No comedy today really. MM + TPIR this morning, no FMW because I was out of milk. In the afternoon I went to get gas and then went to Giant to stock up on food. With those expenditures I am pretty much at my budget for the summer. But some of the things I'm counting could definitely count otherwise, so either way I'll end up +/- maybe $100 for the summer, which is not bad at all. Nice. For dinner we made a sweet potato curry, which was delicious, but for our lack of curry powder. Still good though, and plenty of leftovers. Mmm.
Anyway, I was thinking yesterday about comedy as an art-form and/or pursuit, and I came to an interesting conclusion. It is the only thing I could come up with off the top of my head that is a nationally recognized talent that doesn't have a clear route to success. I'll explain. If you want to be a star musician, you could teach yourself and make it big. But more likely you'll start in school, do well in school, go to camps, perform in college, and become a professional. If you want to be a star athlete, you could try to walk on in college, or more likely you'd start playing in rec leagues and move up through the school teams. Same thing with other sports, acting, music, art, and everything else. There is always some sort of path. Even more obscure things like billiards have youth leagues and championships and a clear path.
But with comedy, there is no such thing. For a subject with an entire channel devoted to it, there is little cultivation at any level. Granted, one could group it with the performing arts, but starring in your high school production of Guys and Dolls is very different from performing stand-up. So where do these people come from? Some of the people in my class were actors trying to expand their abilities, but most comedians are just people who think they are funny. I'm sure this would never happen, but maybe we should start comedy at a younger age. It's much cheaper than music, or anything for that matter. You can do it with a book and a teacher who barely knows what they are doing. I think it just has a reputation as not as artful a pursuit, but there is a lot of merit.
If anyone can think of something with national stars and national recognition that is as haphazardly pursued, I would be interested to hear it.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Performance the Fourteenth
Posting this after the fact helps no one. But I do it anyway. This was the show tonight, refer to previous post for more information.
Schmoozing
I had a very lazy morning. What else is new - FMW, TPIR, MM. In the afternoon I lounged a little longer than usual, but eventually got to work. I wrote some new things that I liked, so that was productive. I played some piano for a while, I'm almost done my intro book. I went to the post office to pick up a package. I gave her my slip and she left to find it. Five minutes later I looked at my watch. Five more minutes later (for a total of ten), she came back and gave me a package. So, ten minutes. No wonder people complain the postal service is slow. For dinner I had more of my eggplant. Mmm.
Tonight was a much better night at this gig than before. I got there at about 7:15 to sign up, but apparently the order of sign-up is not the order of the show, so the earliness factor is not as important, at least not here. It started probably around 8:00, which is not bad considering. Beforehand though, I did a lot of chatting with the other comedians, which was nice. Even after just a month here people know who I am and feel free to discuss things with me. It's a nice, small-knit community, exactly as promised. I feel like in New York I could have gone the whole summer without seeing the same people twice. So I really like this community.
The show was decent. Just under two hours, better than the two and a half last week. The comedians were, as always, a mixed bag, but I think a pretty solid group. I liked my set a lot, I think it went well. I did a lot of new stuff that did well, and what didn't work I could easily see. I felt more comfortable today, maybe because I knew more people. Or maybe because I'm getting better. It was interesting to hear one comedian say before he told a joke "It's a month old, so I still count it as new." For me, new jokes I've done never or once. For him, he may have done it at least ten times. So as a really new comedian, I have a different mindset of what I'm doing. So hopefully I'll get to keep doing shows and have actually new material become my new material. That also means I'd have real material, tried and true.
Tonight was a much better night at this gig than before. I got there at about 7:15 to sign up, but apparently the order of sign-up is not the order of the show, so the earliness factor is not as important, at least not here. It started probably around 8:00, which is not bad considering. Beforehand though, I did a lot of chatting with the other comedians, which was nice. Even after just a month here people know who I am and feel free to discuss things with me. It's a nice, small-knit community, exactly as promised. I feel like in New York I could have gone the whole summer without seeing the same people twice. So I really like this community.
The show was decent. Just under two hours, better than the two and a half last week. The comedians were, as always, a mixed bag, but I think a pretty solid group. I liked my set a lot, I think it went well. I did a lot of new stuff that did well, and what didn't work I could easily see. I felt more comfortable today, maybe because I knew more people. Or maybe because I'm getting better. It was interesting to hear one comedian say before he told a joke "It's a month old, so I still count it as new." For me, new jokes I've done never or once. For him, he may have done it at least ten times. So as a really new comedian, I have a different mindset of what I'm doing. So hopefully I'll get to keep doing shows and have actually new material become my new material. That also means I'd have real material, tried and true.
Analogizing
So not much comedy to say, but a comedy discussion. First the day. MM and TPIR and FMW. Isn't it strange how every morning can be summarized with nine letters? Indeed. Sam was off today and we decided to go to the American Indian museum. Apparently the term is now American Indian, not Native American. I think we thought it was ok, but generally a disappointment. It was a small museum for the building it was in, since half was just open and two floors were gift shop and eatery. So there were really only four exhibits. Those were decent, but not exceptional, and I feel like they missed some of the interesting parts. Oh well. We returned home where I did little else for the rest of the day. I made pretty delicious eggplant parm for dinner. Other than that, nothing exciting, though I did find maybe some jokes that came up in conversation.
Anyway, I was thinking how it must seem weird for my three loyal readers to read my blog and see that I don't do very much comedy per se. So I thought I'd create an analogy. The problem with comedy is that you never really know what you have until you perform. And performances are so short, not to mention you're supposed to do some old stuff so they like your new stuff. So if I wrote five new minutes of "material" every day, I would just be frustrated since I could not try it out. The problem is that performance time is at such a premium.
To me, it's a lot like the following situation. Imagine you are learning math from a textbook. The chapter where they explain it is writing comedy, the problem sets are performing, and the feedback on problem sets is analyzing the performance. Now imagine that you can read the textbook as much as you want, but you're only allowed to do one problem a night. Well, you could read the textbook for eight hours a day, but you're not going to be learning much if you don't apply it. When you do the problem, you may know pretty much what is going, or something may trip you up, but that could depend on a misunderstanding, a misreading, you missing a concept, the problem being hard, any number of things. And the response you get is either 0, 1/2 credit, or correct. But 0 doesn't mean it was entirely wrong, you just thought about it the wrong way. 1/2 means room for improvement. But full credit doesn't mean you did it the best way. This is how I feel. I'm not going to sit and read the textbook all day, I'd just be frustrated. I wish there were constantly an audience for me to write for an hour, try out jokes, write for an hour, try out jokes. But I only get to do one problem a night, and I only learn a little bit of information about it. So, that's my analogy, hope you've enjoyed.
Anyway, I was thinking how it must seem weird for my three loyal readers to read my blog and see that I don't do very much comedy per se. So I thought I'd create an analogy. The problem with comedy is that you never really know what you have until you perform. And performances are so short, not to mention you're supposed to do some old stuff so they like your new stuff. So if I wrote five new minutes of "material" every day, I would just be frustrated since I could not try it out. The problem is that performance time is at such a premium.
To me, it's a lot like the following situation. Imagine you are learning math from a textbook. The chapter where they explain it is writing comedy, the problem sets are performing, and the feedback on problem sets is analyzing the performance. Now imagine that you can read the textbook as much as you want, but you're only allowed to do one problem a night. Well, you could read the textbook for eight hours a day, but you're not going to be learning much if you don't apply it. When you do the problem, you may know pretty much what is going, or something may trip you up, but that could depend on a misunderstanding, a misreading, you missing a concept, the problem being hard, any number of things. And the response you get is either 0, 1/2 credit, or correct. But 0 doesn't mean it was entirely wrong, you just thought about it the wrong way. 1/2 means room for improvement. But full credit doesn't mean you did it the best way. This is how I feel. I'm not going to sit and read the textbook all day, I'd just be frustrated. I wish there were constantly an audience for me to write for an hour, try out jokes, write for an hour, try out jokes. But I only get to do one problem a night, and I only learn a little bit of information about it. So, that's my analogy, hope you've enjoyed.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Leaving
I awoke this morning in my newwwww bed to the sound of my alarm? Apparently I had turned it on in the hustle and bustle of moving. So plans to go back to sleep were foiled. I came downstairs surprised to find Pat not at work. He took a vacation day that he had accrued. In the morning we just hung out, knock-off FMWs and TPIR, then MM since he was playing Starfox in the morning. In the afternoon we hung out more, watching crappy TV. Pat napped on the couch as I did some writing and working. I rehearsed a bit and played some piano. After dinner and other preparations I headed out.
For some reason I still get to this gig early. It's called for 8:30 but started at 9:15 today. I got there at about 8:20, and of course ended up waiting for this to start. I ran into the guy who had discussed with me acting in a short, and seeing him again reminded me to e-mail him. I have no idea where this will lead, but I may as well give it a shot. I talked to another guy about comedy at college, which was moderately helpful.
The show itself was weird. There was some audience, which I guess was nice, but they laughed at strange things. There were some new comedians, but some of them just did tired jokes. Also, I really don't think offensive jokes are funny. Unless they are hilarious. Let me explain - an offensive joke must be terribly clever. If I see where it is going, or the punchline is obvious, if it's a decent joke it loses points for offensiveness. I don't know why people laugh at them. Maybe they think it's funny, or maybe it's just awkward laughter. I feel like most if not all of my jokes are not offensive. I feel like the longer I keep it that way the higher my quality-ceiling stays. I hope my writing always gets creative points, regardless of its inherent humor.
My set was unremarkable. I swear I got less than 5 minutes, and I forgot a joke, I did a new joke or two, and some others I'd tried once or twice. Not bad, it was just so short and so strange that I didn't gather much information. I really wish I could get more time. It's so hard with 5 minutes. The title of the post comes from this being the first show I left before it was over. I grew tired of listening to a comedian take more than 10 minutes to do three minutes, doing "crowd work" with a guy up front who was certainly not enjoying it. This is the same comedian who discussed my career plans with me last week, my mom's favorite. Oh well. I came home and hung out, now to bed in my nice, large bed.
For some reason I still get to this gig early. It's called for 8:30 but started at 9:15 today. I got there at about 8:20, and of course ended up waiting for this to start. I ran into the guy who had discussed with me acting in a short, and seeing him again reminded me to e-mail him. I have no idea where this will lead, but I may as well give it a shot. I talked to another guy about comedy at college, which was moderately helpful.
