Send Me Back to Prison Where I Belong for the Second Ever Blues Brothers Convention in Old Joliet Prison!
This is gonna be great!
When I learned that there would be a Blues Brothers Convention in Old Joliet Prison in 2022 my immediate response was, "Holy crap! I need to be a part of that!"
As a third generation Chicagoan whose sense of humor was molded in no small part by Saturday Night Live and the early films of Dan Aykroyd, I had a hunch that I could turn my trip to Joliet into one of the best pieces I've written in the 26 years I have been in the business.
At the risk of being immodest, I was right! I was so proud of the 4000 word essay I wrote about the experience that I made it the final article in the Flaming Garbage Fire Extended Edition of The Joy of Trash. You can read it here.
It's crazy to think I got all that from just one day, as the second day of the first ever Blues Brothers Convention was rained out. That meant that I did not get to see The Blues Brothers at Joliet Prison, nor did I get to experience any of the other planned events of the second day.
This left me with UNFINISHED BUSINESS. I decided then and there that if there was another Blues Brothers Convention I would attend and write about it for both my website Nathan Rabin's Bad Ideas and my Nathan Rabin's Bad Ideas Substack newsletter.
I used to at least try to go to the Gathering of the Juggalos every year but for the last two years a weird-ass convention in a spooky-ass prison has taken its place as my yearly pop culture trip of choice. This is an opportunity to get out and leave my home here in Alpharetta and spend some quality time in my old home town of Chicago.
My trip to Old Joliet Prison had a big effect on me. In addition to inspiring one of my best pieces it also led to me writing about James Belushiโs complete filmography and all of the Saturday Night Live movies for my Nathan Rabinโs Bad Ideas Substack newsletter, which you totally CAN and SHOULD subscribe to.
Iโll be posting my big piece here as well as on my personal website. Itโll be the perfect complement to my Belushi and Saturday Night Live movie journeys.
Also, going to the second Blues Brothers Convention will afford me an opportunity to see my dad, who lives in a nursery home in Morton Grove and has been having all manner of health problems.
But I need YOUR help to make the magic happen. You were kind enough to fully fund my last trip. I'm hoping you'll re-up so that I can once again experience something my inner child angrily insists I must see.
Like Blues Brothers 2000, this sequel promises to be better and more popular than the original! If I hit 5000 dollars I'll sign up for VIP so I can realize my life's dream of taking an awkward photograph with James Belushi and telling Dan Aykroyd that if he ever wants a loving, reverent book to be written about his misunderstood masterpiece Nothing But Trouble I'm the lunatic who can, and wants to, make that happen.
I'm once again on a mission from God!
Get in on the ground floor of giving me money for something silly yet sacred! You wonโt regret it!
Make the magic happen here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/send-nathan-back-to-joliet-prison-4-bluesbcon2