By the time Apollodent came into being the core group had been 
together for quite a while. We at least knew each other forever. 
We were working like a well oiled machine and I'm not being 
sarcastic in any way. After the Tent debacle a few months earlier, 
we were ready to bust out in a big way.

We did. 

Not only was this the best show (I believe) that we had done to 
that point, we also were releasing our first CD during the 
after-show party. Personally I was scared to death. My confidence
had been shattered by the Tent but I knew we had strong material. 
The house filled up. Dan was positioned at the back of the house 
in the audience and when Steve chucks and passes out during the first 
sketch, Dan takes the wheels and I would talk him through the 
punchline. The whole "can anybody fly a plane" bit.  We had even 
omitted his name from the program (only to hand out a hand written 
flyer announcing that he'd joined the group during intermission). 

The audience ate it up. And we were off. For fans, listen to the list 
of sketches that have gone on to be reknown classics that debuted in 
this show: Usual Suspects, Apollo 69, Spiggitz (FUD), Worriers 
Anonymous, Morning People, Cowboy Bob, The Stray Fry, We're Crazy, 
Neckbrace Girl ...all in this show. Of course the CD's title, IT'S 
A SICK WORLD BETTY, was a line in The Usual Suspects. We held a 
contest and anybody who guessed the correct sketch that line appears 
in before the show starts, became a finalist in the joke telling 
competition to win a free CD.  Of course when Dan punched it out in 
Usual Suspects, the proper response was received. Groans, claps etc. 
could be heard back stage. Bliss.

The only moment in the show that I could have done without was
at the end of Worriers Anonymous. I delivered the punchline 
and bolted from the stage, tearing down the backstage black in the
process. I have obsessed over that moment for years. It's all better
now. 

Probably the best moment occured after the show. The first encore of 
the night was AMERICAN GUY, a Mo penned parody of the Don Mclean 
classic about Bill and Monica.  Millie sang while Dale played. We'd 
done it at the tent to about 5 people and it went over well enough.  
That night the audience laughed and we knew it was going well. But 
when the song ended, a noise went up from the crowd that we had never 
heard before. On the video you can see Millie and Dale almost floored 
by the response. 

We didn't realize that this would be the last time the group would 
perform together in this form. Dan left during the Sick World Music 
Tour and Dale moved to Austin a few months later. By the time Dale 
came back to do Viagra, Mo was gone. I'm very proud that this 
particular version of Gag produced Apollodent as its closing number. 
Inside and outside of Gag I have worked with tight groups of people, 
but nothing like this 7. No offense, I'm sure every Gag era has its 
high water mark. But there was just something magical about Apollodent. 

-Eric