The show itself was weird. There was some audience, which I guess was nice, but they laughed at strange things. There were some new comedians, but some of them just did tired jokes. Also, I really don't think offensive jokes are funny. Unless they are hilarious. Let me explain - an offensive joke must be terribly clever. If I see where it is going, or the punchline is obvious, if it's a decent joke it loses points for offensiveness. I don't know why people laugh at them. Maybe they think it's funny, or maybe it's just awkward laughter. I feel like most if not all of my jokes are not offensive. I feel like the longer I keep it that way the higher my quality-ceiling stays. I hope my writing always gets creative points, regardless of its inherent humor.
My set was unremarkable. I swear I got less than 5 minutes, and I forgot a joke, I did a new joke or two, and some others I'd tried once or twice. Not bad, it was just so short and so strange that I didn't gather much information. I really wish I could get more time. It's so hard with 5 minutes. The title of the post comes from this being the first show I left before it was over. I grew tired of listening to a comedian take more than 10 minutes to do three minutes, doing "crowd work" with a guy up front who was certainly not enjoying it. This is the same comedian who discussed my career plans with me last week, my mom's favorite. Oh well. I came home and hung out, now to bed in my nice, large bed.
Performance the Thirteenth
It occurred tonight. See next blog post for more information. This was a strange one...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
E-mailing
Played a lot of MM this morning. Took just about the whole 3 days at 1/2 speed time to beat the Great Bay Temple. Then I waited as Bill frantically packed and got ready for his three week trip. It's strange to think our paths may never cross again after our cohabitation. But the good news on his departure is that my living situation has improved! I've upgraded from a futon in a shared room to a real bed in my own "room" aka glorified bed hole. But it's better. Except I don't have the right sheets. Oh well, I kick them off anyway.
In the afternoon, feeling unfunny but wishing to be productive, I sent a lot of e-mails and did a lot of investigating about the stand-up club. I checked to see what needs to be done to have a club recognized. Apparently a lot, including a constitution. And also a petition of the charter members, which seems silly since I should be able to attract members, not know them already. I had a correspondence with someone in USG and someone in the Dean's office. I also sent an e-mail to a friend in Quipfire (the improv troupe) for some ideas about the comedy community and how to run a small, mostly independent organization. He gave me the name of another member of the group interested in stand-up, so I contacted him as well.
I tried to get data about tickets sold to various campus comedy events. The response was that I needed permission from ODUS to get that information. So I asked them for their permission to get their data, which I would then present...to them, for their approval. Seems very bureaucratic. But we can't have ridiculous student groups running a muck (this phrase is apparently two words...), so I guess it's necessary. I have no doubt that this club would be approved, it just needs to get done. I also sent an inquiry to the Harvard stand-up club about their operations. So tomorrow the e-mails will roll in, since everyone is always prompt with their e-mails. Right? Right? An unexciting evening, but I feel good about the headway I'm making with this. I'll prepare for and go to a performance tomorrow.
In the afternoon, feeling unfunny but wishing to be productive, I sent a lot of e-mails and did a lot of investigating about the stand-up club. I checked to see what needs to be done to have a club recognized. Apparently a lot, including a constitution. And also a petition of the charter members, which seems silly since I should be able to attract members, not know them already. I had a correspondence with someone in USG and someone in the Dean's office. I also sent an e-mail to a friend in Quipfire (the improv troupe) for some ideas about the comedy community and how to run a small, mostly independent organization. He gave me the name of another member of the group interested in stand-up, so I contacted him as well.
I tried to get data about tickets sold to various campus comedy events. The response was that I needed permission from ODUS to get that information. So I asked them for their permission to get their data, which I would then present...to them, for their approval. Seems very bureaucratic. But we can't have ridiculous student groups running a muck (this phrase is apparently two words...), so I guess it's necessary. I have no doubt that this club would be approved, it just needs to get done. I also sent an inquiry to the Harvard stand-up club about their operations. So tomorrow the e-mails will roll in, since everyone is always prompt with their e-mails. Right? Right? An unexciting evening, but I feel good about the headway I'm making with this. I'll prepare for and go to a performance tomorrow.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Relaxing
Nothing terribly exciting today, so I'll keep it brief. In the morning we bid farewell to our Havertown guests. In the afternoon we watched terrible movie after terrible movie, including Tremors, Armageddon, A Time to Kill, some of Eraser. Tons of movie channels lead to mildly amusing thrillers.
For dinner we finally grilled the steaks. They were pretty delicious, cooked to just about medium. Delicious. Accompanied by corn, baked beans, and sauteed onions and peppers. Mmmm. Then we just hung around as it is Bill's last night before his three-week Egyptian adventure.
This week I'll probably do 3 or 4 shows. The Monday and Friday shows are every other week, and this is the off week. Should still be a good week though, building off Friday's success.
For dinner we finally grilled the steaks. They were pretty delicious, cooked to just about medium. Delicious. Accompanied by corn, baked beans, and sauteed onions and peppers. Mmmm. Then we just hung around as it is Bill's last night before his three-week Egyptian adventure.
This week I'll probably do 3 or 4 shows. The Monday and Friday shows are every other week, and this is the off week. Should still be a good week though, building off Friday's success.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Raining
No comedy today, but an interesting one. There were some friends of mine and Sam's from Havertown here this weekend. This morning we went down to Eastern Market, which is a farmers market/flea market/other stores. I didn't eat anything, but it looked like a nice place. Lots of fresh fruit stands and homemade jewelry for sale. We came back in the afternoon and hung out. I fell asleep on the couch for my first nap in a long time.
Around 6 we left to go to the Nationals game. After about an hour of various forms of travel we arrived and bought our tickets for only $12. We got to our seats and watched an inning and a half of baseball, when everyone was told to go underneath the concourse for protection from the rain. What followed was a three hour rain delay, during which we were given little information, and all but 3,000 of the original 20,000ish decided to leave. But we were resolute and hung in there. When play resumed about three hours later, we took our well-deserved seats right up the first base line. We saw a grand slam and a bunch of other home runs, the Nats won 13-1. Overall, a nice baseball experience. Some quality DC time today.
Around 6 we left to go to the Nationals game. After about an hour of various forms of travel we arrived and bought our tickets for only $12. We got to our seats and watched an inning and a half of baseball, when everyone was told to go underneath the concourse for protection from the rain. What followed was a three hour rain delay, during which we were given little information, and all but 3,000 of the original 20,000ish decided to leave. But we were resolute and hung in there. When play resumed about three hours later, we took our well-deserved seats right up the first base line. We saw a grand slam and a bunch of other home runs, the Nats won 13-1. Overall, a nice baseball experience. Some quality DC time today.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Redeeming
Another usual morning, chock full of acronyms. MM, TPIR, and FMW. I like it! I did some errands around the house in the afternoon, mail and e-mail related things. I entered WMGK's 3rd annual comedy competition. That required me to just send in a joke, so hopefully he'll like it. It would be cool just to get on the air. I remember listening to it a few years ago (well, I guess no more than two...) and wishing I were above 18 so I could enter. Now I can, so I hope I've made the most of it.
In the afternoon I did a lot of writing. I wrote about four minutes of new material. Not entirely new concepts, but new full jokes. I felt good about them, I was looking to redeem myself from last night's poor performance. They just felt good, I was flowing through them. I had high hopes for their hilarity level.
Also, throughout the past couple days, I've been toying with the idea of bringing stand-up to school. There was apparently a stand-up club in the early 00's, but it died out. With the improv comedy group doing well and large crowds for comics that come in, I think there would be interest in a stand-up club. I'm not imagining anything too fancy. Maybe just get together once a week to do some new material and critique, then put on a show once a semester. We could even bring in an outsider to headline. Princeton people, make sure I do this. Then come to my shows. A percentage of all proceeds go to charity. What? Zero is a percent? (Simpsons reference). But seriously, I'd like to make this happen. With all of the comedy-themed writing and performing on campus, I'm sure I could find people.
Anyway, I left around 7:45 for my performance. I found a pretty sweet parking spot. When I got there at about 8:25 for an 8:40 show there a few other comedians there. They were both about my age, one was in school, I don't know about the other. We shared stories as the newest comedians. It was interesting. I ended up going first. Well, after the host, but that's expected. I thought it went really well. Much better than last night. A lot of the new jokes worked to some degree, they're mostly all keepers. That's a good feeling, much better than when they all bombed last night. I got a nice boost of confidence. Not that I was totally bummed, but it was nice to bounce back so quickly from last night's debacle. I'm happy about that, I like this stuff too. The rest of the show was hit or miss, as always. I see more of the same faces. It's interesting. Go comedy!
In the afternoon I did a lot of writing. I wrote about four minutes of new material. Not entirely new concepts, but new full jokes. I felt good about them, I was looking to redeem myself from last night's poor performance. They just felt good, I was flowing through them. I had high hopes for their hilarity level.
Also, throughout the past couple days, I've been toying with the idea of bringing stand-up to school. There was apparently a stand-up club in the early 00's, but it died out. With the improv comedy group doing well and large crowds for comics that come in, I think there would be interest in a stand-up club. I'm not imagining anything too fancy. Maybe just get together once a week to do some new material and critique, then put on a show once a semester. We could even bring in an outsider to headline. Princeton people, make sure I do this. Then come to my shows. A percentage of all proceeds go to charity. What? Zero is a percent? (Simpsons reference). But seriously, I'd like to make this happen. With all of the comedy-themed writing and performing on campus, I'm sure I could find people.
Anyway, I left around 7:45 for my performance. I found a pretty sweet parking spot. When I got there at about 8:25 for an 8:40 show there a few other comedians there. They were both about my age, one was in school, I don't know about the other. We shared stories as the newest comedians. It was interesting. I ended up going first. Well, after the host, but that's expected. I thought it went really well. Much better than last night. A lot of the new jokes worked to some degree, they're mostly all keepers. That's a good feeling, much better than when they all bombed last night. I got a nice boost of confidence. Not that I was totally bummed, but it was nice to bounce back so quickly from last night's debacle. I'm happy about that, I like this stuff too. The rest of the show was hit or miss, as always. I see more of the same faces. It's interesting. Go comedy!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Performance the Twelth
My final performance of this performance filled week will be tonight at the Uptown Tavern in Cleveland Park. This went decently last time, so hopefully it will be decent again. And hopefully I won't bomb like last night.
