This past Wednesday, October 10, 2007, a very good friend of mine died. Tony Miller. This is a horribly sad time for everyone that knew him. I have read a lot of comments from comics and friends on his myspace page and on their own. Its very clear that Tony was a very special guy. He really was the concrete that held the Milwaukee comics community together. He ran the SafeHouse open mic for years after Tom Clark moved to LA. He was so supportive of new comics. I remember my first time going on stage at the SafeHouse. I was so proud of myself because I thought it went pretty well. Tony came up to me after the show and made me feel like Seinfeld. He was so impressed and just showered me with so much praise and support. Granted, I ate it more times on that stage after that night than I care to keep track of, but Tony always saw past what the audience saw. He knew when you were working out a new bit and it didn’t work quite yet, but he saw the premise and supported you. For the longest time I had only known Tony through the SafeHouse. Then one night he called me up, and took me out on the road for some real gigs. That was when I got to see Tony perform a full hour headlining set in front of a crowd of fresh new people that we didn’t know and didn’t know us. And he killed. Tony always did great at the SafeHouse, but on the road, at paid gigs he really gave audiences a show worth paying for. Tony gave me more stage time than anyone else ever has. I am the comic I am today thanks to Tony Miller. He will definitely be missed.