Jokes and Spokes Day 2: A Homestead Brew
- skylerbolks
- Jun 15
- 3 min read
As I left my house to head to A Homestead Brew I had my first real realization that I was officially on tour for the first time as a professional stand-up comedian writing this now I'm I'm actually getting emotional about it. This tour was a concept for so long with so many steps to take to make sure it all happened. In the beginning it wasn't even a comedy tour that I was working on per se. What I was working on is how to be a salesman. I was working on how to negotiate with sponsors. In other words I was working on the business side of being an independent Comedian.
Of the shows on this tour three were booked in conjunction with Bar Comedy USA and one was set up by another comic friend but the rest were set up by making cold calls, chasing leads, and tapping into established relationships. This is a new skill for me and a new tactic I probably should have started learning earlier in my career but I'm glad I didn't pursue selling a show like this too early because I feel like you have to have a lot to offer to be asking people for hundreds of dollars so you can take over their bar for an evening.
The ride out to a homestead Brew in Valley Springs was forecasted to be another drizzly cold day but the clouds cleared and I had a nice sunny ride out. I had rode the first half of this route more than any other route aside from the bike trail in Sioux Falls. That first half is quite hilly but from Brandon to the brewery the gravel is packed and the climbs are minimal. As I rolled up to the brewery I dropped my chain for the first time on this bicycle and was left doing a Flintstone spin in place for a moment before I realized what was going on. We had music by Brady Wrede before the show and some of his crowd stayed around to catch the show. As we started the show by the fire we were given the backdrop of beautiful sunset.
I did a show mostly consisting of true stories from the road to a solid reception. This is not a show I plan to do very often. Storytelling has become a bit stressful for me unless it's well punched up because when I'm on stage I'm accustomed to laughs at regular intervals and sometimes just get bogged down in the details telling stories. I feel like I pushed too hard to get to a punch line or make a call back at times instead of just letting the story breathe.
I rode through the night planning to go over spook Road outside of Brandon South Dakota. I should note that the route I take out there is an absolutely beautiful route due in part to the isolation and nature I experience out there.
Spook Road has a lot of legends told about it but I've never really believed any of those things. I think it's just one of those neighborhood tales that was well and often enough told that it kind of made its way into a lot of people's reality in that area. Spook Road was actually not the most frightening part of that ride. I was up back in the sticks on my way back home when something started running alongside me in the grass in the ditch I was on a gravel road and usually I'm curious what it is that's chasing me and I expect a dog but generally dogs will announce their presence as they're approaching. This creature was silent and it moved smoothly and I thought for a little while that perhaps that THC Seltzer I drank after the show was taking on some heavier effects than normal and perhaps it was just the wind brushing the grass but I could see the tops of the blades being disrupted in a very specific pattern and eventually it stopped and reared up above the grass to get a look at me. It's eyes glowed red from the light of my tail light and it stalked me from behind. It ducked back in the grass and started running after me again and that's when I leaned on one of my dog Chase tactics and started barking at it aggressively. I didn't see or hear from it after that but I was never able to discern what exactly it was so I can't necessarily exclude the possibility that it may have been a cryptid of some sort.

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