Waiting
Another standard morning. MM and TPIR. After lunch I watched Next Food Network Star online, but it took forever to load. So it was constantly playing for 5 seconds and then pausing for 1. Grumble. In the afternoon I analyzed some shows from this week, but I did not remember them too well. I really need to do it the day after. So that's one mental note for today. I played some piano as well, which I had not done for a while. Then I ate dinner and put my set together for tonight. I headed out at 6:45.
Tonight was a new experience. I arrived at 7:25 for a "7:30" show and signed up. The list had about eleven comedians on it at this point. As the night went on, however, it became clear that the show was not going by the list. The more well-known comedians know that they will be given time if they show up because they are good. So they come late and don't sign up. So the show ended up being like 15 people who signed up and then 10 more seasoned comedians. And lasted until about 10:30. So that was more than 2.5 hours of comedy, which is a lot for anyone.
The vibe at this place was weird. There were a lot of comedians. But only a bunch were in the room at any given time. I think for the other times they were hanging outside the room in the hallway/lobby/places bouncing jokes off each other. Which makes sense to me in some respect, since bouncing ideas off comedians is a good way to work. But the point of the open-mic is that everyone performs and then watches so everyone has an audience. So it just struck me as weird. I feel like I would never really be comfortable just rolling up an hour into a show and bursting my way on stage. But if that's expected, then maybe I would do it.
Also, before the show I was chatting with someone who had seen me a couple times and was apparently a fan. He asked if I acted, I said no, and then he gave me his card and said I should contact him about maybe being in his short internet parody type films. So we'll see if that works out. I don't really know what it would entail, but I'll send an e-mail.
I went up probably around 10. There were some comedians around, but everyone was tired and had hit their comedy quota. Or at least that's what I say to explain my particularly poor performance. I don't know what was with tonight, but I did particularly bad. Granted, I did a lot of "new" jokes. But they had worked decently last night. Maybe it's because people were drunker. But I don't really think I can blame my performance on anything but sloppiness. I did not even rehearse in front of a mirror today. I really need to be working harder and smarter. That me be cliched, but whatever. Looking at it now, there are definitely "jokes" I told that were not jokes. Funny concepts, maybe, but no setup, no punchline. Even jokes that are mostly stories require at least some sort of setup-punchline structure. I feel like I've written this a fair amount, but I frequently fall back into the trap of "everyone will laugh because I thought the story was funny." That's just not how it works. I should be able to look at every joke I tell and find a setup and a punchline.
So, I have a month left. I should be writing a few hours a day. I should be preparing heftily for each performance. I should be making use of the feedback I get from gigs. And thus, I will. In other news, my brother reported a polar bear ad on the site. So, that plan worked a little bit. OK, I will learn from this and press onward.
Tonight was a new experience. I arrived at 7:25 for a "7:30" show and signed up. The list had about eleven comedians on it at this point. As the night went on, however, it became clear that the show was not going by the list. The more well-known comedians know that they will be given time if they show up because they are good. So they come late and don't sign up. So the show ended up being like 15 people who signed up and then 10 more seasoned comedians. And lasted until about 10:30. So that was more than 2.5 hours of comedy, which is a lot for anyone.
The vibe at this place was weird. There were a lot of comedians. But only a bunch were in the room at any given time. I think for the other times they were hanging outside the room in the hallway/lobby/places bouncing jokes off each other. Which makes sense to me in some respect, since bouncing ideas off comedians is a good way to work. But the point of the open-mic is that everyone performs and then watches so everyone has an audience. So it just struck me as weird. I feel like I would never really be comfortable just rolling up an hour into a show and bursting my way on stage. But if that's expected, then maybe I would do it.
Also, before the show I was chatting with someone who had seen me a couple times and was apparently a fan. He asked if I acted, I said no, and then he gave me his card and said I should contact him about maybe being in his short internet parody type films. So we'll see if that works out. I don't really know what it would entail, but I'll send an e-mail.
I went up probably around 10. There were some comedians around, but everyone was tired and had hit their comedy quota. Or at least that's what I say to explain my particularly poor performance. I don't know what was with tonight, but I did particularly bad. Granted, I did a lot of "new" jokes. But they had worked decently last night. Maybe it's because people were drunker. But I don't really think I can blame my performance on anything but sloppiness. I did not even rehearse in front of a mirror today. I really need to be working harder and smarter. That me be cliched, but whatever. Looking at it now, there are definitely "jokes" I told that were not jokes. Funny concepts, maybe, but no setup, no punchline. Even jokes that are mostly stories require at least some sort of setup-punchline structure. I feel like I've written this a fair amount, but I frequently fall back into the trap of "everyone will laugh because I thought the story was funny." That's just not how it works. I should be able to look at every joke I tell and find a setup and a punchline.
So, I have a month left. I should be writing a few hours a day. I should be preparing heftily for each performance. I should be making use of the feedback I get from gigs. And thus, I will. In other news, my brother reported a polar bear ad on the site. So, that plan worked a little bit. OK, I will learn from this and press onward.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Performance the Eleventh
I'll be heading out in about an hour to the beautiful Ballston Commons Mall for my eleventh performance. I did this show last week and liked it, so hopefully it will go well. Notes on tonight's performance, and more, at 11. Or whenever I get around to blogging tonight.
Go-Getting
Today was the last day of touristing with my mom and uncle. After I awoke I hung out. I decided to forgo their morning of museum viewing to lounge at home. I have had my fill of museums for the time being. So whilst they toured I hung out here and watched TPIR and wrote some new jokes for tonight. They came back around 2 with some snacks from the American Indian Museum, which I had heard was delicious, and thus confirmed. Then we headed to the zoo.
The zoo was fine. We were there towards the end of the day so it was not particularly crowded, nor was it particularly hot. We saw all of the usual animals, including the pandas, who were just sitting there. They were not too active. After a full day of zooing we headed to Bistrot Du Coin, a well-reviewed French restaurant. It was pretty tasty. But it was in Dupont Circle, which meant it was full of 28 year old hip young go-getters who wear gray slacks and a blue shirt with subtle pink stripes. Or yellow shirts. Or other funky shirts that are their attempt to express themselves. I don't want to wear fancy clothes to work. But dinner was pretty delicious, so if you're ever in Dupont Circle, check it out.
The family dropped me off at my gig and headed out. I walked in and found the contact guy and signed up. Then I wandered to a nearby square (well, triangle) where I wrote and rehearsed. Then when it was getting darker and closer to 9 I headed back to the Madhatter. The guy had to tell everyone that I was under 21 but it was OK. This confused me, since it was a bar/restaurant (I think?), and I saw the bartenders checking IDs. Maybe I just don't understand how these things work.
The good thing about tonight was that there was a crowd of non-comedians. The bad thing was that they were the same young go-getters, who were moderately/barely interested in comedy so long as they were able to enjoy their coronas and group bar shots with grape liquor, vodka, sprite, and other things. I'm sort of making that up, but I heard one description that was pretty close. Still though, this was the closest crowd to I guess what would be my target audience. So it was a decent crowd. One other note - this place was ridiculously loud. Before the comedy there was music going, and with that and the large number of people in a small room, I don't know how anyone was able to hear anything. Even when the comedy started, it was still pretty loud. I felt almost as if I were talking over people.
The show was capped at 10 comedians, which was nice. It started around 9:20, and as time went on, I awaited my turn. Then the host said "Please welcome our last comedian, straight from Sierra Leone..." and I was like, ok, I don't get to go? And then he said my name. And as I got up another person grabbed the mic. The host mixed us up somehow. So I waited one more and ended up going last. I think my set went pretty well. It was pretty much all new jokes, so as long as some worked, that's all I could ask. The crowd was a tad drunk, and I was interrupted once by applause at a walk-off win by the Astros. So not the ideal situation, but I am still pleased. With these three shows I definitely have a bunch more information about what jokes I should keep in my arsenal. At the end there was a vote for favorite comedian for a prize, which I did not win or place. The winner I think is the guy who organizes the show I'm doing this Friday. So he's a guy who has been at this for a while. I took a cab home because I'm lazy and mom was treating, so that was nice. Woo comedy.
The zoo was fine. We were there towards the end of the day so it was not particularly crowded, nor was it particularly hot. We saw all of the usual animals, including the pandas, who were just sitting there. They were not too active. After a full day of zooing we headed to Bistrot Du Coin, a well-reviewed French restaurant. It was pretty tasty. But it was in Dupont Circle, which meant it was full of 28 year old hip young go-getters who wear gray slacks and a blue shirt with subtle pink stripes. Or yellow shirts. Or other funky shirts that are their attempt to express themselves. I don't want to wear fancy clothes to work. But dinner was pretty delicious, so if you're ever in Dupont Circle, check it out.
The family dropped me off at my gig and headed out. I walked in and found the contact guy and signed up. Then I wandered to a nearby square (well, triangle) where I wrote and rehearsed. Then when it was getting darker and closer to 9 I headed back to the Madhatter. The guy had to tell everyone that I was under 21 but it was OK. This confused me, since it was a bar/restaurant (I think?), and I saw the bartenders checking IDs. Maybe I just don't understand how these things work.
The good thing about tonight was that there was a crowd of non-comedians. The bad thing was that they were the same young go-getters, who were moderately/barely interested in comedy so long as they were able to enjoy their coronas and group bar shots with grape liquor, vodka, sprite, and other things. I'm sort of making that up, but I heard one description that was pretty close. Still though, this was the closest crowd to I guess what would be my target audience. So it was a decent crowd. One other note - this place was ridiculously loud. Before the comedy there was music going, and with that and the large number of people in a small room, I don't know how anyone was able to hear anything. Even when the comedy started, it was still pretty loud. I felt almost as if I were talking over people.
