I don’t know about you but I spent many hours this week digging out my sidewalk, driveway and car. In light of that I found a picture with warm weather, palm trees, sunglasses and everybody’s favorite zebu, Gandi.

While putting together the 133rd edition of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in December of 2002 I was paired up with with the zebu seen below. His name is Gandi and we walked together in the opening parade for two years. In all that time I never heard him say anything, I think Gandi is a mute zebu. He was such a funny little cow I had to have a picture.  For those who don’t know a zebu is an asiatic ox, I had to look that up so I knew what was on the other end of my leash.  Gandi is a minature one, he is almost full grown in this picture. Gandi’s best feature is his hump, next to my hand. The best tricks I taught Gandi were to stand and twitch.

If you look close at this picture you can see camels and zebras in the background. If you look real close you can see the back feet of a brown lama. If you look real, real close you can see me starting to go bald.

Miller & Gandi (Miller is on the left)

Miller

There is a great amount of joy one gets from having a picture like this one. However that is nothing compared to the joy of sharing a picture like this one. It was taken in the olden days with something called “film.” Apparently you could imprint pictures on this “film” and look at them only after they have been “developed.” This film was black and white so this is all I have.

This, like the last photo was taken during winter quarters in December of 2002. Unfortunately it’s not a candid. The clowns in the alley were working on a new gag for the show that featured a helpless frog surrounded by princesses that were all dying to kiss him. Mike was one of the princesses and as soon as I saw him in the costume they gave him I knew I needed a picture.

It’s a good thing I took it when I did becasue the gag wasn’t that funny and was cut and replaced with a fitness themed gag that did tour for the next two years. This photo is one of the very few things that still remain from that gag; hope you enjoy.

Miller

Isn't Mike pretty?

I found some pictures of Mike and I from December of 2002 when Mike and I were still with Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. That month the circus was in Tampa, FL in what they call winter quarters, rehearsing and putting together a new show for the next season. It was a lot of work and a lot of pressure but also a lot of fun.

Here is a great shot of Mike and I, I’m on the right and Mike is on the left in glasses. This was taken during a photo shot to get pics for things like the media releases and the circus program. I was able to get my hands on the rough shots and this is one of my favorites

Miller & Mike in the circus days

More to Come.

Miller

No, not that Marx.

I have this unofficail pen pal at the Oshkosh library and lately we’ve been exchanging Groucho quotes because there are a lot of them, they are funny and we have to much time on our hands. I thouhgt you might like to see some of my favorite Groucho quotes.

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”

“I find TV very educational. Everytime someone turns on the set I go to the other room and read a book.” Groucho liked to read, he wrote several books too.

“I could dance with you til the cows come home. On second thought I’d rather dance with the cows til you come home.”

“I wish you’d keep my hands to yourself.” Groucho was always a hit with the ladies.

“Humor is reason gone mad.”

“Those are my principals if you don’t like them, well I have others.” Groucho is great philosopher

And my favorite, “Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.”

Miller

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the premiere of Sesame Street.

Growing up watching Sesame Street my favorite characters were Bert and Ernie.  They were a classic comedy team.  As a child I use to laugh at their characters idiosyncrasies. The Ernie laugh or the Bert brow furrow would leave me in stitches.  Now as an adult and a performer I marvel at their simple well executed characters and comedy.  I do not think it is any surprise that they are a major influence in the comedy of Miller and Mike.

To celebrate this day I might just make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich; pour myself a tall glass of milk; and watch some Sesame Street.

To see my favorite Bert and Ernie moment follow the link below.

Classic Bert and Ernie

In the spirit of laughter,

Mike

I ran into a friend of mine, Jo Jo, last week. I met Jo Jo when she auditioned for Slap Happy at Venture Theater in fall of 07. She got the part because she’s a great person and very funny, it was blast to work with her.

