The theatrical tour was a blast, though I must admit, 23 cities was a little insane. On the drive home from Texas, Kelly (our comrade and publicist) was putting together the list of his favorite locations from best to worst. He liked Brattleboro the best (cool town in VT and we had 200 people show up to see the movie on a MONDAY night). His least favorite place was Kansas City (I won’t say why). I have a hard time coming up with favorites, but definitely enjoyed DC (sold out) and Austin (packed audience at the Drafthouse). Every city had its own reason to shine - here’s a quick list:

Seattle - it was my birthday.
Boise - 2nd time to screen at The Flicks.
Jackson Hole - Everyone  vibed on the film and we sold a ton of DVDs.
Paonia - A beautiful small town that is undiscovered and Robin was wonderful.
Denver - Denver Film Society hooked us up with 12 screenings of the film - we rocked!
Kansas City - Stayed with the Coulters, a family featured in the movie.
St. Louis - Principia community came out to support - (my alma matter).
Chicago - Some old lady wanted to watch Once, but ended up in our theater. She started off the Q&A by bitchin’ me out.
Madison - We (me & Kelly) were on an NPR show and Kelly pretended to be an associate producer. The DJ called him out on it when he mentioned later that he got involved after the film was done.
Minneapolis - I love you Lagoon. The best Landmark experience we had.
Lansing - Home of our one and only - j.fred.
Cleveland - Robin and Eric (featured in the movie) introduced me to Tuscan Toast. Amen.
Lititz - Horse & Buggies from all around came to see the Amish scene in the movie.
Brunswick, ME - I got the biggest piece of hate email I’ve ever had from this community, but aside from that I really dug Gil and his cool operation.
Boston - Gus didn’t have the Grape Nuts Ice Cream, but he showed up to see himself on the big screen.
Brattleboro - One heck of a surprise audience - 200 - and McNeils.
DC - A surprise mob scene and a great Washington Post article.
Philadelphia - Two words - cheese steaks.
Wilmington, NC - Huka Turkish ladies and a good time with Richard, the local Segway dealer.
Gulf Breeze - I rode a Segway down to introduce the movie for the 1st time. It was another surprise crowd.
Austin - The Alamo Drafthouse rocks and so did j.fred on the phone in Q&A.
Dallas - I love the Big D. We had 100 people on a Monday night.
San Antonio - I met Lamar Smith who attended our screening.

As we drive into New Orleans (just to grab some beignets), I’ve got a quick chance to reflect on this incredible experience. Last night Gulf Breeze was a treat. We honestly didn’t expect much of an audience, but it seems word of mouth, the help of Segway of South Coast, and a little press, we had a pretty full house. This follows a sold-out show from the night before in Wilmington, NC. There we had help from Cape Fear Segway and loved cruising the haunted boardwalk at night with Richard. People are digging this flick and I couldn’t be happier with the response. Tonight we’re in Austin! Yee-haw!

I think I still need to talk about Brunswick, ME too. This trip is thoroughly insane. It seems  we just start to catch our breath and we’re onto another city. The good news - we’re hitting it hard and getting tons of people to our shows. Last night in DC, we packed the house, rode Segways around the White House, and had Larry’s ice cream. It was quite an intense experience last night. In Brattleboro, we had 200 people show up to see the movie and I gotta say, I love them Brattleboroans. What a cool, little town. Kelly hooked us up with that place. Now we’re off to Philly for some Cheesesteaks and another raucous evening. BTW - Brunswick rocks too. We sold one of our shows out and had a great time at the Frontier Cafe & Cinema. We’re groovin’ now.

Yesterday, the Washington Post ran a very spacious article + photo on our story. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/16/AR2007081602867.html

This has been one intense trip. We’re hitting one city after another (every night - a new place) and it’s so exciting to meet many different people that are seeing the film for the first time. To realize this dream is pretty amazing. Our film is warming audiences over and there are always so many questions at the Q&A. Last night, I honestly didn’t know what to expect in Lititz, PA (small town a few miles from Lancaster, PA). But Penn Cinemas promoted the film and we had a big crowd that beat out 4 mainstream movies that were playing that night. Seems to be the trend for us. After each screening, I’m spending as much time as I can chatting with people and sometimes signing autographs (puts the pressure on me to make that signature worth something). Tonight we’re in Brunswick, Maine. It seems we’ve already got a lot of buzz going on here. The Portland Phoenix ran a big article on us and included a sweet cut-out of Josh riding a Segway on the cover of the paper.

Ever since my first visit to the Twin Cities, I’ve felt pretty sweet for this place. Just visit Egg & I and you’ll get a taste for the charm Minneapolis serves up. Tonight was special: packed screening, Lagoon Cinemas (who rocked our poster in all the key spots), Chipotle burrito bucks for everyone, and my favorite Landmark theater so far. On road now - all night - to Lansing, MI.

By the way, I’m doing this from my Blackberry on I 70. Crowded road. Looking at the map I see tons of little black dots and there are a million on and off ramps. I remember on the Segway trip 3 yesrs ago, this was the spot of the country where things began to get crowded. Hasta luego to the West.

We just left Kansas City where we stayed with a family we met while shooting the movie. Such a sweet family! At the screening, I met a nice elderly lady who showed up 1 hour late to see the movie. She had read about it in the Kansas City Star and was determined to see it. She liked what she saw and bought a DVD, which she asked me to sign. It’s a funny thing to sign my autograph. I feel like I don’t want to let these people down now - I have to keep making more flicks and what not.

We’ll be in St. Louis in a few hours and I’m excited because we’re playing at the Tivoli. It’s a theater I went to from time to time when I attended college in the area.

Last night we sceened the film in a small town to 81 people. First off…I gotta say I loved Paonia. There is so much competition in the mountains when it comes to visiting a town or going camping and Paonia is about 4 hours from Denver, so most people have never been there. Being in this town and showing 10 MPH reminded me of what is was like to be on the cross-country adventure we took 3 years ago. Everyone was so accommodating, especially Robin the theater manager. Also, it was quite something to be the talk of the town. Being so tight knit, the business owners don’t schedule competing activities, which gave seeing 10 MPH the status of “the only thing to do in town tonight.” I believe this might be a first for us…. The tour continues with Denver (our hometown tonight), Kansas City tomorrow, and St. Louis and Chicago over the weekend. Should be fun. If you miss seeing Denver tonight, we’re screening Friday, Saturday, and Sunday too.

The tour is off to one heck of a start. We kicked it off in Seattle with two awesome screenings and then rolled into Boise town nights later. Last night we screened in Jackson, Wy, and I heard one of the best compliments yet…”It’s better than prozak.” It’s amazing to watch audience after audience how this movie really inspires. That in turn also continues to inspire me. We drove all night last night from Jackson Hole to Paonia, CO. I was dodging bunny rabbits and deer on these isolated, dark, and mysterious mountain rodes. No hotels had any vacancy, so we figured we had to just keep on keepin’ on. This little town of Paonia is pretty sweet and it sounds like we’re going to have another wonderful night. People are so excited that we’re in town. I’d like to book more small town if I could.