The show was capped at 10 comedians, which was nice. It started around 9:20, and as time went on, I awaited my turn. Then the host said "Please welcome our last comedian, straight from Sierra Leone..." and I was like, ok, I don't get to go? And then he said my name. And as I got up another person grabbed the mic. The host mixed us up somehow. So I waited one more and ended up going last. I think my set went pretty well. It was pretty much all new jokes, so as long as some worked, that's all I could ask. The crowd was a tad drunk, and I was interrupted once by applause at a walk-off win by the Astros. So not the ideal situation, but I am still pleased. With these three shows I definitely have a bunch more information about what jokes I should keep in my arsenal. At the end there was a vote for favorite comedian for a prize, which I did not win or place. The winner I think is the guy who organizes the show I'm doing this Friday. So he's a guy who has been at this for a while. I took a cab home because I'm lazy and mom was treating, so that was nice. Woo comedy.
Performance the Tenth
Ooo, I'm at double digits now. Sweet. I performed tonight at the Madhatter in Dupont Circle. See next blog post for more info.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Advising
Played MM this morning for a bit until my mom and uncle showed up. Using my super connections on Capitol Hill (aka Bill), we were able to get a tour of the Capitol Building even though they were booked online. Take that, system! So we are grateful to Bill for procuring us those tickets. The tour consisted of a brief movie, then going through the rotunda and some adjacent rooms. It was shorter than expected, but I guess the rest is actual offices/chambers, so tours can't go there. We decided to wait in line to see the House in session. What looked like a short line turned into a 30 minute wait, but I think it was worth it. We heard about 10 Republicans all speak for one minute to a room of 15 people about how bad the health care bill was. It was like my comedy gigs, but they get to be on TV. I want to headline on C-SPAN. We finished our touring with an abridged perusal of the Air and Space Museum.
We planned to meet Henk,a friend of mine and my brother's from home, for dinner and my gig. I picked him up at the metro and we drove to the place where we parked and then wandered to go find a place for dinner. We found a pretty decent grill place, and I had leftovers so, nice, another meal.
This show was one of the more bizarre shows. There were a total of five other comedians and maybe 5 additional audience members. One comedian was from out of town, one I hadn't seen, and the other three I had seen. I ended up going right after the host. I liked what I did, even though I didn't have much time to prepare. It was a little strange acting out the role of my mom (not so much an impression as a caricature...kinda...) with her there, but no biggee. I don't know what it is, but there is something comforting about the mic. It's like how an instrument separates a musician from their music, but not as much. So, I prefer the mic, I think.
The bizarrity occurred when one of the comedians did crowd work. After first being advised to stick to comedy even if I was routinely booed. Then I was advised not to be a comedian lest I end up with his life. Then when it was unearthed that I went to Princeton, I was advised to go to Princeton and not be a comedian. But not to be a computer engineer, I should get a real job like a doctor or a lawyer. It was then concluded that I should try if I want...maybe, and he gave me a comedy book. So I don't know what to say to that. I think I can be a student and a comedian. It's like a student athlete, except even at Princeton more people watch the student athletes.
But, after the show, one of the audience members found me in the parking lot and said I should disregard the previous advice and do comedy. He also said he studied computer science, so that was cool. I'm glad I was funny to him. Woo.
We planned to meet Henk,a friend of mine and my brother's from home, for dinner and my gig. I picked him up at the metro and we drove to the place where we parked and then wandered to go find a place for dinner. We found a pretty decent grill place, and I had leftovers so, nice, another meal.
This show was one of the more bizarre shows. There were a total of five other comedians and maybe 5 additional audience members. One comedian was from out of town, one I hadn't seen, and the other three I had seen. I ended up going right after the host. I liked what I did, even though I didn't have much time to prepare. It was a little strange acting out the role of my mom (not so much an impression as a caricature...kinda...) with her there, but no biggee. I don't know what it is, but there is something comforting about the mic. It's like how an instrument separates a musician from their music, but not as much. So, I prefer the mic, I think.
The bizarrity occurred when one of the comedians did crowd work. After first being advised to stick to comedy even if I was routinely booed. Then I was advised not to be a comedian lest I end up with his life. Then when it was unearthed that I went to Princeton, I was advised to go to Princeton and not be a comedian. But not to be a computer engineer, I should get a real job like a doctor or a lawyer. It was then concluded that I should try if I want...maybe, and he gave me a comedy book. So I don't know what to say to that. I think I can be a student and a comedian. It's like a student athlete, except even at Princeton more people watch the student athletes.
But, after the show, one of the audience members found me in the parking lot and said I should disregard the previous advice and do comedy. He also said he studied computer science, so that was cool. I'm glad I was funny to him. Woo.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Performance the Ninth
Tonight, at my usual Tuesday gig. I don't know if I've ever officially disclosed the name of the place. And now I shall. It's called All Star Comedy Club at Listrani's Restaurant in Arlington. Why is everything in Arlington? Let's see what my mom and uncle think of this one...
Performance the Eighth
Was tonight at the 11th Street Lounge at Arlington. Not terribly helpful information after the event. I'm not really good at posting these. But you can ask my mom, open mic comedy != Comedy Central comedy. Maybe I'll stay in school...
Hosting
Today was a jam-packed day. I even had a PB+J sandwich, so the joke I was about to make about how there was no jelly involved was in fact nullified. Drat. The morning had a lot of things going on. I was waiting for the Dell repair man, playing the Snowhead Temple in MM, and waiting for the arrival of my mom and uncle. The Dell person called at 10, was here 20 minutes later, and fixed my keyboard in 5 minutes. Apparently it is much easier to do with the right screwdriver. I beat the temple in MM and was working on the post-quests when my mom/uncle arrived.
After a brief tour of the house we walked to the Natural History Museum. Can you believe that built a whole museum just like the one in that movie? It looked so similar! It was entertaining enough. There were fossil and bugs and the Hope Diamond and the like. We spent about 2/2.5 there and then walked back to Union Station where everyone grabbed something from the food court for dinner. I had a gyro, which never fails to disappoint. Mmm.
So tonight I was performing at the 11th Street Lounge in Arlington. All of my shows are in Arlington/Clarendon/Virginia. Apparently semi-urban VA is the cool place for comedy? So I was told that roll call was at 7:30, be there by 8 to lose my spot. Of course, as I hustled to get there at 7:45, there were only five comedians there. So as we sat at the bar and waited I chatted a bit. I knew most of them from something or the other. Of the 12 or so who went tonight, I probably knew 8. It's nice to see the same faces, but the jokes get less funny as you hear them repeatedly.
Although I warned them, my mom and uncle came to the show. The audience was the comedians, them, and maybe two or three other people. And there was no microphone. And it was in a basement. So...yeah. I went towards the end which was a bit of a bummer, since at the end the crowd is tired and the comics who went earlier had already left. So when I went, the crowd previously at a max of 20 was down to 10. I didn't do very well, I messed up some of my deliveries. Just not the best night for me. But I did talk to people again, got more of a sense of what the scene is like. So otherwise it went well.
So side note: The ads reflect what I write. So there are apparently ads for breaded eggplant cutlets and crock pot recipes. And teeth whiteners? So let me try this. Bears. Polar Bears, Brown Bears, all bears. I want to learn about bears. Ads, let's see how smart you really are!
After a brief tour of the house we walked to the Natural History Museum. Can you believe that built a whole museum just like the one in that movie? It looked so similar! It was entertaining enough. There were fossil and bugs and the Hope Diamond and the like. We spent about 2/2.5 there and then walked back to Union Station where everyone grabbed something from the food court for dinner. I had a gyro, which never fails to disappoint. Mmm.
So tonight I was performing at the 11th Street Lounge in Arlington. All of my shows are in Arlington/Clarendon/Virginia. Apparently semi-urban VA is the cool place for comedy? So I was told that roll call was at 7:30, be there by 8 to lose my spot. Of course, as I hustled to get there at 7:45, there were only five comedians there. So as we sat at the bar and waited I chatted a bit. I knew most of them from something or the other. Of the 12 or so who went tonight, I probably knew 8. It's nice to see the same faces, but the jokes get less funny as you hear them repeatedly.
Although I warned them, my mom and uncle came to the show. The audience was the comedians, them, and maybe two or three other people. And there was no microphone. And it was in a basement. So...yeah. I went towards the end which was a bit of a bummer, since at the end the crowd is tired and the comics who went earlier had already left. So when I went, the crowd previously at a max of 20 was down to 10. I didn't do very well, I messed up some of my deliveries. Just not the best night for me. But I did talk to people again, got more of a sense of what the scene is like. So otherwise it went well.
So side note: The ads reflect what I write. So there are apparently ads for breaded eggplant cutlets and crock pot recipes. And teeth whiteners? So let me try this. Bears. Polar Bears, Brown Bears, all bears. I want to learn about bears. Ads, let's see how smart you really are!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Poaching
The pattern of unproductive weekend days continued. MM this morning followed by the interesting but ultimately unexciting conclusion to the British Open. Then we went grocery shopping, partially for my own and partially for group dinner night. I got some staples, but a much cheaper trip than before since I still have some basics left over.
In the afternoon we lounged a lot. I wrote down one inspiration for a joke, though, and I think this one has legs. For dinner we attempted to make eggs benedict. I think it worked out pretty well, even though it's hard because a lot of simultaneous things need to be cooked. We had hash browns and sausage as well for a hearty breakfast for dinner. Mmm. I have lots of gigs lined up for this week. Should be fun. And posts should be more interesting.
In the afternoon we lounged a lot. I wrote down one inspiration for a joke, though, and I think this one has legs. For dinner we attempted to make eggs benedict. I think it worked out pretty well, even though it's hard because a lot of simultaneous things need to be cooked. We had hash browns and sausage as well for a hearty breakfast for dinner. Mmm. I have lots of gigs lined up for this week. Should be fun. And posts should be more interesting.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Sitting
Somehow, weekends are always much less exciting than weekdays. This comes after my original shock that there were few gigs for me on weekends. I think this is a product of the weekend shows having better aka non open-mic comedians, and comedy not being the hip thing to do. So, with plenty of time until my next show and everyone else lazing around the house, that is what I end up doing. Oh well. There is little of note to report today. Lots of sitting. Then lying down while asleep. Then more sitting.
The only moderately interesting thing was a successful dinner, a welcome change from last night's disaster. I threw together another usual tomato, onion, pepper, spinach, and garlic sauce. But instead of using pasta, I cooked the spaghetti squash that I had. Which was delicious. There is something so enticing about the pasta-like nature of spaghetti squash. So, not an exciting day. But tomorrow's theme dinner is breakfast for dinner, so deliciousness will ensue.