When I saw her she said she loved the new MillerandMike.com but not much is going on lately. You know what, she was right but not anymore. Now there will be more blog posts with more photos and videos. You will be able to find more things on the calendar and some website upgrades are in the works too. So check back soon because more is to come.

Below is a photo from Slap Happy. That’s Mike and I on the right in jail. Sorry I couldn’t find one with you in it Jo Jo. If you have some photos from Slap Happy send them to me and I’ll put them up for everyone to see and that goes for anyone out there.

Miller

left to right Joe Abrahamson, Tony Mayer, Otis Miller, Mike Lorenz

The next ukulele night at the New Moon Cafe in downtown Oshkosh is about to happen. It’s a bunch of crazy ukes with people to match.  The fun is this Friday the 6th and starts around 8pm. If you look at the gigs calendar you can see Mike and I have a show that night so I’ll be a little late, but I’ll be there.

If you want to play a uke for the first time, learn about ukes or just sit back and listen, uke night is for you. Everyone is welcome. I found some photos from the last uke night. Come to next one, take some photos and I’ll put them up here before the next uke night.

Miller

Miller with Aaron Baer (aka Dr. Kickbutt) He's looking at me because I totally messed up the song.

Miller & Mike Wertel (I think he's coming in for a kiss)

The whole gang at Uke Night

Who is Dr. Kickbutt? The simple answer is that he is the brains and the beauty behind Dr. Kickbutt’s Orchestra of Death. But then what in the world is Dr. Kickbutt’s Orchestra of Death? Well, it’s a ukulele junk band that can not only rock your socks off but also any other under garments.  They combine good music with bad jokes, it’s a show like you’ve never seen before. Mike and I didn’t start this one of kind group but we are happy to be a part of it.

Most people are satisfied to only lead a band that is this cool but not the doctor. That’s why he had to make a movie. The premiere of “Kick Savin’ a Beauty” will be this weekend, September 11th and 12th, in downtown Oshkosh at the Time Theater. As if the movie wasn’t enough a concert will follow the screening. You can find full details on the calendar page at www.MillerandMike.com.

Here’s the best part, Mike and I will perform with the band and are also in the movie. I love being a part of this band, it’s nonstop zany fun. Come down and catch the whole gang, Jackie Greasehound, L. Foot, Lady Baltimore, Country Road Freddie, many others  and of course Dr. Kickbutt.

Miller

One of the many reason I love what I do is that I never know what’s going to happen. Mike and I do shoot for consistency but this isn’t TV or the movies, this is live performance and the rules are different. You have to go with what comes no matter what it is. More than once I’ve wanted to wave my arms in the air and say, “Cut! I really messed that up, let’s go back and try it again.” There are no do-overs in a live show.

A few weeks ago we where at the Madison Library and like most of our library shows this year, we started with hat casting. That’s where I throw the hat across the room and Mike catches it on his head. For the big finish I went up in the balcony to throw the hat to Mike. We even practiced the trick before the show but that didn’t matter. The throw was long and heading to our props. Mike was so focused on the hat he didn’t see them and he tripped over them falling off the back of the stage. He’s fine but the bucket of bubbles that I had ready for later in the show spilled all over and soaked my ukulele which I was going to use next. It could have been worse, but I really don’t see how. We made some very fast changes to the show and the audience couldn’t really tell the difference so everything worked out okay. The silver lining is all the kids in the audience thought it was one of the funiest things they ever saw and nobody thought it was funnier than our sound guy. Live performance rules!

Miller

Mike and I have just finished our summer tour of Wisconsin libraries and it was a blast.  We had a great time doing  shows  in Madison, Sun Prairie, Beaver Dam, Juneau, West Bend, Horicon, Jefferson, Fort Atkinson, Taylor, Green Bay and De Pere.  It was a lot to fun to drive all over the state and listen to Mike snore. A big thank you to everyone at all of these libraries. Make sure you tell your librarian how cool we are becasue the 2010 library tour is just around the corner.

Miller