Photos are from OktoberTrek, Baltimore MD… I presented the routine there and in Denver, too. (I used a sharpie back then to remove “red eye” as you can see! I have blue eyes, not black eyes! HA HA HA HA HA!)

I was in Oakland California for a Star Trek convention. DeForest Kelley was the special guest and, because he was, I had been allowed by the convention owner to present a stand-up comedy routine I had written called “Husband Hunting on the Enterprise.”

The comedy routine (which you can find here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y2hLt9CghA&noredirect=1) was a “lusting after McCoy” kind of thing, and I knew Carolyn Kelley (Mrs. “Bones” McCoy) would be sitting in the audience, so I had sent the Kelley’s the routine ahead of time to get their permission to do it.  They laughed heartily and said, “Of course!”

So I went up on stage, knowing that Carolyn was sitting in the audience and that De was standing in the wings hearing the insanity.

I was shaking in my boots. Stand up is not a routine thing for me,  so I was a nervous wreck for lots of reasons.

To make a long story short, I survived my four minutes in the spotlight, heard a lot of laughs and agreement from the audience, and then dived off the stage, grateful simply to have survived the ordeal.

A man came to me almost immediately and handed me his business card. He said, “I have a show in San Francisco on a cable station. I want you to come to the studio and give your comedy routine in front of my audience. When can you do it?”

I back-pedaled like crazy. I said, “This is a TREK-specific comedy routine. The general public wouldn’t get it.”

He said, “I’ll get you a Trek audience.”

I told him I had a flight back to Seattle that day. And because I had a friend with me who was flying with me to Seattle to vacation for a week, I didn’t feel I could change the flight. (Nor did I particularly want to. The offer scared me half to death. I’d just survived one ordeal only to be asked to reprise it on cable!)

He said, “Hold onto my card. The next time you’re in this area, I want you to do this.”

I thanked him.

I look back on that day and wonder what might have come of it if I had walked through the fear, said, “Yes, if you’ll pay for my flight change,” and just gone for it.

I’ll never know.

Would I have decided to go into standup comedy?  Used my writing skills to help people forget their problems and laugh for a while?

I think so.  It’s nerve-wracking as hell to feel responsible to keep people laughing every five to seven seconds…but the feeling you get afterward is out of this world.

It’s water under the bridge. It’s a fond memory. It’s also a missed opportunity that I just can’t forget.

Do you have a missed opportunity that haunts you to this day? Share it, please!