The only moderately interesting thing was a successful dinner, a welcome change from last night's disaster. I threw together another usual tomato, onion, pepper, spinach, and garlic sauce. But instead of using pasta, I cooked the spaghetti squash that I had. Which was delicious. There is something so enticing about the pasta-like nature of spaghetti squash. So, not an exciting day. But tomorrow's theme dinner is breakfast for dinner, so deliciousness will ensue.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Booking
I woke up early today for an unknown reason. Another Majora's Mask (henceforth referred to as MM) and TPIR morning. Leftovers from last night for lunch. I spent an hour or so looking ahead and sending e-mails and doing some scheduling. If all goes as planned I will have a gig every night this week, Monday-Friday, which would be cool. I'm still waiting on some e-mails.
The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to replace my keyboard. Long story short, it was probably easy enough to do if I had the proper screwdriver, but now I had to send for another one to come with a technician. Hopefully they will come on Monday and it will take five minutes. For now I'm getting used to typing without the cap on the A key.
For dinner I attempted to make eggplant in garlic sauce, Chinese take-out style. Due either to cooking the eggplant in too much water or improvising too many ingredients, it was pretty inedible. The eggplant absorbed a lot of water, which was garlic infused. So every bite released a delicious sip of garlic flavored tea. So I made a half hearted attempt to enjoy it and then ditched the rest. Grumble. I should just stick to eggplant parm. So not the most productive day, but it bodes well for the week ahead.
The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to replace my keyboard. Long story short, it was probably easy enough to do if I had the proper screwdriver, but now I had to send for another one to come with a technician. Hopefully they will come on Monday and it will take five minutes. For now I'm getting used to typing without the cap on the A key.
For dinner I attempted to make eggplant in garlic sauce, Chinese take-out style. Due either to cooking the eggplant in too much water or improvising too many ingredients, it was pretty inedible. The eggplant absorbed a lot of water, which was garlic infused. So every bite released a delicious sip of garlic flavored tea. So I made a half hearted attempt to enjoy it and then ditched the rest. Grumble. I should just stick to eggplant parm. So not the most productive day, but it bodes well for the week ahead.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Amusing
My mornings are always the same. The only difference is whether my 12:30 meal is breakfast style or lunch style. Again with the Majora's Mask and TPIR. Then a sandwich for lunch. In the afternoon I chatted a tad with my bro. Dinner was sauteed pepper, onion, and chicken using the soy sauce packets that came with the take-out. And they wanted to throw it away. Hah!
In the afternoon I wrote some new material, mostly college related. From a purely strategic standpoint, few to none of the other comedians are currently in college, so I have ripe material that will not be similar to their things. Having different subject matter automatically sets me apart, which is nice. I ran some college things past the bro since he is of the college ilk as well. Then I practiced in the mirror a few times and headed out.
This gig was at the Comedy Spot which is in a mall. Seems like a strange place for a comedy club. There was a lot of traffic, so I was nervous that I would be late and miss my chance to sign up. Although called for 7:30, when I arrived at 7:28 there were plenty of slots left and few audience members. Though the few audience members thing stayed mostly the same. I am learning that most things run on comedy time, which means starting 15-30 minutes after the posted time. So, though I'll try to be at things early/on-time, being a tad late is not an issue.
My set went well. For mostly new material, a lot of it worked. I know college, so writing about it is easy. It was also nice that three of the civilian audience members were college students. The other comedians had their hits and misses. I've really learned to pretend like every room is full. Not only are comedians who essentially write the night off not as funny, they are wasting their time since they do not get a good read on their jokes. I'm not going to scrap anything, but if a joke makes 15 people laugh it should work on more.
On the way out I saw the same three college kids heading to their car. I chatted with them for 30 seconds, and they all agreed that I was the funniest (by no prompting of my own)! Woo! But really, they did not have to say that, so hopefully they were telling the truth. And if not, I'll pretend they did! But that, for whatever it's worth, felt good.
In the afternoon I wrote some new material, mostly college related. From a purely strategic standpoint, few to none of the other comedians are currently in college, so I have ripe material that will not be similar to their things. Having different subject matter automatically sets me apart, which is nice. I ran some college things past the bro since he is of the college ilk as well. Then I practiced in the mirror a few times and headed out.
This gig was at the Comedy Spot which is in a mall. Seems like a strange place for a comedy club. There was a lot of traffic, so I was nervous that I would be late and miss my chance to sign up. Although called for 7:30, when I arrived at 7:28 there were plenty of slots left and few audience members. Though the few audience members thing stayed mostly the same. I am learning that most things run on comedy time, which means starting 15-30 minutes after the posted time. So, though I'll try to be at things early/on-time, being a tad late is not an issue.
My set went well. For mostly new material, a lot of it worked. I know college, so writing about it is easy. It was also nice that three of the civilian audience members were college students. The other comedians had their hits and misses. I've really learned to pretend like every room is full. Not only are comedians who essentially write the night off not as funny, they are wasting their time since they do not get a good read on their jokes. I'm not going to scrap anything, but if a joke makes 15 people laugh it should work on more.
On the way out I saw the same three college kids heading to their car. I chatted with them for 30 seconds, and they all agreed that I was the funniest (by no prompting of my own)! Woo! But really, they did not have to say that, so hopefully they were telling the truth. And if not, I'll pretend they did! But that, for whatever it's worth, felt good.
Performance the Seventh
Will be tonight at the Comedy Spot in the Ballston Mall in Arlington, Virginia. I have never been there nor have I had any of my e-mail inquiries returned, so I'm not exactly sure what to expect. But a bunch of other comedians have recommended it, so I'm going to check it out. It also claims to start at 7:30, which is about 1-1.5 hours earlier than most others. That might mean that it's over earlier, or that it is just longer. We shall see. More information in tonight's post.
Mtrking
The title will make sense soon enough. Today I headed to New Jersey for the bris of my new cousin Nathan Krauss. I took Amtrak to Wilmington where my dad picked me up. On the way up I ended up in business class by accident. Man, all sorts of leg room. It was nice. Perfect for a mid-morning nap.
It was a lovely event. A lot of oooing and ahhing over Nathan, along with the standard yakking and eating. It was nice that people came in from all over, I'm glad I could make it. The train ride home was not as fancy, but I was, of course, still able to nap.
While hanging out in the evening, I discovered that some of my keys were not quite right. So in an attempt to fix one key I actually broke a few. Grumble. And as the fixing continued, the more broken it became. So now my A and Q keys are pretty much broken (hence the title, without the A's). I have to press extra hard and the key caps are coming off. I grumblingly called Dell, and amazingly was able to talk to a real person in about 8 minutes, explain my problem in 2 minutes, and have a new keyboard on the way in 10 minutes. Finally, quality customer service! It should be here soon. I have to put it in myself, but she claimed it was easy, and if not they could walk me through it. Woo.
I booked two gigs today for two Saturday nights in August. One is a contest! Maybe I will win! That would be fun.
It was a lovely event. A lot of oooing and ahhing over Nathan, along with the standard yakking and eating. It was nice that people came in from all over, I'm glad I could make it. The train ride home was not as fancy, but I was, of course, still able to nap.
While hanging out in the evening, I discovered that some of my keys were not quite right. So in an attempt to fix one key I actually broke a few. Grumble. And as the fixing continued, the more broken it became. So now my A and Q keys are pretty much broken (hence the title, without the A's). I have to press extra hard and the key caps are coming off. I grumblingly called Dell, and amazingly was able to talk to a real person in about 8 minutes, explain my problem in 2 minutes, and have a new keyboard on the way in 10 minutes. Finally, quality customer service! It should be here soon. I have to put it in myself, but she claimed it was easy, and if not they could walk me through it. Woo.
I booked two gigs today for two Saturday nights in August. One is a contest! Maybe I will win! That would be fun.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Performance the Sixth
Tonight's performance was it. See previous post for more info. I'm sure the ex post facto posts are great for those who wish to attend. But that's the thing with open mics. When I know things in advance I'll try to post in advance.
Comforting
Another standard morning. Majora's Mask and TPIR. No FMWs today though, I wasn't feeling it. I had a solid sandwich for lunch though, then snacked on some leftover chips and salsa from taco night. I also took a nap for the first time in a while. That felt good. Dinner was just things I could grab, I was not particularly hungry.
In the afternoon I did a bunch of work preparing for tonight. I was once again happy with the afternoon. Not too strenuous, but still productive, and I was able to write and refine a bit and then put together my set for tonight. I practiced in the mirror, making special note of my body language/posture/hand usage. The things that I can't really practice when waiting in the restaurant/bar/comedy lounge.
I think my gig went well tonight. A crowd of maybe 20 total, my jokes definitely got some laughs. I did some new stuff, and as always, some of it worked and some of it did not. But I like where some of it is going. I felt much more comfortable today. I felt comfortable schmoozing with the other comedians, I felt comfortable watching and not knowing when I was going up, I felt comfortable taking cues from the host. I talked to some other comedians who seemed to all like the one show, so I will probably do that. I was comfortable driving home without directions, that was was nice. I could enjoy the smooth voices of the Black Eyed Peas on the radio. Overall, a solid night.
In the afternoon I did a bunch of work preparing for tonight. I was once again happy with the afternoon. Not too strenuous, but still productive, and I was able to write and refine a bit and then put together my set for tonight. I practiced in the mirror, making special note of my body language/posture/hand usage. The things that I can't really practice when waiting in the restaurant/bar/comedy lounge.
I think my gig went well tonight. A crowd of maybe 20 total, my jokes definitely got some laughs. I did some new stuff, and as always, some of it worked and some of it did not. But I like where some of it is going. I felt much more comfortable today. I felt comfortable schmoozing with the other comedians, I felt comfortable watching and not knowing when I was going up, I felt comfortable taking cues from the host. I talked to some other comedians who seemed to all like the one show, so I will probably do that. I was comfortable driving home without directions, that was was nice. I could enjoy the smooth voices of the Black Eyed Peas on the radio. Overall, a solid night.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Pioneering
A typical morning (to those of you who have this read aloud to you, not an atypical morning, a typical morning). Played some more Majora's Mask, beat the first temple, but I'm still fairly confused. Then TPIR and FMW. Then hung out with AP who takes Mondays off. I played some piano and watched Next Food Network Star. Only four people left. We watched Kid Jeopardy and felt dumb when none of us answered (questioned?) final jeopardy. But neither did the kids. So there.
