“It’s in da hole” – Glen Everhart plays golf from stage!

by: Glen Everhart

In the year 2000, I decided to create a show that G. L. Berg Entertainment, Performing Artists & Speakers could sell as after dinner entertainment for businesses and associations. After basically being a background musician in bars and coffeehouses for years, I was looking for ways to make my show more visually entertaining. Somewhere along the line I’d been given some good advice about being an entertainer…material that springs from your own life experience makes a show completely unique to you.

So I thought: “What can I do that nobody else does?” When I first had the idea to hit plastic golf balls from stage into the audience it seemed a bit crazy. Could I actually do it well enough for it to be interesting? Would hotels & convention centers allow me to do it? Would audience members be willing to catch the shots in their empty drink glasses? But none of these concerns were enough to scare me away from the idea.

Twelve years later it is a centerpiece to my show. I’m not perfect – some rooms have low chandeliers, stages so small I have to restrict my backswing, or no stage at all – but most nights, among the three shots I hit, someone will actually catch the ball in the glass. It’s always a great moment as cheers erupt for both me (who had the easy job) and the “volunteer” who becomes a bit of a hero in the eyes of the audience!

As time has gone on I’ve developed an entire comedy routine around the shots. People are quite predictable as they react in much the same way to the routine, so I’ve written lines to comment on each of their reactions. A hard hat placed on the head of the person who ducks and looks petrified by the notion that I might actually hit the shot…the woman who volunteers her low cut dress as a “hole” (yes, sometimes that actually happens)…the men who cover their, um, “equipment” with folded hands as they await the shot… and the inevitable spontaneously hilarious interaction that happens each night.

It’s such an integral part of my show now; I don’t know what I’d do without it. Thanks to all the great audience members who have made it successful over the years!

Glen Everhart drives a plastic golf ball into the stage as part of his entertainment package