Craig Gass Santa Rosa, CA Performing for the Santa Rosa Seven.

Craig Gass did a private performance for me and 18 friends last night in Santa Rosa. How does something like that happen? I went to the first night of two nights that Craig is performing at The Last Day Saloon in Santa Rosa, CA and only 19 people showed up, lol! It was like having Craig in your living room telling jokes for a hour and a half. Except he was using a microphone. Craig really fed off the crowd, as you could hear everything we were saying. Sometimes the waitress was louder than the crowd, lol. The show was great! It was the first time seeing Craig, but I have been a fan for many years. Going back to when I first heard him impersonate Gene Simmons on the Howard Stern Show and watching him on The King of Queens. He and I communicated via email and Facebook over the years I was working on Kissonline and when he arranged this show at the last minute he invited me up.

Michael Brandvold with Comedian Craig Gass Sharing KISS Stories

Some comedians would probably get thrown off by a crowd this small, or just stick to their prepared routine. Craig didn’t. He jumped in and did plenty of improv around his routine. You have to be a pro to handle this… the awkward silences, the conversations in the crowd, people getting up to pee, people coming in really late. He jumped out into the audience and sat down at a table and just started talking. Like I said… just like a private performance in your living room. Loved his routine about the drug sniffing baboons and of course his Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley routine… I could relate to everything he was saying about them. I laughed my ass off all night. It felt like a special show just for us, and he even named us the Santa Rosa Seven. A name he said we just need to mention anytime we see him and he will know we were there.

After the show he sat down with me and a couple friends and talked for another hour and a half. This was filled with Craig and I sharing KISS stories. Such as… at the Gene Simmons roast every comment about Gene’s hair was cut out. Or calling Paul Stanley at home for the first time and doing it in his Gene Simmons voice. Great time!

If you ever get the chance to see Craig Gass perform, go! Actually how about tonight, he really wants more than 19 people for tonight’s show, lol.