Then, after ordering in from Good Danny's (We Delivery! is the claim on their menu), we were a few bites and home runs into the home run derby when the power went out. Gasp! So we went and ate outside as it was still a bit light out, and we saw that power was out for the whole block. So for about an hour and a half we were really roughing it, no lights, no computers. Like Pioneers. Except with running water. And cell phones. And take-out. After an hour inside by candlelight the power came back on, we could return to a life of being in the same room but not talking to each other. Hooray!
Did a little comedy today. I went over my show from Friday and tried to analyze how it went. I made notes on which jokes worked, noted any particularly good or bad wordings, remembered the joke I forgot. I think the analysis is pretty helpful, and hopefully I'll put it to good use in the shows this week. Of which there should be at least three. Hmm, I have to send some e-mails tomorrow. I'll make a note.
Then, after ordering in from Good Danny's (We Delivery! is the claim on their menu), we were a few bites and home runs into the home run derby when the power went out. Gasp! So we went and ate outside as it was still a bit light out, and we saw that power was out for the whole block. So for about an hour and a half we were really roughing it, no lights, no computers. Like Pioneers. Except with running water. And cell phones. And take-out. After an hour inside by candlelight the power came back on, we could return to a life of being in the same room but not talking to each other. Hooray!
Did a little comedy today. I went over my show from Friday and tried to analyze how it went. I made notes on which jokes worked, noted any particularly good or bad wordings, remembered the joke I forgot. I think the analysis is pretty helpful, and hopefully I'll put it to good use in the shows this week. Of which there should be at least three. Hmm, I have to send some e-mails tomorrow. I'll make a note.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Tracking
So today also consisted of little comedy. Well, funny things happened, but I did not work on them. Today was pretty mundane. We made a partial house-outing to Giant with some wackiness. Then we watched Harry Potter while people dozed on the couch. Then we had taco night. So, since I have little else to report, I thought I'd check in with the progress of my summer.
Some of my loyal readers may recall long term goals I posted a while ago. I would like to discuss their statuses (or stati, if you prefer):
Explore DC - fairly lagging. I've been to the zoo and to the American History Museum. But the plan is to hit up a museum a week with Sam on his days off. So that will end up being about five more museums, plus any weekend outings we might make. Not great, but decnet
Learn some basic piano skills - Going well. I am about 3/4 of the way through one of my books. I can play with both hands at the same time, occasionally with slightly different rhythms, but nothing too complicated. I do not know what a reasonable place to shoot for would be, but I think I'll be satisfied with where I end up.
Beat Ocarina of Time and all of the side quests - Done. I beat the game with all of the hearts and skulltulas. There were some side quests I had no attachment to (masks, big poes), so I skipped those. This morning I started Majora's Mask, so although I won't complete all side quests, I would like to beat it.
Arrange a song for the PUB - I have no started yet. But hopefully I will soon.
Blog about my summer - This is going well. I think I've posted at least once a day. And I'm raking in the dough from the ad revenue. Not really. But maybe a little. Don't forget to patronize our generous sponsors!
The work week starts tomorrow.
Some of my loyal readers may recall long term goals I posted a while ago. I would like to discuss their statuses (or stati, if you prefer):
Explore DC - fairly lagging. I've been to the zoo and to the American History Museum. But the plan is to hit up a museum a week with Sam on his days off. So that will end up being about five more museums, plus any weekend outings we might make. Not great, but decnet
Learn some basic piano skills - Going well. I am about 3/4 of the way through one of my books. I can play with both hands at the same time, occasionally with slightly different rhythms, but nothing too complicated. I do not know what a reasonable place to shoot for would be, but I think I'll be satisfied with where I end up.
Beat Ocarina of Time and all of the side quests - Done. I beat the game with all of the hearts and skulltulas. There were some side quests I had no attachment to (masks, big poes), so I skipped those. This morning I started Majora's Mask, so although I won't complete all side quests, I would like to beat it.
Arrange a song for the PUB - I have no started yet. But hopefully I will soon.
Blog about my summer - This is going well. I think I've posted at least once a day. And I'm raking in the dough from the ad revenue. Not really. But maybe a little. Don't forget to patronize our generous sponsors!
The work week starts tomorrow.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Cleaning
Limited amounts of comedy today. But a large amount of productivity as the first floor of the house underwent a major cleaning operation. It was getting to everyone, so we went for it. We cleaned the whole kitchen, refrigerator and all. We took out a lot of trash and old food, cleaned the dirty dishes in the sink, washed the floor. We cleaned and vacuumed the living room and finally figured out whose dirty socks were under the sofas. And I found some change under the seat cushions, which was solid.
Other than that, people were just home today hanging out. Frosted mini wheats for lunch. Then in the afternoon I set out to get rid of some nearing bad potatoes by making a nice batch of mashed potatoes, recipe courtesy of Alton Brown. I did not have half-and-half, so I improvised a bit. They were pretty good. This house lacks a potato peeler and a potato masher, and I could not locate my garlic, so I improvised there too. Still, delicious. Not much else exciting happened today, but it was relaxing nonetheless, which was nice. And the kitchen is clean. Which is always nice. Dishes, where? I don't see any dirty dishes. There are reports that tomorrow will be taco night. Nice.
Other than that, people were just home today hanging out. Frosted mini wheats for lunch. Then in the afternoon I set out to get rid of some nearing bad potatoes by making a nice batch of mashed potatoes, recipe courtesy of Alton Brown. I did not have half-and-half, so I improvised a bit. They were pretty good. This house lacks a potato peeler and a potato masher, and I could not locate my garlic, so I improvised there too. Still, delicious. Not much else exciting happened today, but it was relaxing nonetheless, which was nice. And the kitchen is clean. Which is always nice. Dishes, where? I don't see any dirty dishes. There are reports that tomorrow will be taco night. Nice.
Circuiting
Today felt like the real start of my time on the DC comedy circuit. But first...Usual morning with TPIR and frosted mini wheats. I had a fairly productive afternoon, which I think is a good game plan for how my afternoons should go. I wrote a little bit and picked my stuff for tonight. Then I went through the jokes, went over how I wanted to perform them. Then I rehearsed for a while so I had the order, timing, and delivery as I wanted. I realized that I had a habit of saying "But, uhh..." between jokes, but after a self-motivational speech it seems to have gone away. I just needed to be more aware. I also played some piano and ran an errand. Whipped up some scrambled eggs for dinner. Then I headed out for my performance.
First, I really hate traffic circles. And not the New Jersey kinds, which have 3 highways clearly marked with no traffic lights. I'm talking about the DC kind, which have 7 streets coming in, an inside and an outside, poorly market streets, pedestrians all over the place. Whoever thought these were a good idea was wrong. Or designing for horse-drawn carriages. So after a few wrong turns I found my way there, arriving a tad late. I was worried about getting there on time, but when I got there at about 8:35 (for a supposedly 8:40 show), it was myself, the host, and 2 comics. He said we should go stand outside and encourage people to come inside. We made a half-hearted attempt, but it was difficult to convince people on the way home from CVS to just stop in for a two hour comedy show.
Eventually, a large number of people showed up to see Charlie, a comedian who was going for the first time. They became most of the audience, which was fine, as they were all twenty somethings with seemingly healthy appetites for alcohol. I went third. My performance was decent, probably a B performance. Some new stuff worked, some didn't. I think I have realized that there is a large correlation (and some causation, probably in both directions...some sort of differential equation) between how much laughter I cause and how much I enjoy my stage time. Which is good to know. I just need to have fun, and the laughs will come. The rest of the show had its ups and downs, everyone was decent at the worst, which was good.
The one thing I noticed tonight was the community of comics. People knew each other, recognized each other from other shows. They all know what's going on in the business, are aware that it's not the glamour that Comedy Central makes it out to be. But even with a crowd of 15 civilians and 10 comedians, there is plenty of fun to be had. So tonight was not quite that feeling of elation, but definitely one of that confident, content smile. Except for the traffic circles. I still hate them.
First, I really hate traffic circles. And not the New Jersey kinds, which have 3 highways clearly marked with no traffic lights. I'm talking about the DC kind, which have 7 streets coming in, an inside and an outside, poorly market streets, pedestrians all over the place. Whoever thought these were a good idea was wrong. Or designing for horse-drawn carriages. So after a few wrong turns I found my way there, arriving a tad late. I was worried about getting there on time, but when I got there at about 8:35 (for a supposedly 8:40 show), it was myself, the host, and 2 comics. He said we should go stand outside and encourage people to come inside. We made a half-hearted attempt, but it was difficult to convince people on the way home from CVS to just stop in for a two hour comedy show.
Eventually, a large number of people showed up to see Charlie, a comedian who was going for the first time. They became most of the audience, which was fine, as they were all twenty somethings with seemingly healthy appetites for alcohol. I went third. My performance was decent, probably a B performance. Some new stuff worked, some didn't. I think I have realized that there is a large correlation (and some causation, probably in both directions...some sort of differential equation) between how much laughter I cause and how much I enjoy my stage time. Which is good to know. I just need to have fun, and the laughs will come. The rest of the show had its ups and downs, everyone was decent at the worst, which was good.
The one thing I noticed tonight was the community of comics. People knew each other, recognized each other from other shows. They all know what's going on in the business, are aware that it's not the glamour that Comedy Central makes it out to be. But even with a crowd of 15 civilians and 10 comedians, there is plenty of fun to be had. So tonight was not quite that feeling of elation, but definitely one of that confident, content smile. Except for the traffic circles. I still hate them.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Touristing
I was a bit of a tourist today. After TPIR and Frosted Mini-Wheats, I wrote the earlier blog post. How meta, I'm blogging about my blogging. But still, I like what I said in that post, and hopefully I'll have some direction. Or something. Then Sam and I went to the American History Museum. We walked, a hefty 45 minute, 2.5 mile walk. Hadn't done that in a while. The museum was nice, we saw different things. Everything was arranged as a time-line of sorts, which was nifty. We saw the original ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz. Also the portrait of Stephen Colbert. Then we walked home where I finished my leftovers and hung out with people in the evening.
