| James Taylor on the guitar
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Posted on 01/26/2007 10:07:44 AM PST by Sensei Ern
Last night, Recon Comedy (related to ComedyOpenMike.com) sponsored another show at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. This time, we had three comedians and Christian singer Noel McLeary. This show was for the injured soldiers recovering at Walter Reed, and their families.
As was true in October, it was a blessing for everyone.
I opened, and emceed, again. Singer, Noel McCleary then gave an incredible performance, giving us two of the songs from her CD, "Noel McLeary EP". The crowd fell in love with her.
She has definite talent and if she can find a sound system that can do her voice justice, she will be a top star in the music industry. She has been nominated for awrds, and has appeared at several support the troops rallies, including the "Boot Murtha" rally. She travelled at her own expense from Pittsburgh, PA with her mother and a friend.
We cut our show to three comedians as we learned from teh first show that more than that was just too long for all involved, especially the troops, who often cannot sit for more than an hour and a half. I think three is the right number. Another change is that instead of having a comedian after the singer's second set, we finished with the singer...kind of like bookends on the show, and it went perfectly.
The second comedian, Mikey McClain, is a CHristian comedian from Michigan, who paid for the trip for him and his son, who was also in the act, and for his wife, out of his own pocket, including staying at one of DC's cheapest hotels...almost $100 per night!
Mikey brought the laughs, including his explanation that buying defective books was not always a good idea. "Porpoise Driven Life" doesn't have the same appeal as the original. His show went into high gear when he brought his son, 9 year old Mikey Jr., to play the guitar while Mikey Sr. sang parodies. His son sounds just like James Taylor on the guitar.
Dennis Tooley, another Christian comedian from Indiana, and is also the Indianapolis Colts pastor (yes, they have a football team pastor...how do you think they made it to the playoffs?) finished the night of comedy with an awesome set. He really was able to relate with the soldiers as he told of his own battle with Multiple Schlerosis (I hope I spelled that right). He also travelled from Indiana at his own expense, taking a flight from Indiana to Reagan National, just for this show.
Noel finished the show with three more songs to wrap the whole thing up. They all three got to share their personal faith in Christ, and shared their appreciation for what our soldiers do.
After the show, we got opportunities to speak with the soldiers and their families. These people were emotionally touched to know that these performers care so much for them to do this kind of volunteer work.
I am hesitant to share this, but I will. Someone generously gave an anonimous donation that did very well to cover much of the costs for the performers. The performers had no idea of the contribution until night of the show, so they were giving of themselves without expectation of anything in return.
Noel McLeary: www.myspace.com/noelmcleary and her website www.noelmcleary.com
Mikey McClain: www.myspace.com/mikeymcclain
Dennis Tooley: www.myspace.com/tooleycomedy
Those on here who have MySpace accounts, be sure to visit their pages and join their friends lists. These are truly good people to haveas friends.
bttt. V's wife.
Can you guys ping the crowd? My PC is on the fritz right now, and I barely was able to post the article.
Ping to a FReeper's Comedy Night at Walter Reed!
bttt
Thanks for the ping.
Dr. Sensei, once again you prove that laughter is the best medicine.
If laughter is the best medicine, I am dangerously close to being over-medicated.
| James Taylor on the guitar
|
Much better to be James Taylor ON the guitar that James Taylor IN the guitar.
Our entire DC Chapter deserves a lot of praise. Were it not for the Friday Night crowd, this would have never taken place.
Hoo Rah!
But it's OKay as you don't have to worry about a chemical dependency.
God bless you for the work you are doing
Quick visit to Google maps puts McLeary's round trip (city to city) at around 7 hours on the road, not counting stops for gas, food, potty, etc.
Love and gratitude to all of you for what you've done.
I appreciate the pings very much.
What a great thing to do, Sensei.
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