At The Ad Club Awards

I hosted for the Connecticut Ad Club’s yearly awards ceremony tonight. My second year.

This is my crack cocaine.

Working live is magical. It’s as close as I come to stand-up comedy.

I tried stand-up once. Helaine came along and was so pained by my performance she’s made me promise never again!

I hosted the Connecticut Ad Club’s yearly awards ceremony tonight. My second year.

This is my crack cocaine!

Working live is magical. I think I do it well. It’s as close as I come to stand-up comedy.

I tried stand-up once at a charity event. Helaine came along. She was so pained by my performance she’s made me promise to never do it again!

Tonight’s ceremony was at the Augusta Curtis Cultural Center in Meriden. Cool building.

The Curtis Center was the town library. It’s now used for events.

It features beautiful woodwork and architectural touches including two ceilings and a glass floor! It’s been lovingly restored.

We went upstairs for the ceremony.

The Ad Club’s officers covered some business then introduced me from a bio I wrote years ago. I’ve heard parts a hundred times!

My job was to read the winners names. I try to be entertaining.

Ad libbing with a live audience is different from any other experience you’ve ever had. Sometimes it’s like surfing where you have to feel the ocean and make changes on-the-fly.

When in the moment even I don’t know what’s coming out of my mouth until it’s said.

Most people are petrified speaking to groups of people. I embrace it. Score and you get audience reaction immediately. That’s an amazing feeling.

I was impressed by a lot of the work that received awards. None was more impressive than the photography of Aaron Kotowski.

Aaron, whom I met after the ceremony, shot a series of Seal Team like scenes for Lockheed/Martin. They absolutely blew me away. Breathtaking photography.

I also met two Facebook friends.

Life is good.

I Host… That’s What I Do

No one has ever gone to an awards dinner and left thinking, “Boy, I wish that had been longer.” I did my best to move things along.

Back while I was ‘at leisure’ I was invited to emcee the Connecticut Ad Club’s annual awards dinner. That’s where I was tonight. The 57th annual awards were held at the Crowne Point in Cromwell. They passed out pencils for advertising excellence.

No one has ever gone to an awards dinner and left thinking, “Boy, I wish that had been longer.” I did my best to move things along.

Actually I was a little worried when I printed my script and noticed it was 59 pages! Was there that much paper in the printer? No acceptance speeches! It moved along.

Some groups laugh easily. This one did not. Tough crowd. There was little I could do to get them to crack a smile.

In the end it was just neat to be around all these creative people. Some of the ads and commercials were exceptionally well done. It’s nice to see that recognized.

I had a good time. I hope they did too.