Lately something funny has happened to me concerning the MBIP blog and the “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here” segments. I’ve actually had businesses starting to contact me asking me if I want to eat my lunch in there place of business. I think people feel sorry for me wandering around town asking if I can eat my lunch somewhere and half the time being tossed out in the street like a sorry sack of ten week old potatoes. While I appreciate these offers, it kind of takes the fun out of the segment because most of the fun is the awkwardness of just showing up unannounced at a business and not knowing what’s going to happen. However, a couple weeks ago I got this message on facecrack:
You may wonder why someone I’ve never met who owns a sign shop would invite me over for lunch. Well, let me quickly explain and it’s something I’ve been obsessing over for weeks now, so maybe I can get some closure today! You can read about it here, but basically I went to a medical marijuana place to see if I could eat my lunch in there. I had a feeling that wouldn’t happen and it didn’t, so I had a back-up plan and my back up plan was to go to this sign place where they don’t know how to properly space words and have them make me a sign that said, “Out To Lunch,” and that would be the closer for the segment. As I said you can read about it here, but I was pretty much told when I got there that they wouldn’t make me a sign and they wouldn’t let me eat my lunch in there. I told them it would be free publicity and that I was willing to pay rush charges for the sign and it could be any kind of a sign that they wanted to make for me and the gentlemen behind the counter just said: “Nah, that’s not going to happen.” Yeah, I mean you’re in the business of selling signs, some guy comes in and volunteers to pay extra for a sign and give you free publicity and your answer is: “Nah, that’s not going to happen.” Well, that makes perfect sense...in Bizarro World!
So Charlie’s invitation was a breath of fresh air after that experience and I told him I’d bring lunch over and he said he’d make me a sign for the MBIP World Headquarters! Now this is a businessman who’s knows what he’s doing! And we have a special guest star today, my friend and Hypno-Humorist, Terry Grawey! Terry volunteered to drive and I thought that was really nice of him and I hear some knocking at the door and I bet that’s him!
Yep, there he is and he told me to stare at that twirling thing and I’m starting to feel kind of light-headed...
Wow, all of a sudden all I can think of is: "Must go to Peoria Pizza Works.” Terry guided me to his car and off we went and I couldn’t shake that image of Terry with that twirling thing at the door...
As we arrived at Peoria Pizza Works something new started hammering away in my brain: “Must go to window!” I felt like I was moving in the darkness as that image of Terry kept spinning around in my head, I was starting to fear I was losing my mind until...
I got to the window and snapped back to reality. Terry hypnotized me into getting a cheap plug for his upcoming show at Peoria Pizza Works this Saturday night! Well, since he went to all of that trouble here we go: This Saturday night, September 23rd, there’s a show at Peoria Pizza Works like you’ve never seen before! Terry has a marvelously entertaining and humorous hypnotist show that includes audience participation and it’s always a ton of fun. You can check out a night he hypnotized me here! And opening up the show is world-renowned magician, Phil Raso, who you’re going to meet very shortly! As the sign says, it’s “Magic, Comedy, Hypnosis, Food, Fun and Friends.” Yeah, that’s right, if you’re some friendless loser, come to the show and a friend will be provided for you at no extra charge! Such a deal! And there’s also an all you can eat buffet included with the price of the show and the price for all of this is just $19.00! Dinner alone is worth that, much less a magic and hypnosis show! The dinner starts at 6PM this Saturday and you can find out more information here and you can buy advance tickets here (which is a good idea because past shows have sold out.) Okay, let’s go get lunch!
We went inside and were greeted warmly by Gary and Sara and we picked up our lunch and then we were on our way to...
CJ Signs on Adams Street, our luncheon destination! The place looks nice, let’s go inside and see what’s happening!
There’s Charlie who owns this sign business and there’s Phil Raso with Terry! I met Phil a couple of weeks ago at Technicraft and it’s great to see him again. After lunch, he and Terry are going to give us a preview of their show coming up on Saturday night!
