This is it. My final blog post of the summer. For full effect, you can listen to these songs while you read the post. Here and here.
That's better. This morning I awoke and hung out for the last time downstairs. At around 11 we started the final clean-up and packing effort. It culminated with the baking of cookies (from a mix...) to welcome the guys back. We headed out around 12:30 and had an uneventful ride home, though there was a touch of traffic. We also listened to Rush Limbaugh ironically. Nice. And then, upon my arrival home, my Dale summer was over.
Overall, I think I am pleased with the comedy aspect of my summer. The comedy class, though not as great as the reviews made it out to be, was certainly a nice way to jump-start my comedy career. The performance, however, definitely spoiled me. Even a show at school might not be for that many people, even at its most successful. So in DC I did 24 performances in the about eight weeks after my class, which works out to about three performances a week. But I was definitely too skittish in the beginning, I should have just dived in at the beginning. But once I got into my groove, I was out four to five nights a week, which is about what I anticipated.
I don't think I realized how much of a constraint performing would be to writing. I definitely could have written more material, but then it would have just sat on my computer. Either that, or I would have been tempted to do new material each night and would have never worked on my old stuff. So I definitely thought I would be spending more time writing than I actually was. Maybe that's the benefit of writing sketches or things like that. But then you have to film them. So, it's tough. In retrospect, I wish I had taken some sort of random job at a comedy club in town. Even just calling people to remind them of reservations. I certainly had the time, and I could have made connections and even filled in for a comedian who was stuck in traffic. And then Seinfeld's agent would have seen me. And then I would have made it big. When I realized I had more free time than expected it was already too late. Oh well.
I definitely think that DC was the right place for me. I don't know about the NYC scene, but I can't imagine it would have been nearly as easy to get stage time. I never had to get places super early to sign up, I never had to bring people with me. It was also nice to have the same comedians on the circuit so I could at least form a marginal relationship with them. It was really a core group of 10-15 comics, and they all knew each other, they were all friends. Perhaps I'll hunt some of these guys down on facebook and keep marginally in touch. And make them give me an internship at their government contractors next summer.
So where do I go from here? Back to school. Where there will almost certainly be a stand-up club. I'm not sure exactly how I want it to function, but I want it to exist. I want to get a stand-up culture on campus for people who would not have pursued it otherwise. I want there to at least one or two shows a year where everyone makes their friends come and we perform for a large number of people. I want to keep getting better. As for further down the road, I don't want comedy to dictate what I do next summer. But I will certainly give it some weight if I'm deciding between jobs/internships in NYC and DC. When the time comes, I'll see how much it actually factors in.
So that's it. I am home for two more weeks, just hanging out, seeing family and whoever hasn't already left for college. I am glad to have found something that I can continue indefinitely and that I can bring back to school with me. And I'm glad it is something with basically only one goal: to make others laugh. What could be better?
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Packing
Today was basically a day of preparing to leave. After TPIR, we spent the afternoon cleaning and getting the house in presentable shape. We cleaned the whole kitchen and the bathrooms and had to deal with a lot of random items no one lad claim to. We got it done though, so all we have to do tomorrow is a final vacuum and a final counter wipe down, then load the car and go. Other than that, as detailed in the other post, no show tonight, but I'm OK with that.
Tomorrow, when my summer experience is truly over, I'll discuss the comedy side. Tonight, I'll discuss the non-comedy things. First, the five non-comedic goals I set.
Explore DC - Not fantastic, but decent. I hit most of the things on the mall and did the Capitol Building thing. So I accomplished what most people in a week's vacation. I didn't see any of the food/nightlife/etc, but I was not particularly interested in that.
Learn basic piano skills- I think this went well. I got through the lesson book I have and can play pretty much all of the songs in it. I can play most songs with a simple right hand melody and left hand chords. If it's more complicated, I can take some time and get close, especially if the key is easy.
Beat Ocarina of Time - I did this as well as Majora's Mask. Nice.
Arrange a song for PUB - This just did not happen. One of these days...
Blog about my summer - This went well. I blogged about every day and only missed blogging one night. I don't know exactly how large my readership is, but it's greater than zero, so that's something.
Overall, I am happy with my non-comedy summer. The housing itself was perfectly adequate. I only wish I realized that a fifteen minute walk to the metro was much longer than it looked on Google maps. I would have preferred less ants and bugs, but other than that, it was exactly what I needed. The company was nice too, a nice cast of characters. But all really nice guys, hopefully our paths will cross again. I ate well, cooking for myself, ordering in maybe four times and eating out maybe six or seven. Four of five goals seems pretty good too.
Hope to be out no later than one tomorrow, trekking through the storms on the way home.
Tomorrow, when my summer experience is truly over, I'll discuss the comedy side. Tonight, I'll discuss the non-comedy things. First, the five non-comedic goals I set.
Explore DC - Not fantastic, but decent. I hit most of the things on the mall and did the Capitol Building thing. So I accomplished what most people in a week's vacation. I didn't see any of the food/nightlife/etc, but I was not particularly interested in that.
Learn basic piano skills- I think this went well. I got through the lesson book I have and can play pretty much all of the songs in it. I can play most songs with a simple right hand melody and left hand chords. If it's more complicated, I can take some time and get close, especially if the key is easy.
Beat Ocarina of Time - I did this as well as Majora's Mask. Nice.
Arrange a song for PUB - This just did not happen. One of these days...
Blog about my summer - This went well. I blogged about every day and only missed blogging one night. I don't know exactly how large my readership is, but it's greater than zero, so that's something.
Overall, I am happy with my non-comedy summer. The housing itself was perfectly adequate. I only wish I realized that a fifteen minute walk to the metro was much longer than it looked on Google maps. I would have preferred less ants and bugs, but other than that, it was exactly what I needed. The company was nice too, a nice cast of characters. But all really nice guys, hopefully our paths will cross again. I ate well, cooking for myself, ordering in maybe four times and eating out maybe six or seven. Four of five goals seems pretty good too.
Hope to be out no later than one tomorrow, trekking through the storms on the way home.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Performance the Twenty-Sixth?
Was, unfortunately, not tonight. A month ago I e-mailed the host to get on the show, saying that I was 95% sure I'd be in town, to put me on, and I'd let him know for sure later. I realized yesterday that I had not received a pre-show e-mail, so I contacted him. He responded saying he never heard from me and figured I had already left town and that the show was full, so he'd e-mail if he heard from someone who could not make it. There was no such e-mail. I think that I'm like 60-40 in the right, since if he assumed I was out of town, why not just e-mail, and I'm pretty sure I originally made it seem like I was coming. Then again, I should have followed through with my original e-mail. So just a misunderstanding. It was...understandable?
