I'll be eternally grateful to have had the honor and ecstasy of twice touring with the wondrous "Weird Al" Yankovic; every instant was heaven
Each show had me plying my stand-up stylings for half an hour, more often than not in a magnificently-restored vaudeville theater where I experienced the thrill of performing on the same stage as legends such as Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, Louis Armstrong, Will Rogers, Maurice Chevalier, Houdini, and countless others; yea, even Mark Twain
The rest of the evening was mine to do with as I pleased, so long as I was back on the bus non-bleeding by midnight
Beneath the links, which will whisk you to the venues and cities we played, there are a few photos; if you would like more photos, I documented each day of the first tour on my Instagram page; there are also photos of the second tour, but not one for each day, because the preceeding two years of life-altering Covid isolation made me more conscious of precious things like quality
“I’m not sure exactly when or where I first heard one of Emo’s routines, but once I did I instantly became a fan,” says “Weird Al” Yankovic. “Emo had the iconic look of somebody who could have been a major star in the era of silent films. His body language was indescribably weird. And his material was flat-out brilliant.” If asked at gunpoint who the funniest guy in the world was, Yankovic adds, “Without question I would have to say Emo Philips — especially if Emo happened to be the one holding the gun.”
—“Weird Al” Yankovic, Chicago Magazine