We find out the inmates aren’t in the gym yet and wires got crossed. So the plan is to get the inmates, staff and guards in first. The few minutes that took was the first time I remembered taking extra CBD and was glad I did. The warden shows us a cell door from Kingston Pen from the 1800s that’s been refinished and must weigh more than a ton. I ask the warden what his fave prison movie is and he predictably tells me Shawshank.

Ok, now it’s showtime.

The gym is pretty full with a few hundred inmates taking up rows of wooden chairs, spots against the wall and a standing room little balcony at the back. Staff and volunteers take up the back couple of rows of seats and the standing room is mixed. About 15 guards line the wall by the door we entered. We decide the show will be leapfrog style, bringing each other up with no one being MC. Our host and the person who had the great idea to have comedy at Stony Mountain goes first. She’s funny and firm. She is at home here and has the place rolling quickly. Her fantastic opening puts me even more at ease. We’re going to be fine. She introduces Yumi and to say she got a warm response would be understating it. But credit where credit is due, there was no catcalling or disrespectful type stuff, just a really big round of applause. Like, big. Yumi’s hilarious material and silky delivery light the place up, even though it was already very well lit. She has a bit that begins, “I get so horny…” and gets an applause break right there. “I don’t usually get applause there…” So she tries again, “I get so horny in springtime…” Huge applause. “Still in setup...” They’re Eating out of her hand. Yumi glides effortlessly through her set using the entire stage.

It’s time for her to bring Lara up. Lara gets a great reception and huge laughs when she explains security took a little longer this time because she has a vagina now. “That’s what this stands for,” pointing to her visitor’s badge. A few minutes into her set, an inmate at the back says something that was probably not nice. I didn’t hear what, but there was a certain tone to it. A big inmate sitting along the wall pointed at him and shushed him hard. Lara heard the “shhh” and paused and looked over, and the man sitting against the wall said, “Not you hon.” She continued destroying the place.

The looks on the faces were a little different than the average show. The joy and relief were pretty palpable. I found myself distracted – fascinated. I walked across the back of the gym to take my place. Inmates nodded at me with smiles.

It’s my turn. Lara gives me a nice introduction and I open by asking, “Guys, if you had a coin with Lara on one side and Yumi on the other?” One guy in the front row shot his hand up so fast it made me laugh and I was off to an OK start. They were as warm a crowd as I’ve been in front of lately. I tried to rip through some dirty stuff for them, but they seemed to enjoy the same stuff that everyone anywhere else likes. There was a huge guard against the wall that I couldn’t make smile once. He wasn’t having it. He’s on the job and that’s fine with me. I decided to go with the natural closer the warden had given me, “The warden asked me to tell you to please keep your seats… until we can get the fuck outta here!” I got the three ladies another round of applause and we booked.