But, that's OK. I think last night was a much more appropriate final performance. I even had a final thank-you speech, at which point the movie could freeze frame and roll credits. And I'm not grumbling because the misunderstanding was reasonable on both ends.
So, the question is now, where and when will performance the twenty-sixth be? I'm not quite sure yet, but hopefully it will be soon and somewhere on Princeton's campus. Maybe Whitman Theater, or one of the black-boxes? We shall see. But I am pleased to say that it is indeed in sight.
But, that's OK. I think last night was a much more appropriate final performance. I even had a final thank-you speech, at which point the movie could freeze frame and roll credits. And I'm not grumbling because the misunderstanding was reasonable on both ends.
So, the question is now, where and when will performance the twenty-sixth be? I'm not quite sure yet, but hopefully it will be soon and somewhere on Princeton's campus. Maybe Whitman Theater, or one of the black-boxes? We shall see. But I am pleased to say that it is indeed in sight.
Thanking
Another unexciting morning. The usual TPIR and such. Kabeer was home today, so we just hung out in the afternoon. We made a trek to McDonald's where Kabeer got the new Angus 1/3 pounder. I took enough money for an item on the dollar menu and ended up getting a sweet tea. It tasted like iced tea with an extra helping of corn syrup. Not too delicious. The I picked my things for tonight, ate some leftovers, and headed out for my final Comedy Spot show.
Tonight went decently. It was not terribly crowded, so the show was moving along. There were some regulars who weren't there. I went towards the end, but not that far along so there was still a decent crowd. My set went decently, definitely some things worth keeping. Whatever that means at this point. At the end of my time I thanked people and shared a minute summary of my comedic time this summer. They seemed appreciative and entertained, as I feel like I had the same experience the first two months as everyone else had.
The other comics were okay. Noteworthy was that there were two other young male comedians. One was very nervous and awkward and not funny. I think it was his first time. Hopefully he'll stick with it. He reminds me of me when I was a young comedian. Another had apparently been on the scene before but was away from the summer. He came back and was off his game, but seemed like he was normally funny. So, although I had the under 20 male spot locked up this summer, there were others on the scene.
Tomorrow is a day of cleaning and packing. Then hopefully my final show, provided the host returns my e-mail. We shall see.
Tonight went decently. It was not terribly crowded, so the show was moving along. There were some regulars who weren't there. I went towards the end, but not that far along so there was still a decent crowd. My set went decently, definitely some things worth keeping. Whatever that means at this point. At the end of my time I thanked people and shared a minute summary of my comedic time this summer. They seemed appreciative and entertained, as I feel like I had the same experience the first two months as everyone else had.
The other comics were okay. Noteworthy was that there were two other young male comedians. One was very nervous and awkward and not funny. I think it was his first time. Hopefully he'll stick with it. He reminds me of me when I was a young comedian. Another had apparently been on the scene before but was away from the summer. He came back and was off his game, but seemed like he was normally funny. So, although I had the under 20 male spot locked up this summer, there were others on the scene.
Tomorrow is a day of cleaning and packing. Then hopefully my final show, provided the host returns my e-mail. We shall see.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Performance the Twenty-fifth
Tonight, Comedy Spot. My sixth and final performance at this lovely venue. This is where the largest faction of comedians I know hang out, so hopefully I leave them wanting more.
Joking
Pretty uneventful day. The attempts to clear out the fridge and pantry continue. As does watching TPIR. Other than that, not much to report during the day. I worked on my stuff a bit, rewrote some things, changed some things around. I have a fair amount of material that right now is at a pretty good place, it needs some practice before I make any major changes. Unfortunately, I have only two more shows, so I don't know what will become of those jokes. For dinner we threw some things on the grill, tasted good, some leftovers for tomorrow.
I headed out for my final gig at Listrani's. It was a strange night. It was mostly comedians, most of whom I'd never seen before. Two audience members wandered in to see one of their friends, but that was about in. No one was particularly good, but they all seemed to be doing it for their first or second time. My set was pretty good. People were laughing at most of it, I felt pretty at ease. I talked to some of the audience/comedians after the show and they seemed pretty positive. It seemed pretty genuine, which was nice. I thanked the one guy who had been hosting most of the time since I had been going.
Two more days, two more shows, then I'm shipping out. Hopefully the next two days and shows will be solid.
I headed out for my final gig at Listrani's. It was a strange night. It was mostly comedians, most of whom I'd never seen before. Two audience members wandered in to see one of their friends, but that was about in. No one was particularly good, but they all seemed to be doing it for their first or second time. My set was pretty good. People were laughing at most of it, I felt pretty at ease. I talked to some of the audience/comedians after the show and they seemed pretty positive. It seemed pretty genuine, which was nice. I thanked the one guy who had been hosting most of the time since I had been going.
Two more days, two more shows, then I'm shipping out. Hopefully the next two days and shows will be solid.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Performance the Twenty-fourth
Tonight, again at Listrani's. My final of eight performances here. This is where I saw my first open-mic. Not too much ridiculousness last night, hopefully there will be more tonight? Maybe. Also, I think Kabeer and Sam are coming, so we'll see what they think.
Edit: No Sam and Kabeer. Just me, flying solo.
Edit: No Sam and Kabeer. Just me, flying solo.
Regimenting
Today was a pretty typical day. Up around the usual time, hung out and TPIR in the morning. In the afternoon I sent some e-mails and updated my resume, which was strangely amusing. I also got an e-mail from the Maury show asking to be in the audience. Which is funny, both because I have some Maury jokes and because they just found my e-mail address on the band website. Then I wrote some jokes, mostly reworking of the things from yesterday, but a few new ones. Nothing spectacular, but I think it went well.
After watching the usual sports talk shows yak about Brett Favre (grumble), I made some chili. I successfully finished the ground beef, the tomatoes, my onions, and my beans. A nice kinda toss everything in the pan. I made a lot, but the house-mates ate some and I'll have some tomorrow. Then, after a quick storm passed through, I left for my gig.
Tonight's show was just another day at the audience. The show had about seven comedians, which was a nice size, the whole show ran about 80 minutes. I went second to last, but that was not terribly late, so it was fine. I thought most of my stuff went well, and I got a decent sense of what worked. It's funny how some things I thought would be hilarious do poorly and other off the cuff remarks do well. Such is the art form. But I've definitely gotten more comfortable. I was talking to a new guy who said he liked to go first, otherwise he would just be anxious as the others went. I feel like I used to be like that, just worrying about my stuff, going over it in my head. But that is the case no longer. I can just listen and then get into joke-telling mode when it is my turn to go. Also of note, a very loud table of guys up front, who kept calling out things in very heavy accents. Why do people feel the need to talk? And if you're going to talk, don't sit in the front. Grumble.
