with my buddy Wayne Francis since he was coming in to work the last three days of the fair and wouldn’t have to suffer like I did. I asked the ladies in the fair office to punch him for me when they saw him.

Today will be my last day of Summerfest for this year. Last night Marcus Monroe had a barbeque at his house. It was a lot of fun. They even surprised me with a birthday cake. Andrew and Wayne were there and Andrew was in his full glory. He was hilarious, and at times it was like we were watching the Andrew show.

After my shows at Summerfest today, Vader and I head off to Madison for a few days since my brother Kent and his new fiancee Lissa are in town. I’m really looking forward to it.

Yesterday was the first day of Summerfest in Milwaukee WI. I had already done my two street shows for the day and was getting ready for my 4:00 appearance on the Children’s Stage when the power went out for the entire Summerfest grounds and surrounding area. But of course, the show must go on.

Instead of using the now dead in-house PA, I just hooked up my portable battery-powerd PA and we were off and running. I got one of the best cheers I’ve ever gotten at Summerfest when I announced that “Summerfest may not have power, but I DO!” It was followed closely by a woman saying, “You must be the Cool Yo-yo Man!” “Yes I am.”

Right after I finished my set, my ventriloquist friend Wayne Francis, pointed out that out of the 75 acres and 10 major stages, I was the only powered act on the entire grounds. As it turns out, he wasn’t exactly right… I was one of three… all variety acts. After my set I let the Dance School use my PA for their big public showing. Without me they couldn’t have done their show at all. That’s right, a juggler, a magician, and the yo-yo guy SAVED Summerfest! Maybe now the big dogs will once again see the value of having us there, but somehow I doubt it. Don’t worry though, I’m going to milk this for all it’s worth… and then some.