No responses from the four comedy related e-mails I sent yesterday, which is annoying. I just want to patronize their event, why won't they e-mail me? So I'm performing tomorrow, and then starting next week I'm just going to go to these things and see what is going on. And tomorrow I'll actually have to prepare for my show.
No responses from the four comedy related e-mails I sent yesterday, which is annoying. I just want to patronize their event, why won't they e-mail me? So I'm performing tomorrow, and then starting next week I'm just going to go to these things and see what is going on. And tomorrow I'll actually have to prepare for my show.
Inspiration
A blog post not at night or not about a performance? What the deuce? That's right loyal readers, I felt...inspired...so I'm going to write now.
When I tell people what I'm working on, I am often asked who my favorite comedians are and who I try to model myself after. Although one might expect the answer to be the same, the second group is actually a proper subset of the former. There are plenty of comedians I find funny that I could never be like. Mitch Hedberg comes to mind. His persona is a withdrawn, shy character, probably aided by his immense drug use and paranoia (am I making that up? I don't think so). He apparently did some shows with his eyes closed because of his stage fright. Another one is Demetri Martin, who gives a very unemotional, one-liner delivery. These comedians are both very funny, but their comedy is different then mine. Funny, but different.
After watching some of Comedy Central's stand up marathon this weekend, I think I've found the comedians whose style and delivery I am most similar to. Although I wish I could say I'm as funny as them, I am not, but I see the similarity in who I want to be comically and who they are.
The first is Nick Swardson. Let me present for discussion this joke, one of my favorite of his (the first part is fine, I'm referring to the milk part):
He's not really making a witty observation that no one has thought of (like this one from Demetri Martin: “The easiest time to add insult to injury is when you’re signing somebody’s cast.”) What Nick does is take a regular situation and just add a tiny bit of ridiculousness to make it funny. Of course he is stronger than his grandmother. That's not funny in and of itself (doesn't that phrase look ridiculous written out? Anyway...), but it has the potential for funny which Nick finds. I like that the situation he creates, while not true, is decently believable. I've listened to a fair number of comedians who try to make real situations funny but just lose the believability (My girlfriend told me to be more assertive. So I punched her in the face. Along those lines. Clearly not true. And not funny. But, I bet that would get a laugh in a lot of places.) Also important in this joke is the characters he creates. Real characters, but slightly exaggerated.
The second I would like to emulate is Brian Regan. He has a similar style, but it is certainly different. I present for discussion this joke (the first part about the books):
First, it's great how people are already laughing before the joke actually happens. Reading a book is not really a joke, strictly. But it's funny because of the slight amount of exaggeration he adds. His reading of the synopsis, also not a joke. Well, at least the first part, when you can certainly believe he is just recounting what is written. He is also echoing sentiments that I think everyone at one point has had. Who writes these books?! I know I've pondered that. He just has a more hilarious take on it that I do.
And what's great about both of these jokes, and these comedians in general? It's all clean material. No swearing, no illicit material. No stupid relationship humor, no ridiculous yelling or shouting (cough Dane Cook cough). It's just funny because it's applicable to everyone and everyone can laugh at it. There is not a hint of inappropriateness.
So, there you go. That's who I want to be like. And so I shall try...
When I tell people what I'm working on, I am often asked who my favorite comedians are and who I try to model myself after. Although one might expect the answer to be the same, the second group is actually a proper subset of the former. There are plenty of comedians I find funny that I could never be like. Mitch Hedberg comes to mind. His persona is a withdrawn, shy character, probably aided by his immense drug use and paranoia (am I making that up? I don't think so). He apparently did some shows with his eyes closed because of his stage fright. Another one is Demetri Martin, who gives a very unemotional, one-liner delivery. These comedians are both very funny, but their comedy is different then mine. Funny, but different.
After watching some of Comedy Central's stand up marathon this weekend, I think I've found the comedians whose style and delivery I am most similar to. Although I wish I could say I'm as funny as them, I am not, but I see the similarity in who I want to be comically and who they are.
The first is Nick Swardson. Let me present for discussion this joke, one of my favorite of his (the first part is fine, I'm referring to the milk part):
| Jokes.com | ||||
| Nick Swardson - Strongest Boy in the World | ||||
| ||||
He's not really making a witty observation that no one has thought of (like this one from Demetri Martin: “The easiest time to add insult to injury is when you’re signing somebody’s cast.”) What Nick does is take a regular situation and just add a tiny bit of ridiculousness to make it funny. Of course he is stronger than his grandmother. That's not funny in and of itself (doesn't that phrase look ridiculous written out? Anyway...), but it has the potential for funny which Nick finds. I like that the situation he creates, while not true, is decently believable. I've listened to a fair number of comedians who try to make real situations funny but just lose the believability (My girlfriend told me to be more assertive. So I punched her in the face. Along those lines. Clearly not true. And not funny. But, I bet that would get a laugh in a lot of places.) Also important in this joke is the characters he creates. Real characters, but slightly exaggerated.
The second I would like to emulate is Brian Regan. He has a similar style, but it is certainly different. I present for discussion this joke (the first part about the books):
| Jokes.com | ||||
| Brian Regan - Baby Books | ||||
| ||||
First, it's great how people are already laughing before the joke actually happens. Reading a book is not really a joke, strictly. But it's funny because of the slight amount of exaggeration he adds. His reading of the synopsis, also not a joke. Well, at least the first part, when you can certainly believe he is just recounting what is written. He is also echoing sentiments that I think everyone at one point has had. Who writes these books?! I know I've pondered that. He just has a more hilarious take on it that I do.
And what's great about both of these jokes, and these comedians in general? It's all clean material. No swearing, no illicit material. No stupid relationship humor, no ridiculous yelling or shouting (cough Dane Cook cough). It's just funny because it's applicable to everyone and everyone can laugh at it. There is not a hint of inappropriateness.
So, there you go. That's who I want to be like. And so I shall try...
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Planning
The usual morning/early afternoon, with TPIR and a nice sandwich for lunch. I've made an executive decision: all roles hitherto played by lettuce in my food related activities will henceforth be taken over by spinach. It is a much more delicious choice. I played some piano in the afternoon, some more complicated passages utilizing both hands. I enjoy it, I can sense myself getting better. I won't be a virtuoso, but I'm definitely progressing. Dinner was leftovers from last night, which were still pretty delicious.
The comedy work I did today was setting up for the rest of the summer. It's a tad meta, I know, but it needs to get done. I finished sending some e-mails that I had not done when I was in New York, inquiring about open-mics and other shows, about scheduling and sign-ups and frequency. I scouted the venues, looking for reviews and how succesful the mikes are, seeing what neighborhoods they were in, things like that. I'm stilling waiting for some responses, but it looks like, starting next week, I should be performing (in some way...some open-mics hardly count...) every other Monday, every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, every other Friday, and variably on Saturday. That'll average to about 4 performances a week, which I think is reasonable but not ridiculous. Hopefully if I set them ahead of time, either officially or not, I'll force myself to go even when watching the Phillies is a more immediately appealing option.
Tomorrow I'll prepare for my show on Friday.
The comedy work I did today was setting up for the rest of the summer. It's a tad meta, I know, but it needs to get done. I finished sending some e-mails that I had not done when I was in New York, inquiring about open-mics and other shows, about scheduling and sign-ups and frequency. I scouted the venues, looking for reviews and how succesful the mikes are, seeing what neighborhoods they were in, things like that. I'm stilling waiting for some responses, but it looks like, starting next week, I should be performing (in some way...some open-mics hardly count...) every other Monday, every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, every other Friday, and variably on Saturday. That'll average to about 4 performances a week, which I think is reasonable but not ridiculous. Hopefully if I set them ahead of time, either officially or not, I'll force myself to go even when watching the Phillies is a more immediately appealing option.
Tomorrow I'll prepare for my show on Friday.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Testing
This morning was off to a good start as I watched the highlights of the Phillies beating the Reds 22-1. Then it quickly soured when TPIR was replaced by a soap opera. Grumble. In the afternoon I lounged for a bit. Then I worked on my act a bit, writing and practicing. I also scanned the internet for some clips. I'm still shocked by how much the audience matters. I just did not find them funny. But I guess if others were laughing. I also feel like I am trying not to find them funny since the less funny they are the easier my task is. So, that might also be helping.
On the advice of the teacher at my school, I decided to get out tonight and perform as often as possible. So I went to the open-mic that I checked out a few weeks ago. Though I'll count it as a performance for my counting, it's not really something to come to. It's ridiculously low-key, so I'll use it to try out my new stuff. Even though most of my stuff is new, this is my really new stuff.
I got there a bit early - the place was less than packed. It started about half an hour late, which based on last time seems to be the norm as people trickle in. I get the feeling that the summer is slow for comedy. People are away, it's nice and light out later, people are content just hanging around. So yeah, not that many people there tonight. In the end I guess like 7 comedians and 5 non comedians. But that is the vibe I get from all open mics in general. It's just what everyone starting has to do.
My actual performance time went okay. I did all new stuff, but it's hard to get a sense of what works when only about 4 people are actively listening. So, yeah. But I did learn some things. Like that I should act as though there are 100 people there. If I don't I'll get in the habit of performing like it's in the corner of a room with four people. I also learned to memorize much more of my set. I definitely relied too much on my notes. I chatted with the emcee after the show, and he echoed my thoughts. He said that I should slow down and get off the notes, which I agree with. I also need to just be more confident, or at least come across as such. It's much easier to be confident and funny then not, even though some people pull off the withdrawn style. But I don't think that's what I should be aiming for, so I just need to get in the right mentality. He seemed positive about my stuff. I like how my jokes are coherent and tell a story. They are not random silly musings that end with "Shut up! I'll beat my kids if I want." Or something clearly inane like that. So, all in all, a decent night.
On the advice of the teacher at my school, I decided to get out tonight and perform as often as possible. So I went to the open-mic that I checked out a few weeks ago. Though I'll count it as a performance for my counting, it's not really something to come to. It's ridiculously low-key, so I'll use it to try out my new stuff. Even though most of my stuff is new, this is my really new stuff.
I got there a bit early - the place was less than packed. It started about half an hour late, which based on last time seems to be the norm as people trickle in. I get the feeling that the summer is slow for comedy. People are away, it's nice and light out later, people are content just hanging around. So yeah, not that many people there tonight. In the end I guess like 7 comedians and 5 non comedians. But that is the vibe I get from all open mics in general. It's just what everyone starting has to do.