Today was my last day alone in the house. Sam has off tomorrow, Kabeer on Thursday, and both on Friday. So the average day in the house, to some extent, is over. But it's not that different when people are home. My final week presses onward.
After watching the usual sports talk shows yak about Brett Favre (grumble), I made some chili. I successfully finished the ground beef, the tomatoes, my onions, and my beans. A nice kinda toss everything in the pan. I made a lot, but the house-mates ate some and I'll have some tomorrow. Then, after a quick storm passed through, I left for my gig.
Tonight's show was just another day at the audience. The show had about seven comedians, which was a nice size, the whole show ran about 80 minutes. I went second to last, but that was not terribly late, so it was fine. I thought most of my stuff went well, and I got a decent sense of what worked. It's funny how some things I thought would be hilarious do poorly and other off the cuff remarks do well. Such is the art form. But I've definitely gotten more comfortable. I was talking to a new guy who said he liked to go first, otherwise he would just be anxious as the others went. I feel like I used to be like that, just worrying about my stuff, going over it in my head. But that is the case no longer. I can just listen and then get into joke-telling mode when it is my turn to go. Also of note, a very loud table of guys up front, who kept calling out things in very heavy accents. Why do people feel the need to talk? And if you're going to talk, don't sit in the front. Grumble.
Today was my last day alone in the house. Sam has off tomorrow, Kabeer on Thursday, and both on Friday. So the average day in the house, to some extent, is over. But it's not that different when people are home. My final week presses onward.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Performance the Twenty-third
Tonight, Listrani's. Let's see what hijinks our favorite comedian will be up to tonight. And as shady as this place is, I think I will end up doing eight sets there, the most of any place. So, there is some connection. If I ever make it to stardom, I think I will return there and just walk in and do some time. Someday, someday...
Talking
Oh no! I fell asleep watching TV and in my tired state forgot to blog. So a few hours late, but here we go.
I slept in a little more than usual. Nice. Then watched TPIR, as usual. In an effort to clear out the fridge and freezer I made a meatloaf. It was delicious. I decided that today I was going to write new material. So I just wandered around on the first floor talking to myself. It was more productive than sitting down to write. I'm glad no one else was home though, that would have been a little strange. So I just jotted down what I had been saying and then picked some things to make jokes out of. Then I made the jokes out of them and made a set out of them.
Although you're never supposed to do all new stuff, I did it anyway. Tonight's show was fairly mundane. Some of my things did well, others did not. I'll take another look at them and see what's worth keeping, what's worth changing, and what's worth ditching. I definitely felt comfortable tonight, though, which is good. It's becoming less and less of a performance and more and more of a friendly chat. Or at least that's how it feels. Nothing unusual from the other comedians tonight.
So, the last week. Not much out of the ordinary this week. I'll be performing every night this week, probably. Tuesday and Wednesday at the shady restaurant in Arlington, Thursday at the Comedy Spot, and Friday in Cleveland Park. Friday during the day will be a clean the house day, then I'm shipping out sometime midday on Saturday.
I slept in a little more than usual. Nice. Then watched TPIR, as usual. In an effort to clear out the fridge and freezer I made a meatloaf. It was delicious. I decided that today I was going to write new material. So I just wandered around on the first floor talking to myself. It was more productive than sitting down to write. I'm glad no one else was home though, that would have been a little strange. So I just jotted down what I had been saying and then picked some things to make jokes out of. Then I made the jokes out of them and made a set out of them.
Although you're never supposed to do all new stuff, I did it anyway. Tonight's show was fairly mundane. Some of my things did well, others did not. I'll take another look at them and see what's worth keeping, what's worth changing, and what's worth ditching. I definitely felt comfortable tonight, though, which is good. It's becoming less and less of a performance and more and more of a friendly chat. Or at least that's how it feels. Nothing unusual from the other comedians tonight.
So, the last week. Not much out of the ordinary this week. I'll be performing every night this week, probably. Tuesday and Wednesday at the shady restaurant in Arlington, Thursday at the Comedy Spot, and Friday in Cleveland Park. Friday during the day will be a clean the house day, then I'm shipping out sometime midday on Saturday.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Performance the Twenty-second
Tonight, 11th Street Lounge in Clarendon/Arlington. My last gig here. I will bid it a tearful goodbye in slow motion.
Brunching
My dad came by this morning. After a brief tour of the house, we went to the Lincoln Memorial and then the Vietnam Memorial nearby. I guess it was worth checking out, just to see, but I've never been terribly fascinated by monuments. But it was an experience. Then we made our way to the Blue Duck Tavern for brunch. Boy, was it delicious. I had short rib hash topped a poached egg and horseradish sauce. Mmm. And other delicious things were consumed, overall pretty delicious.
After being dropped off, I spent the rest of the day doing very little. Hanging out, watching Tiger Woods blow it, raiding the fridge for dinner. Not much going on. We watched more Little League. Some of the kids are ridiculous, both in talent and in size. So that's amusing.
Looking ahead, I have one week left, then I'm leaving on Saturday. I hope to get out every night this week, which should be good. I feel like it's a bit strange just because I have no real goal at this point. I guess to be funny, but should I be working on old stuff or trying new things? Should I try some things I haven't done, like crowd work or winging it or things? I'm not exactly sure. Maybe I'll just do whatever I'll enjoy the most. We shall see.
After being dropped off, I spent the rest of the day doing very little. Hanging out, watching Tiger Woods blow it, raiding the fridge for dinner. Not much going on. We watched more Little League. Some of the kids are ridiculous, both in talent and in size. So that's amusing.
Looking ahead, I have one week left, then I'm leaving on Saturday. I hope to get out every night this week, which should be good. I feel like it's a bit strange just because I have no real goal at this point. I guess to be funny, but should I be working on old stuff or trying new things? Should I try some things I haven't done, like crowd work or winging it or things? I'm not exactly sure. Maybe I'll just do whatever I'll enjoy the most. We shall see.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Performance the Twenty-first
It was tonight! Hooray fairly useless information. It was hot there. Really hot, have I mentioned that? Also, I had to look up if the F in first was capitalized. I'm glad I checked.
Sweating
Hmmm. I can't really recall much of what happened during the day. Most of it was uneventful, that's for sure. We did watch of lot of the Little League World Series (well, the regional finals. Not technically the LLWS, but still good). It's always amusing, though it makes me nostalgic for my playing days. Le sigh. I think I also fell asleep at some point. The nap was nice.
In the late afternoon I rehearsed my act a bit, but I had done these jokes all week, so I knew them pretty well. Then I headed out. My Dad came down for weekend, so we had dinner out near the show at a decent Italian restaurant. Then we went to the show. The crowd looked decent to start out with. Then we noticed that the AC was not on. And it started getting hotter. And hotter. And hotter. It was really hot.
