Orientation

I had orientation today.

First, I managed to navigate NJ transit/Penn Station pretty well, pat on the back there. One person at the hotel didn't know that the comedy thing was there, so I went outside, wandered along 8th Avenue from 34th to 35th, then walked back in and asked someone else. They were more with it.

I signed in and went into the room and waited. People made small talk. Everyone was older, average age was probably about 35. Most people were dressed as if they had just come from work.

Then Steven Rosenfield came in and started talking. This was orientation, so he did most of the talking. We learned our 10 goals (one is Have Fun! hooray). The others are reasonable but unexciting, basically learning to find our sense or humor, learn how to write jokes, learn how to perform, and learn how to be comedians. He talked about types of comedy, and touched on what seems to be the only statistic in comedy, Laughs per Minute, or LPMs. A good show has at least 5 LPMs, 10 is solid.

We watched some comedians that exemplified what he was talking about. Some of what was said was similar to the book I read on the train, other things were different. Steve is more about spontenaity while the book's method is more systematic. We'll see how it goes.

I have three assignments for tomorrow.
1) Rant about thinks that bother me (oh boy!)
2) Do a put-down piece on a celebrity (suggestions welcome)
3) Bring anything else I have

Since this was orientation, everyone was new to comedy. Tomorrow there will be some actual comedians with actual routines. So we'll see.

What followed was some decent subway riding, poor post-subway walking, solid dinner at The Fatty Crab, a long walk to the apartment, and now blogging. I'll close with the exchange of the night.


Hip server at the restaurant who was wearing a retro t-shirt: Isn't it June? What's with the weather?
Barnes: It's balmy.
Hip server : Yes, balmy.
Me: Balmy, hardly even know me!
Everyone, especially Waiter and Ford: HAHAHAHAHAH

OK, I will probably go to sleep once Ford relocates his sleepy self from the couch to his bed. Tomorrow I'll stick around Chez Barnes/Ford and write.

EDIT: More info about my show: Gotham Comedy club, Sunday June 28th. 6 pm. There is a $12 cover and a 2 drink minimum (sorry). It was suggested that I make a reservation, so let me know if you're interested and I'll make a general reservation for my party, and then you can just say you're under my name.