My actual performance time went okay. I did all new stuff, but it's hard to get a sense of what works when only about 4 people are actively listening. So, yeah. But I did learn some things. Like that I should act as though there are 100 people there. If I don't I'll get in the habit of performing like it's in the corner of a room with four people. I also learned to memorize much more of my set. I definitely relied too much on my notes. I chatted with the emcee after the show, and he echoed my thoughts. He said that I should slow down and get off the notes, which I agree with. I also need to just be more confident, or at least come across as such. It's much easier to be confident and funny then not, even though some people pull off the withdrawn style. But I don't think that's what I should be aiming for, so I just need to get in the right mentality. He seemed positive about my stuff. I like how my jokes are coherent and tell a story. They are not random silly musings that end with "Shut up! I'll beat my kids if I want." Or something clearly inane like that. So, all in all, a decent night.
Performance the Fifth
My fifth performance will be this Friday. The info, in case anyone wants to come along:
Uptown Tavern
3433 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008
8:30-10:30, I'll be doing about 6 minutes.
Uptown Tavern
3433 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008
8:30-10:30, I'll be doing about 6 minutes.
Performance the Fourth
I had my fourth performance tonight at an open-mic in Arlington. I'll discuss it in detail in tonight's post. Again, mostly for my own devices.
Performance the Third
This is mostly for my own bookkeeping.
But I forgot to add that my third performance was the one with my comedy class at Gotham!
(well, I added this a while ago...whatever)
But I forgot to add that my third performance was the one with my comedy class at Gotham!
(well, I added this a while ago...whatever)
Monday, July 6, 2009
Commencing
Today I began my productivity. In the morning I finished Zelda! Take that Ganandorf! But now I cannot waste my time with that, which is good. I watched TPIR and other various TV while I ate lunch and did my laundry. For dinner I finished some chili that had lasted a few dinners. Then we hung out, watched jeopardy, watched Bill finally drive his moped.
Comedy wise, I finally began to do things. I sent some e-mails following up to my class and also a few regarding future gigs. I have one lined up for this Friday, I just have to confirm it. I spent a nice chunk of time writing. Nothing terribly refined, just throwing some ideas out there. I feel like I am easily distracted, especially since each unit of comedy is so small. It's not like I can write a whole paragrpah at a time. Maybe a sentence or two. Then I need to think of something quickly or my mind/internet wanders. But then I'll think of something and snap back. So I just need to minimize the in between time to be more productive. But really, if I can maintian my rate of productivity for 4-5 hours a day (which is about what I did), I think that would be decent. I should not be worried about the rate, I just need to make sure I'm working for that long. And that work is actually work, not pretending to work.
Comedy wise, I finally began to do things. I sent some e-mails following up to my class and also a few regarding future gigs. I have one lined up for this Friday, I just have to confirm it. I spent a nice chunk of time writing. Nothing terribly refined, just throwing some ideas out there. I feel like I am easily distracted, especially since each unit of comedy is so small. It's not like I can write a whole paragrpah at a time. Maybe a sentence or two. Then I need to think of something quickly or my mind/internet wanders. But then I'll think of something and snap back. So I just need to minimize the in between time to be more productive. But really, if I can maintian my rate of productivity for 4-5 hours a day (which is about what I did), I think that would be decent. I should not be worried about the rate, I just need to make sure I'm working for that long. And that work is actually work, not pretending to work.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Ending
...my terrific streak of unproductive days, that is! So this will hopefully be the last non-comedy post for a while...
Today started with watching some ridiculous tennis. It was pretty crazy, as everyone in the house awoke we gathered around the TV for some pretty epic tennis. In the afternoon we made a house trip to the Rhode Island/Brentwood shopping center where we got more propane for the grill and other people did accessory chores. In the afternoon we watched Idle Hands, which was a comedy/horror movie that was fairly self-mocking. It was not great cinema, but entertaining enough. We barbecued some leftovers for dinner, and with the grill working and a less hectic environment, it was much better. Then we just hung out during the evening.
So tomorrow I will beat Ocarina of Time, watch Price is Right, and then in the afternoon I'll do some writing. I already have some ideas that I'd like to hash out. Woo.
Today started with watching some ridiculous tennis. It was pretty crazy, as everyone in the house awoke we gathered around the TV for some pretty epic tennis. In the afternoon we made a house trip to the Rhode Island/Brentwood shopping center where we got more propane for the grill and other people did accessory chores. In the afternoon we watched Idle Hands, which was a comedy/horror movie that was fairly self-mocking. It was not great cinema, but entertaining enough. We barbecued some leftovers for dinner, and with the grill working and a less hectic environment, it was much better. Then we just hung out during the evening.
So tomorrow I will beat Ocarina of Time, watch Price is Right, and then in the afternoon I'll do some writing. I already have some ideas that I'd like to hash out. Woo.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Celebrating
...because it is July 4th! Still no comedy. Watched Wimbledon in the morning, then played a lot of Zelda. I found (with a guide...) all 100 Skulltula tokens. I'm almost complete in my quest, which will probably reach its triumphant conclusion tomorrow. Sweet. Then we all just hung out during the day until it was time to prepare for our cookout. The cookout was off to a slow start as the propane grill would not light, but then we utilized the little charcoal grill and the range and things progressed nicely. A solid menu - hamburgers, hot dogs, corn, baked beans, potato salad. Then we walked to the capitol area to watch the fireworks. They were good, but I think I have seen better. Now we're just hanging out, celebrating our wonderful country with Fla-Vor-Ice. Fantastic.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Watching
This serves two meanings! First, the answer (question? ha.) to last night's WOF clue was Jeopardy! Host Alex Trebek. The exclamation point really gave it away.
The first watching refers to some that I did today of stand-up comedians. Comedy Central has a whole weekend of stand-up, so I watched some. It strikes me more and more that the atmosphere is so important to get people laughing. D.L. Hughley was poorly making fun of people in the front row, and everyone was laughing. It was just not too funny. I like how I can call watching TV research. But it is helpful to see how people do well (or poorly...or somewhere in between).
As stated before, no other comedy today but for jotting down some ideas. But if each of them becomes a joke, that would be solid. I played a lot of Zelda and watched a lot of mediocre television. I ate fairly well though, so that was solid.
To fill the comedy void, I will at last respond to a request for video. I did not want to post this until after my Gotham show since I used some of the same material. But this was taken from my very first show. I see now that I have definitely improved since then, which is good. But for those of you who haven't been able to see me, this is a taste. Be warned, it is probably rated PG-13, so keep away from impressionable children (my freakin' ears!). Enjoy your turn to watch!
The first watching refers to some that I did today of stand-up comedians. Comedy Central has a whole weekend of stand-up, so I watched some. It strikes me more and more that the atmosphere is so important to get people laughing. D.L. Hughley was poorly making fun of people in the front row, and everyone was laughing. It was just not too funny. I like how I can call watching TV research. But it is helpful to see how people do well (or poorly...or somewhere in between).
As stated before, no other comedy today but for jotting down some ideas. But if each of them becomes a joke, that would be solid. I played a lot of Zelda and watched a lot of mediocre television. I ate fairly well though, so that was solid.
To fill the comedy void, I will at last respond to a request for video. I did not want to post this until after my Gotham show since I used some of the same material. But this was taken from my very first show. I see now that I have definitely improved since then, which is good. But for those of you who haven't been able to see me, this is a taste. Be warned, it is probably rated PG-13, so keep away from impressionable children (my freakin' ears!). Enjoy your turn to watch!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Lazing
Another day of no comedy. And most likely this weekend will be pretty non-comedy full, since people will be around and there will be 4th of July celebrations. So I'm pretty much taking this weekend to do administrative things/laundry/enjoy DC, then right to work on Monday.
In other news, I beat the Spirit Temple today. Now to complete the side quests before my final battle. Played some piano, I was a bit rusty. Went grocery shopping, got food probably for 3-ish weeks. The deal of the day: 10 for $10 on Cedar's hummus, normally $4 a pack. Nice. And Triscuits were on sale. Perfect.
Hung out in the evening. The biggest news: I added one more to the "Wheel of Fortune puzzles I've gotten with no letters" category. Here it is:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ !
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
Category: Person
Yeah, I'm pretty good. I'll reveal the answer in my next post.
OK, that is all. I swear I'll work hard soon.
In other news, I beat the Spirit Temple today. Now to complete the side quests before my final battle. Played some piano, I was a bit rusty. Went grocery shopping, got food probably for 3-ish weeks. The deal of the day: 10 for $10 on Cedar's hummus, normally $4 a pack. Nice. And Triscuits were on sale. Perfect.
Hung out in the evening. The biggest news: I added one more to the "Wheel of Fortune puzzles I've gotten with no letters" category. Here it is:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ !
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
Category: Person
Yeah, I'm pretty good. I'll reveal the answer in my next post.
OK, that is all. I swear I'll work hard soon.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Restarting
As I mentioned in the previous blog post, today marked the beginning of the entirely solo phase of my summer. So in a sense I'm restarting my summer.
No comedy today. Drove back to DC today, it took just over 3 hours. Then just hung out here, unpacked, cleaned a bit, greeted all of my housemates. Nothing terribly exciting, but it's good to be be back. Tomorrow I have to go restock my food supplies, do some follow-up things for my course, and start figuring out the rest of my plans.
In other news, why are simple tasks difficult? We ordered 3 P'Zones aka calzones from Pizza Hut (now known as The Hut.) We receive a pizza and a calzone. They then take another hour to bring us our other two. Just read my order. And deliver it to me. Grumble. But we did get to keep the mis-delivered pizza. So that was good. Life goes on.
No comedy today. Drove back to DC today, it took just over 3 hours. Then just hung out here, unpacked, cleaned a bit, greeted all of my housemates. Nothing terribly exciting, but it's good to be be back. Tomorrow I have to go restock my food supplies, do some follow-up things for my course, and start figuring out the rest of my plans.
In other news, why are simple tasks difficult? We ordered 3 P'Zones aka calzones from Pizza Hut (now known as The Hut.) We receive a pizza and a calzone. They then take another hour to bring us our other two. Just read my order. And deliver it to me. Grumble. But we did get to keep the mis-delivered pizza. So that was good. Life goes on.
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