I think this worked against me, as after about five comedians, everyone was too hot to laugh. Lucky for me, I was about number ten. And the crowd was not really my demographic, few college-aged people. So, the jokes that had worked well the previous nights did not go over as well. Not terribly, but just not great. A very luke-warm reception. Just not my night, for many reasons. Oh well. After all the comedians went and the show was going on two hours (about 1/2 hour too long, I think), the top three vote getters were finally announced, and I was not among them. I don't know if I was one of the three funniest, but I don't think the top three funniest won. I noticed that two of the people went pretty early, before the heat set in. Really, it was hot. I hate blaming my not superior performance on the situations, but things were working against me. No one got huge laughs tonight, it was just not a mood for laughter. Oh well.
One more week, hopefully I'll be out every night during the week. After I post I'm going to the freezer. I hope the freezer pops are frozen...
In the late afternoon I rehearsed my act a bit, but I had done these jokes all week, so I knew them pretty well. Then I headed out. My Dad came down for weekend, so we had dinner out near the show at a decent Italian restaurant. Then we went to the show. The crowd looked decent to start out with. Then we noticed that the AC was not on. And it started getting hotter. And hotter. And hotter. It was really hot.
I think this worked against me, as after about five comedians, everyone was too hot to laugh. Lucky for me, I was about number ten. And the crowd was not really my demographic, few college-aged people. So, the jokes that had worked well the previous nights did not go over as well. Not terribly, but just not great. A very luke-warm reception. Just not my night, for many reasons. Oh well. After all the comedians went and the show was going on two hours (about 1/2 hour too long, I think), the top three vote getters were finally announced, and I was not among them. I don't know if I was one of the three funniest, but I don't think the top three funniest won. I noticed that two of the people went pretty early, before the heat set in. Really, it was hot. I hate blaming my not superior performance on the situations, but things were working against me. No one got huge laughs tonight, it was just not a mood for laughter. Oh well.
One more week, hopefully I'll be out every night during the week. After I post I'm going to the freezer. I hope the freezer pops are frozen...
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Pausing
Took a little bit of a "break" today from my hectic schedule. So I did almost nothing today, hooray! In the morning I stumbled across Die Hard just as it was starting. It never fails to entertain. I had to sacrifice the first half of TPIR to see the end, but after Die Hard was over I caught the end of TPIR. Then I drove Pat to the Megabus pick-up location on the other side of town. And then there were four.
In the afternoon I moved my things into my final sleeping zone of the summer. This one is possibly the best in the house though, so much like in the comedy world, I'm climbing my way up the ladder. I played some piano, but I fear I am outgrowing the Level 1 books I have. Not that I can sight read them all, but I feel like I could tackle all of them fairly easily, so playing slightly different patterns is not optimal. So I will just play a bit each day and then get the next level books when I get home. I worked on my act for tomorrow for a bit, I think I've picked exactly what I'm going to do. Tomorrow I'll practice and hopefully be without notes for the show.
Not much else happened. I ended up taking someone's futon back to GW for them. Because she came to pick it up from here...in a taxi. Hmm. Oh, and an epilogue to the video I posted the other day. I think this one is actually funnier.
Hopefully next time you read this I'll be a contest winner! We shall see.
In the afternoon I moved my things into my final sleeping zone of the summer. This one is possibly the best in the house though, so much like in the comedy world, I'm climbing my way up the ladder. I played some piano, but I fear I am outgrowing the Level 1 books I have. Not that I can sight read them all, but I feel like I could tackle all of them fairly easily, so playing slightly different patterns is not optimal. So I will just play a bit each day and then get the next level books when I get home. I worked on my act for tomorrow for a bit, I think I've picked exactly what I'm going to do. Tomorrow I'll practice and hopefully be without notes for the show.
Not much else happened. I ended up taking someone's futon back to GW for them. Because she came to pick it up from here...in a taxi. Hmm. Oh, and an epilogue to the video I posted the other day. I think this one is actually funnier.
Hopefully next time you read this I'll be a contest winner! We shall see.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Practicing
A usual morning. A bit of sad news, I finished my FMWs, so I'll be surviving for the next week without them. Watched TPIR, the usual. I played some piano today, then worked on my stuff. I had to trim it down to what I want to use on Saturday. I ended up being a bit over, but I decided to just take that with me to the show and go from there.
After dinner and such I left for the show. There was a lot of traffic, which is strange because I left around 6:45. I also found out that one of the sources to traffic was rubbernecking, which is really annoying. Just drive past, don't look! Gah. So I got there and signed up and talked a little and then waited.
As usual, the show went pretty long and I went near the end. There were a few newish people there who ranged in quality. Then the usual people did their usual things. I finally went up towards the end and I think I did pretty well. Considering there were maybe twelve people in total in the audience, the fact that there was moderately consistent laughter was encouraging. I really like this material and I feel comfortable presenting it. So hopefully the people Saturday night will agree with me and I will be crowned champion of the boat-themed restaurant in College Park, MD, which pretty much means you've made it.
Pat leaves tomorrow which means I'll be yoinking his room, with a big bed an TV. I'll be spending the last week here in style. Nice!
After dinner and such I left for the show. There was a lot of traffic, which is strange because I left around 6:45. I also found out that one of the sources to traffic was rubbernecking, which is really annoying. Just drive past, don't look! Gah. So I got there and signed up and talked a little and then waited.
As usual, the show went pretty long and I went near the end. There were a few newish people there who ranged in quality. Then the usual people did their usual things. I finally went up towards the end and I think I did pretty well. Considering there were maybe twelve people in total in the audience, the fact that there was moderately consistent laughter was encouraging. I really like this material and I feel comfortable presenting it. So hopefully the people Saturday night will agree with me and I will be crowned champion of the boat-themed restaurant in College Park, MD, which pretty much means you've made it.
Pat leaves tomorrow which means I'll be yoinking his room, with a big bed an TV. I'll be spending the last week here in style. Nice!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Performance the Twentieth
Twenty?! That's a lot. Nice. It's my usual Thursday gig at The Comedy Spot at the Ballston Mall. We'll see if the comedians have anything interesting to say tonight. We'll also see if the comedian I advised last night makes the trip.
Performance the Nineteenth
This was last night. I was going to write this post yesterday, but I wanted to be 100% sure before mentioning it. So yep, this was last night. With lots of swearing and ranting.
Reversing
So you know how yesterday was full of grumbling? Today was the opposite. Nice. In the morning I decided to call AAA since I may as well take advantage of my membership. The guy was going to jump it but then tested the battery which was apparently on the verge of dying, so he gave me a new one. He also offered to help me make extra money by burning CDs and DVDs for him. I smiled and nodded, and he forgot to give me his number, so I do not think I have found another business venture.