Before lunch, Charlie gave us a tour of the business and it’s very impressive with state of art machinery, printers and vinyl cutters. In addition to all kinds of signs, CJ Printing does window tinting, decals, stickers, vehicle wraps, magnetics, wall graphics and more. You can read all about them at their website.
Here’s just a few examples of some of their sign work, Charlie told me one of his favorite clients is Brewer’s Distributing. I’m guessing they’re his favorite because they pay him in beer, but that’s just pure speculation on my part!
There’s a huge room back here and this is where they do the window tinting and vehicle wraps among other things. That’s Kyle tinting a window there and a Budweiser truck that they’ve recently wrapped up in the Bud colors and logos! Okay, this tour is making me hungry! I think it’s time for...
Lunch! We got three pizzas and a few other items for a luncheon buffet here at CJ Signs today! And the pizza from Peoria Pizza Works is deilcious Italian pizza! And how do I know that? Well...
It says so right there on the box! Sheesh!
Here’s our luncheon spread: A sausage pizza, onion rings, a deluxe pizza, chicken wings, fried cheese curds and a triple cheese pizza! Okay, time to dig in!
We all enjoyed the food and while it looked like a lot, it disappeared quickly and we found out that it was Kyle’s birthday, so this was a perfect day for this celebratory lunch! Happy birthday, Kyle!
As lunch was coming to a close I went and checked on Terry’s plate and sure as shit on a shingle he had a big blob of ranch dressing there. It kind of looks like whale sperm, doesn’t it? And he slathers that shit all over his pizza! Ecch! As I started a little rant about this, Charlie informed that he’s a pizza ranch guy too! Some days you just can’t win, but I was all done with lunch after this sad discovery...in fact I was about to hurl!
And Now Ladies and Gentlemen, Hold On To Your Socks If You’re Wearing Any, Because It’s Time For...The Terry And Phil Show!
Terry and Phil agreed to give us a little preview of Saturday night’s show and so here we go!
Stephanie from The Spot happened to wander in and Terry had his victim...I mean volunteer for his hypnosis demonstration! This demo is just a small offering of Terry’s hypnosis talent. Basically it begins with him touching Stephanie and thus creating a real awkward moment for all of us. He then tells her to put her hands together and to try with all of her might to keep her index fingers spread apart. Then as she’s concentrating on that, he blows his rancid ranch dressing breath in her face till she relents and puts her fingers together. It’s a fun demonstration that’s exciting and a little sickening all at the same time! Kind of like chugging a whole bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 at 6:30 in the morning!
Next up is Phil and he said he was going to will my mind to make a choice. He had something covered in paper and then laid out four crayons and asked me to pick a color. I did and then he said I could change my mind if I wanted to. I stayed with my original choice, he unwrapped the object under the paper and it was a giant version of the crayon I had picked! Pretty amazing! I wonder if he could will Terry to quit eating ranch dressing?
The MBIP World Headquarters Sign!
And now the moment I’ve been waiting for! Charlie unveiled the sign he made for MBIP World Headquarters and it is nothing short of amazing! I couldn’t believe it! It’s a black sign with gold leaf letters mounted on a golden background! It's got a 3-D look to it! This is too impressive and he wouldn’t take any money for it since I bought lunch! Now this is a smart businessman because I will sing his praises all over town!
He also made me a decal and I can’t say how much I love these! I can’t wait to get back the World Headquarters and put them up...
And so here we are! There’s the sign on the front door to the MBIP World Headquarters and I put the decal on my office door! I am just blown away by these and I can’t thank Charlie and his crew enough! And thanks to Terry for driving (even though I had to guide us there because...ah, it’s too long of a story, I’ll tell it later, it’s a doozy!) and Phil for showing up and performing his magic! Go see him and Terry this Saturday night, it’s a buffet and a wonderful magic and hypnosis show and you will love it! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
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4024 SW Adams Street
Peoria
309-676-9999
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Related Posts: Can I Eat My Lunch In Here and A Hypnotic Saturday Night @ The Lariat Steakhouse.