For Immediate Release
(In the wake of the historic events on May 1, 2011 with the capture and killing of mass murdering terriorist, Osama bin Laden, we decided to re-release this article)
In the months after 9-11, it became en vogue for performers to pay tribute to our men and women in our Armed Forces. But as the years have gone by, many took that portion out of their shows. But for Comedian Cowboy Bill Martin who will is headlining the “Surf and Turf World Comedy Tour, that part of his show remains the same.
The screenwriter/Comedian has built a loyal following of fans from coast to coast the old fashioned way – by working the road. The relatively newcomer to Vegas during the National Finals Rodeo week, Martin has also toured with country music’s elite including George Strait, legendary singer, George Jones on an 18 city tour of Canada and was recently on the CMT Most Wanted Live Tour with Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts and Chris Cagle.
Although he has never served in the military, the Texas native who headlines all of the most prestigious clubs and theaters across the U.S. and Canada plus just returned in fall of 2009 from headlining his first tour of the Middle East for our Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan on the Red, White and a little Bluer Tour, says he carries a special Military coin on stage for every show that was given to him by a friend of a fallen soldier in Iraq.
"I was doing a show in Oklahoma City a couple of years ago and I spent the night on stage basically babysitting a bunch of drunks," Martin said. "Oh, there were folks laughing but for the most part I felt like I was at Chuck E. Cheese playing that game “Whack-a-Moe” where the little gophers are popping-up but instead of a mallet, I am hitting them with heckler comebacks. And when I got off stage to be honest with you I thought I have had enough of this."
But that's when a young man walked up to Bill and changed his perspective. "This kid, I say kid because he couldn't have been more than 22 years old, walks up to me and says, 'Hey Man, I want to give you something.' And I was very much into what I had just been through, still thinking about my hard time I had on stage.
And then he says to me, 'I just want to let you know that I had a buddy of mine and we went to elementary school and then middle school and high school together. We enlisted in the Marine Corp. on the same day, went to boot camp together and then got sent to Iraq together on the “Buddy Program.”
"And then he looked at me and said, ‘and I wanted you to know that he was killed 3 months ago and I haven't laughed since…until tonight, here at your show.' He said, ‘I knew you were getting frustrated but I was rolling on the floor with the heckle lines you were throwing out. And he said, ‘and I want to give you this. And then he handed Martin a gold recruiting Sergeant Majors coin and said, 'and I want to give you his recruiting coin because you gave me back the laughter."
That night had a profound effect on the comic. Martin says, "That night brought it all back in prospective for me. Suddenly, I remembered that I was only a comic telling my stories and in the vast scheme of things nobody was taking a shot at me."
And ever since then, Martin has hit the stage with that coin in his pocket. Martin adds, "You see the reason I, and every other comic in this country can say what we want to on stage, is because there are men and women who protects this country for us and secures our freedoms like free speech. That coin reminds me of that and I try not to take myself so seriously. And in my show I do a toast to the military, not because I am looking for an applause break, it's because I think I understand what their sacrifice means to me."
Martin will be performing in 7 countries and 40 different cities. For more tour information see www.cowboybill.com
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Cowboy Bill can be found at www.cowboybill.com www.facebook.com/cowboybillmartin www.twitter.com/cbbillmartin
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FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SCHEDULE AN INTERVIEW CONTACT:
Michele Smotone, Publicist. H.E.M. Consulting, (918) 407-3469