The day itself was uneventful. Did some errands, wrote some e-mails, watched/slept through a USA soccer loss. After dinner and such, I headed out for my gig, take two. This time the car started and everything! What a luxury.
I arrived around 8:30 and there were only three comedians on the list, non of whom I recognized. That meant our favorite ridiculous, bizarre comic had to host, even though he had to "do radio" in forty minutes. That poor, poor radio station. So, as the host he did about twenty minutes, which isn't that ridiculous with only three comedians. What was ridiculous was how he picked on a woman in the front row and made jokes about how she was in the army (she was) and had PTSD. Really, you're going to joke about that? Really? So after yelling at them to be quiet and escalating his yells to swearing and legitimate anger, he told them he'd pay for their dinner if they'd shut up and leave. So they did. Thanks for losing some of my audience, host!
Anyway, he left to do radio. The other two comedians were decent. I went second and I think did really well. I had pretty much as much time as I wanted, so I tested out maybe 10-12 minutes of material that I'll chop down to 6-7 for tomorrow and Saturday. The crowd, once they got over the original onslaught, was fairly favorable. So I think they gave good information as to what works. I felt really at ease tonight, maybe it's because I knew that no matter how bad I looked, I would be remembered more favorably than others. So woo. I was asked to close the show, which means to get up and say thanks for coming. I think I did a pretty good job.
After the show I talked to one of the comedians who had his first performance tonight. I gave him some advice about shows to do and websites to visit. I'm glad I can pay it forward as others did for me. I also felt super important and established, but hey, I'll pat myself on the back. So a much better day. Nice.
The day itself was uneventful. Did some errands, wrote some e-mails, watched/slept through a USA soccer loss. After dinner and such, I headed out for my gig, take two. This time the car started and everything! What a luxury.
I arrived around 8:30 and there were only three comedians on the list, non of whom I recognized. That meant our favorite ridiculous, bizarre comic had to host, even though he had to "do radio" in forty minutes. That poor, poor radio station. So, as the host he did about twenty minutes, which isn't that ridiculous with only three comedians. What was ridiculous was how he picked on a woman in the front row and made jokes about how she was in the army (she was) and had PTSD. Really, you're going to joke about that? Really? So after yelling at them to be quiet and escalating his yells to swearing and legitimate anger, he told them he'd pay for their dinner if they'd shut up and leave. So they did. Thanks for losing some of my audience, host!
Anyway, he left to do radio. The other two comedians were decent. I went second and I think did really well. I had pretty much as much time as I wanted, so I tested out maybe 10-12 minutes of material that I'll chop down to 6-7 for tomorrow and Saturday. The crowd, once they got over the original onslaught, was fairly favorable. So I think they gave good information as to what works. I felt really at ease tonight, maybe it's because I knew that no matter how bad I looked, I would be remembered more favorably than others. So woo. I was asked to close the show, which means to get up and say thanks for coming. I think I did a pretty good job.
After the show I talked to one of the comedians who had his first performance tonight. I gave him some advice about shows to do and websites to visit. I'm glad I can pay it forward as others did for me. I also felt super important and established, but hey, I'll pat myself on the back. So a much better day. Nice.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Grumbling
A usual morning. TPIR and FMW. My milk apparently went bad, so I had to mooch some other milk, which was whole milk. Man, that stuff is ridiculous. In the afternoon I cooked my eggplant before it went bad. After a bit of errands in the afternoon, I started putting my set together. I was trying to pick my best 6-7 minutes to do for the contest.
It was encouraging to go through and pick all of the things that I think worked. I would say that all of my items under consideration, maybe my B+ stuff and better (that's on my grading scale, not real comedy's....), probably totals to almost 15 minutes. So that's a solid amount to start with. And that's just a look through, I'm sure there are other good jokes I'm missing. But I picked and chose and ended up with what I thought was my best stuff.
After dinner and hanging, I got ready to go. And I got in my car and turned the key. Hmmm, that's odd. Nothing is happening. Upon further inspection, I had left one of the ceiling lights on. Which is silly, because I don't recall using that light. And in car design critique, I think it would make sense to have all lights turn off automatically after fifteen minutes. Who uses those while the engine is off for more than fifteen minutes? Grumble. So, AP was gone, so I couldn't jump it, and the metro would not have gotten me there on time. So I had to grumblingly return inside. Grumble. We will jump it tomorrow (and when I say we, I mean Pat because he knows how to do it and I don't and would probably explode the cars.)
The only thing making it slightly OK is that I had forgotten this place also had an open-mic on Wednesday that I usually skipped since I did it on Tuesdays. So I will go tomorrow. And perhaps I will go next Wednesday as well. So that means now I'll be doing seven or eight shows in ten days. Bedtime, we'll try this again tomorrow.
It was encouraging to go through and pick all of the things that I think worked. I would say that all of my items under consideration, maybe my B+ stuff and better (that's on my grading scale, not real comedy's....), probably totals to almost 15 minutes. So that's a solid amount to start with. And that's just a look through, I'm sure there are other good jokes I'm missing. But I picked and chose and ended up with what I thought was my best stuff.
After dinner and hanging, I got ready to go. And I got in my car and turned the key. Hmmm, that's odd. Nothing is happening. Upon further inspection, I had left one of the ceiling lights on. Which is silly, because I don't recall using that light. And in car design critique, I think it would make sense to have all lights turn off automatically after fifteen minutes. Who uses those while the engine is off for more than fifteen minutes? Grumble. So, AP was gone, so I couldn't jump it, and the metro would not have gotten me there on time. So I had to grumblingly return inside. Grumble. We will jump it tomorrow (and when I say we, I mean Pat because he knows how to do it and I don't and would probably explode the cars.)
The only thing making it slightly OK is that I had forgotten this place also had an open-mic on Wednesday that I usually skipped since I did it on Tuesdays. So I will go tomorrow. And perhaps I will go next Wednesday as well. So that means now I'll be doing seven or eight shows in ten days. Bedtime, we'll try this again tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Unveiling
Not much happened today. But all the will be dwarfed by the unveiling of the greatest moment in film since color. No, perhaps even more. It was really hot today. And though any work I would do would be indoors, I still used it as an excuse not to work. So FMW and TPIR, then a nap. I'm not going to dignify the rest of my day with much of a description. We did BBQ some hamburgers, which were pretty good.
Anyway, the moment you've all been waiting for. This movie currently has a grand total of 70 views on funnyordie.com, with 3 funny votes and 4 die votes. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I would clear the floor nearby, because you will most certainly be rofling. There is at least one, maybe two more videos coming, so stay tuned.
