Do you ever feel less than important? Well, no longer should you have that feeling. Many people would love to receive this holiday letter from me, but you are the chosen one’s!
As much as I’ve enjoyed being a standup comedian, this is the first year in my career that I’ve really felt like I was doing something special. The 1-man show I wrote about the journey of being a parent of a child on the autism spectrum I’ve converted to my standup show and it’s really connected with audiences. I had success in doing this show as a fundraiser for developmental disability charities, which has been very rewarding. I’m proud to say I raised thousands of dollars this year for a few organizations that do some great work.
Branching out from the stage show, I built a website with some major help from my friend, Ken Arneson. Itsanautismthing.com has grown steadily starring my girl and her Happy Monday with Maddie videos. Elementary schools, University classes, and even police training groups have used the website to better understand what life is like when you have a disability. If you haven’t checked it out yet, what the hell are you waiting for? itsanautismthing.com
I released my newest comedy cd, Good Dad, Not a Great Dad, in late November on Rooftop Comedy Records. (They were great to work with.) I’m proud of how it turned out, as the cover I think is pretty awesome and I think the material isn’t bad either. It’s sold pretty well, so far, which is fairly remarkable considering we are in the age of the free download.
My standup calendar has never been more busy, so that is great. It was needed because after a decade of writing for the NFL on FOX I finally faced the chopping block. Combine this with astronomical health insurance increases, Susan (me wifey) bumped up her hours at her job to qualify for the health benefits at work. This insurance covers way less and is still very pricey, but so far it’s enabled us to keep the roof over our head. Yeah for us!
At the home front a beautiful thing happened. In August Sam and Mallory (twin terror) began full-day Kindergarten. I’m not Catholic, but sweet mother of Mary was that a Godsend. Maddie has been her up and down self, but she has been greatly aided by the iPad, as it’s the first thing that she likes to entertain herself with. She also has enjoyed the new stardom the website has brought her.
I would suggest you take a look at the link here, as it gives you some of the visual highlights of 2013. It’s our version of a holiday card from the Long’s.
I hope you are having a great holidays and don’t be a stranger.
Scott Long
http://scottlongcomedy.wordpress.com/