Update: The Sparx City Hop, the Monologue Battle, and "Handle With Care" at Actors' Summit

I had an amazing time this weekend as a tour guide for the Sparx City Hop in Cleveland. It feels like it's been ages since I made a living sitting in a rumbling trolley bus spouting off into a mic about local landmarks to a bunch of tourists, but it's amazing how it all came rushing back.

DC is easier to tell stories about than Cleveland -- if nothing else when you're in a traffic jam you can fall back on American history in general and tell stories about various presidents and whatnot -- but I really did learn how much there was to know that I didn't know about Cleveland's history preparing for this event, including how much of Cleveland's storied history has been determined by massive rioting. (If you want to know the history of Cleveland's East Side vs. West Side rivalry, check out the story of the Battle of the Bridge.)

I had a lot of fun hanging out with native Clevelanders and visitors to our fair city swapping stories, and I definitely recommend the Sparx City Hop for anyone in Cleveland next year. The Downtown Alliance pays to have touring hop-on-hop-off trolleys completely for free -- which is a better deal than you'll find in DC -- and the only downside of my being a tour guide this year was I didn't have much time to ride myself and take in all the art exhibits, musical performances and cheap beer around that day.

In further news, I'm going to be performing once again at the Epic Lounge at the monthly Monologue Battle. Major props to my friend Cristal Christian for continuing to work hard putting on this event every month. I won the first time I went and have had to yield to the increased competition since then -- but I'm hoping to step up my game this month and reclaim my crown.

Thursday night September 26 at 6:00 pm at 17322 Harvard Ave. in Cleveland. Hope to see you all there!

And finally, more details to come as the event approaches, but I'm excited to announce that I've been cast in the lead role in an upcoming production at Actors' Summit, a romantic comedy entitled HANDLE WITH CARE. (I get to be the comic third wheel in the "meet cute", just like John Candy in Splash.) The show doesn't go up until the spring, so watch this space for more info.

Thanks and much love to all my friends and supporters, and hope to see you at a show soon.