Tomorrow I start my busiest stretch, other than the one week I had gigs Monday through Friday. I have a show tomorrow, Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and then my last show on Friday. Quite a home stretch run. In that time I also might do another film, along with packing and getting the house in presentable condition. So after a lazy day today, a busy next twelve days.
Anyway, the moment you've all been waiting for. This movie currently has a grand total of 70 views on funnyordie.com, with 3 funny votes and 4 die votes. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I would clear the floor nearby, because you will most certainly be rofling. There is at least one, maybe two more videos coming, so stay tuned.
Movie Reviews with Angelo's Mom - watch more funny videos
Tomorrow I start my busiest stretch, other than the one week I had gigs Monday through Friday. I have a show tomorrow, Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and then my last show on Friday. Quite a home stretch run. In that time I also might do another film, along with packing and getting the house in presentable condition. So after a lazy day today, a busy next twelve days.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Baking
It was hot today. Really hot. Which compounded the annoyances a bit. I have a limited recollection of what went on in the morning/early afternoon, though I know FMWs were there earlier and a sandwich was there later. Then around two I left to meet a friend I had worked with last summer.
Our plan was to go to the Holocaust Museum. And we did. Except when we got there, we were frustrated to find out that you needed passes to get to most/all of the exhibits. That seems silly to me. I looked at the website and it said that admission was free and open to the public, and in retrospect only later down the page mentioned passes. I feel like once I see that it's open and that admission is free, I can expect to be able to walk in and see a large portion of the exhibits. Grumble. So we saw some things, but not much. Instead we went to the art galleries nearby, which we pleasant but nothing special. Then we walked to Chinatown and ate some noodle soup and pork buns.
In the evening I came home and the AC was on! Hooray for coldness. We postponed the burger cookout for tomorrow. Anyway, since I thought of these but will never use them in a show, I share two jokes with you now:
Have you seen the movie about the search for a teenage fish who runs away from home because no one understands him? It's called Finding Emo.
and
Who was the world's first prop comedian? TriCarrotTops!
Groan all you want, I think they are funny.
Our plan was to go to the Holocaust Museum. And we did. Except when we got there, we were frustrated to find out that you needed passes to get to most/all of the exhibits. That seems silly to me. I looked at the website and it said that admission was free and open to the public, and in retrospect only later down the page mentioned passes. I feel like once I see that it's open and that admission is free, I can expect to be able to walk in and see a large portion of the exhibits. Grumble. So we saw some things, but not much. Instead we went to the art galleries nearby, which we pleasant but nothing special. Then we walked to Chinatown and ate some noodle soup and pork buns.
In the evening I came home and the AC was on! Hooray for coldness. We postponed the burger cookout for tomorrow. Anyway, since I thought of these but will never use them in a show, I share two jokes with you now:
Have you seen the movie about the search for a teenage fish who runs away from home because no one understands him? It's called Finding Emo.
and
Who was the world's first prop comedian? TriCarrotTops!
Groan all you want, I think they are funny.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Filming
Not much happened in the morning. I watched The Dark Knight because it was on and is always entertaining. No TPIR as it is the weekend, but that does not preclude FMW, so I of course enjoyed them. At about one I left for my movie-ing adventure.
The man I'm working with, Angleo, is a regular theater director/producer type person looking to get into short comedy film making. He apparently thought I was funny and offered me the opportunity to be in his films. So I arrived, and his first plan was to film me in the typical driving in a car documentary style, but to have me ramble. So we did this for a while with some of his prompting. I swear I have no idea how this will be funny, but he says he sees the story in the footage, so I'll see what he can do. And of course I will share the video when done, so everyone can enjoy it.
The next plan was for me to conduct a pseud0-interview with his mother about movies she has recently seen and to elicit hilarious responses. It was not terribly difficult, as his mother was kinda ridiculous but in a nice way. Again, I don't know how this will be funny to anyone but those of us involved, but again we will see. So, let's let the man work his magic and we'll see what happens.
Then I came home and we headed to a Tapas restaurant in the downtown-ish area. It was decent but a tad overpriced. Not to mention I ate "lunch" about three hours before, so what made me full was not a full meal. Then I came home and hung out. Now we are watching SNL, which is not particularly funny. It has gone downhill. I give it until Weekend Update, then its bedtime.
The man I'm working with, Angleo, is a regular theater director/producer type person looking to get into short comedy film making. He apparently thought I was funny and offered me the opportunity to be in his films. So I arrived, and his first plan was to film me in the typical driving in a car documentary style, but to have me ramble. So we did this for a while with some of his prompting. I swear I have no idea how this will be funny, but he says he sees the story in the footage, so I'll see what he can do. And of course I will share the video when done, so everyone can enjoy it.
The next plan was for me to conduct a pseud0-interview with his mother about movies she has recently seen and to elicit hilarious responses. It was not terribly difficult, as his mother was kinda ridiculous but in a nice way. Again, I don't know how this will be funny to anyone but those of us involved, but again we will see. So, let's let the man work his magic and we'll see what happens.
Then I came home and we headed to a Tapas restaurant in the downtown-ish area. It was decent but a tad overpriced. Not to mention I ate "lunch" about three hours before, so what made me full was not a full meal. Then I came home and hung out. Now we are watching SNL, which is not particularly funny. It has gone downhill. I give it until Weekend Update, then its bedtime.
Lapsing
After lying in bed, listening to a podcast for ten minutes, I realized I forgot to blog! Oh no. So as I am already in blog mode, this will be quick and pretty boring.
I woke up later, around 10, then TPIR and FMW. Then Sam and I went to have lunch with Brian, our friend from high school. Except I didn't eat anything because I'm on a temporary campaign against eating out, especially things like sandwiches. But we chatted, it was nice. Nothing else really happened today. I made plans with the guy who I had mentioned wanted me to act. So I'm heading out to Arlington tomorrow to film a sketch or something. I'm not exactly sure what. But it should be interesting, a chance to expand my comedic base. I had a meatloaf sandwich for dinner, which was delicious.
It is weird that I have only two weeks left. And with two more house members leaving next weekend, the final week will be strange. But I'm glad that though my summer of comedy is ending, plans are in the work for plenty more comedy to come. I'm excited to see what I can make of it while at school.
I woke up later, around 10, then TPIR and FMW. Then Sam and I went to have lunch with Brian, our friend from high school. Except I didn't eat anything because I'm on a temporary campaign against eating out, especially things like sandwiches. But we chatted, it was nice. Nothing else really happened today. I made plans with the guy who I had mentioned wanted me to act. So I'm heading out to Arlington tomorrow to film a sketch or something. I'm not exactly sure what. But it should be interesting, a chance to expand my comedic base. I had a meatloaf sandwich for dinner, which was delicious.
It is weird that I have only two weeks left. And with two more house members leaving next weekend, the final week will be strange. But I'm glad that though my summer of comedy is ending, plans are in the work for plenty more comedy to come. I'm excited to see what I can make of it while at school.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Producing
I again woke up too early. Grumble. With no Zelda to play, I don't know how I will spend my mornings. I really wish I could spend them sleeping. Perhaps tomorrow I will make more of an effort to go back to sleep. I know, my life is challenging. So I putzed around, then TPIR and FMW. In the afternoon I was really productive. Woo.
I started by writing some new jokes. I was happy with the way they came out. They were not just me saying "oh, this is funny." I actually wrote jokes. With punchlines to some extent. And a hint of story. Then I took a break to play piano. I finished with a moderate degree of competency the first Piano for Adults book. I don't have the second, so I'll just look through the easy song books I have. Then I wrote a little more a put together my set for tonight. It was a lot of new stuff, including the things I wrote today, and some stuff I'd only done once or twice before. After dinner/PTI/shower etc, I headed out.
There were a ton of comedians there tonight. More than twenty, which is a huge number. It started late, as always, but people were there at 7:30, it definitely could have stared one time. But everyone I had met pretty much was there. One comic complimented the set I had done on Monday, which was nice. Woo compliments. Then the show started, and I waited. And waited. And waited. Comedy is much longer when you're waiting to go up but don't know when it will be. And though I understand that I'm usually last because I'm the new guy, it's still annoying to wait around, but that's how it goes. So eventually I went around 9:55. The room, which was once 20 comics and maybe 10-15 audience members, was down to maybe 5 comics and 7-8 audience members. Still though, I was pleased. I made them laugh more than any of the few people before or after me. Even the new material did well, which is encouraging.
I feel like the pseduo-climax of my summer will be a contest at EJs Landing (the boat restaurant) that I'm in next Saturday. I think the comedians are just based on whoever signs up, but a contest is a contest. So between now and then I'll need to figure out my best six minutes. I have I think only two shows, so this weekend I'll probably put together what I want the set to be, do it twice, and then perform in the big contest. Sounds like a plan.
I started by writing some new jokes. I was happy with the way they came out. They were not just me saying "oh, this is funny." I actually wrote jokes. With punchlines to some extent. And a hint of story. Then I took a break to play piano. I finished with a moderate degree of competency the first Piano for Adults book. I don't have the second, so I'll just look through the easy song books I have. Then I wrote a little more a put together my set for tonight. It was a lot of new stuff, including the things I wrote today, and some stuff I'd only done once or twice before. After dinner/PTI/shower etc, I headed out.
There were a ton of comedians there tonight. More than twenty, which is a huge number. It started late, as always, but people were there at 7:30, it definitely could have stared one time. But everyone I had met pretty much was there. One comic complimented the set I had done on Monday, which was nice. Woo compliments. Then the show started, and I waited. And waited. And waited. Comedy is much longer when you're waiting to go up but don't know when it will be. And though I understand that I'm usually last because I'm the new guy, it's still annoying to wait around, but that's how it goes. So eventually I went around 9:55. The room, which was once 20 comics and maybe 10-15 audience members, was down to maybe 5 comics and 7-8 audience members. Still though, I was pleased. I made them laugh more than any of the few people before or after me. Even the new material did well, which is encouraging.
I feel like the pseduo-climax of my summer will be a contest at EJs Landing (the boat restaurant) that I'm in next Saturday. I think the comedians are just based on whoever signs up, but a contest is a contest. So between now and then I'll need to figure out my best six minutes. I have I think only two shows, so this weekend I'll probably put together what I want the set to be, do it twice, and then perform in the big contest. Sounds like a plan.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Performance the Eighteenth
Tonight, Comedy Spot in the Ballston Mall. Because nothing says stand-up comedy like the fourth floor of a mall in the suburbs. Well, maybe the corner of an Italian restaurant in the suburbs. Or the basement of a small bar near the zoo.
Aspiring
I keep waking up too early. But that was fine, since I spend most of the morning beating Majora's Mask! Hooray. I admit, I got a bit antsy towards the end and cheated a little, but who's counting? Some of the masks require far too intimate a knowledge of the world in which it takes place. The ending was a tad anticlimactic though, as Link just kinda peaced out. Hmm. Then TPIR and FMW. In the afternoon I sent welcoming e-mails to me 'zees. I tried to personalize them, or at least not have them say exactly the same thing, though the information was mostly the same.
I decided to watch the movie Comedian which my dad had given me. It's the parallel stories of two comedians writing new material. One is an up and coming NYC comedian, the other is Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld ditched all his old stuff and set out to write entirely new material for an hour special. The movie was interesting, but it really clarified how hard it really is to write good material. Seinfeld, a man who knows his funny, needed at least six months to write an hour of material. And remember, during these six months he could walk into any comedy club anywhere and do as much material as he wanted. They would show him driving from club to club on a Saturday night in New York doing different sets. That is a luxury few have. So with the best of circumstances, it took him six months. What does that mean for me, five years for an hour? Something along those lines. It's utterly absurd.
For dinner I made my first solo attempt at meatloaf, and man was it delicious. I'm a big fan, perhaps even a bigger fan of the follow-up meatloaf sandwiches. Then we hung out and watched The Core, perhaps one of the more ridiculous movies I've seen.
Not a busy comedy day, but I think the movie was important. I could tell that Seinfeld loved writing and telling jokes. He has to, because if he wanted to he could do no more comedy and sleep on shredded piles of hundred dollar bills. I need to be as motivated as he is, and hopefully I am getting there.
I decided to watch the movie Comedian which my dad had given me. It's the parallel stories of two comedians writing new material. One is an up and coming NYC comedian, the other is Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld ditched all his old stuff and set out to write entirely new material for an hour special. The movie was interesting, but it really clarified how hard it really is to write good material. Seinfeld, a man who knows his funny, needed at least six months to write an hour of material. And remember, during these six months he could walk into any comedy club anywhere and do as much material as he wanted. They would show him driving from club to club on a Saturday night in New York doing different sets. That is a luxury few have. So with the best of circumstances, it took him six months. What does that mean for me, five years for an hour? Something along those lines. It's utterly absurd.
For dinner I made my first solo attempt at meatloaf, and man was it delicious. I'm a big fan, perhaps even a bigger fan of the follow-up meatloaf sandwiches. Then we hung out and watched The Core, perhaps one of the more ridiculous movies I've seen.
Not a busy comedy day, but I think the movie was important. I could tell that Seinfeld loved writing and telling jokes. He has to, because if he wanted to he could do no more comedy and sleep on shredded piles of hundred dollar bills. I need to be as motivated as he is, and hopefully I am getting there.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Opening
Another standard day. I woke up far too early, yet still managed not to be productive until around noon. MM and FMW and TPIR yet again. I did some laundry and was surprised by the effectiveness of hanging clothes out to dry. Still though, with four guys living in this house normally throughout the year, I feel like a decent dryer would be a sound investment. In un-comedy related news I was sent my list of advisees today, so I checked them out a little and will send them e-mails tomorrow.
I wanted to write some new material today, and did, but not as much as I would have wanted. Oh well, I still wrote some new stuff. I also think I had a dream that I wrote a joke about the term zesting, and how maybe it would seem like a more manly thing to do if it were called skinning a lemon. But then I decided that was strange, though I am glad that I am dreaming in joke form. My other joke dream has not been terribly successful though, so maybe I should scrap this one. After dinner and things I headed out for my usual Tuesday gig.
As the summer has gone on my arrival time has gotten later and later. I arrived at 8:35 for the 8:30 show and there were five or six other comedians there. I opened the show, which means I went first after the host. That was in no way a strategic decision, but it was nice to go first. I got to get the crowd into it. I did OK, nothing special. I did do a fair amount of new material, and more than none of it worked, so that's a plus. The crowd tonight though was not really my target audience. I know this for sure because they laughed at the not funny comedian at this place that I have described before. So if he is funny to them, I doubt I will be.
I've started to become less of a fan of self-depreciating humor. There are only so many times I can laugh at how their career is stagnant as they perform in a dominoes knock off. Or how they curse their life for doing this as their hobby. The audience usually laughs because it's so ridiculous, but they are cheap laughs. People should just do their material, and if it's actually good it will get some form of laughter. Just my feelings.
I wanted to write some new material today, and did, but not as much as I would have wanted. Oh well, I still wrote some new stuff. I also think I had a dream that I wrote a joke about the term zesting, and how maybe it would seem like a more manly thing to do if it were called skinning a lemon. But then I decided that was strange, though I am glad that I am dreaming in joke form. My other joke dream has not been terribly successful though, so maybe I should scrap this one. After dinner and things I headed out for my usual Tuesday gig.
As the summer has gone on my arrival time has gotten later and later. I arrived at 8:35 for the 8:30 show and there were five or six other comedians there. I opened the show, which means I went first after the host. That was in no way a strategic decision, but it was nice to go first. I got to get the crowd into it. I did OK, nothing special. I did do a fair amount of new material, and more than none of it worked, so that's a plus. The crowd tonight though was not really my target audience. I know this for sure because they laughed at the not funny comedian at this place that I have described before. So if he is funny to them, I doubt I will be.
I've started to become less of a fan of self-depreciating humor. There are only so many times I can laugh at how their career is stagnant as they perform in a dominoes knock off. Or how they curse their life for doing this as their hobby. The audience usually laughs because it's so ridiculous, but they are cheap laughs. People should just do their material, and if it's actually good it will get some form of laughter. Just my feelings.
Performance the Seventeenth
A prime performance, if you ask me. Not because it was extraordinary, because seventeen is prime. It was tonight at the shady restaurant thing I do on Tuesdays.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Evaluating
Let me see. Nothing terribly out of the ordinary during the day. There was a semi-harried clean-up effort on the notice that the landlord was coming to visit. We even had to cut down the plant that had grown in from outside and was taking over the wall behind the TV. Alas, it is in a better place. Some other cleaning, some hanging, a nap, the usual.
I had a gig tonight at the 11th Street Lounge in Clarendon/Arlington. I arrived around 7:40 and was of course one of the first people there. People definitely know who I am now, which is good. I at last met the person in charge of the room with whom I'd been corresponding. He was nothing like the mental image I had in my head. We all migrated downstairs to the basement where the show is held. There were a couple people there trying comedy for their first time, so they brought their friends as is standard. Soon he will realize that his next shows will be in basements and mediocre restaurants with none of his friends. But it's nice for everyone, and it's a small room, so it looked full.
My set was OK. I feel like I've almost become consistent, which is good. Not consistently hilarious, which would be awesome, but consistent in that no show is really a huge hit or miss, just another day at the office. I imagine this is how it must be for all of the other guys, who do four minutes of old material, two minutes of new material, keep thirty seconds of that, and head home. So maybe I'm becoming more like a regular? That would be nice. Tonight also confirmed that the crowd has a huge impact on material. One comedian I'd heard many times before, who writes in a very Mitch Hedberg, one-liner, witty observation style, did much worse than usual. The crowd tonight wanted people who were loud and over the top. Not exactly my persona, but I tried to work with that. After my set I was given a card by the guy who runs the room that said "Talk slower" and "Pause for punches" on it. I shall make note of them.
I'll now respond to some answers/discussion of the things I've been talking about. One art-form that two people have said is magic. I agree the comparison works on many fronts. It is certainly not cultivated in schools or thought of as a legitimate career path. There are certainly stars, but there is no clear path to stardom. I take a few issues though. First, I think the stardom level is smaller. There are some magicians at the top, like Penn and Teller, David Blaine, Cris Angel, but I think you're hard pressed to hear people talking about a young, up and coming magician. Or maybe I hang out in the wrong crowd. The other issue is that I feel it's much easier to practice magic. You can do it in front of the mirror, for one, and see if the card in your other hand is visible. You can also test it on the same person multiple times, because they will tell you if it gets better. These two methods do not hold up for comedy as much.
The other answer I think I liked the best is from Blythe's lovely comment, which is movie-making. There are definitely star directors, as well as stars at all levels, those known in certain crowds. There is definitely no path to stardom, as the best director could make a movie and put it on youtube and no one would see it. It is not cultivated in schools a whole bunch, though I would argue more than comedy. That might just be because it sounds good for a school to brag about it's film class where everyone gets their own camcorder or what not. So, it works. The only issue I take is that, although it is hard to get started, I'm pretty sure many schools offer film studies/film making majors. So you can spend an undergraduate career honing your skills, as you can with many other visual arts. But for now movie-making gets the prize. And maybe we need to start pushing movie making in our schools. Just as comedy works on creativity, originality, writing, speaking, confidence, and many other things, film making would help with creativity as well, communication, working with others, editing, and other skills. So maybe teaching through unconventional methods is the answer to our educational problems. Take that Chicago Math!
I had a gig tonight at the 11th Street Lounge in Clarendon/Arlington. I arrived around 7:40 and was of course one of the first people there. People definitely know who I am now, which is good. I at last met the person in charge of the room with whom I'd been corresponding. He was nothing like the mental image I had in my head. We all migrated downstairs to the basement where the show is held. There were a couple people there trying comedy for their first time, so they brought their friends as is standard. Soon he will realize that his next shows will be in basements and mediocre restaurants with none of his friends. But it's nice for everyone, and it's a small room, so it looked full.
My set was OK. I feel like I've almost become consistent, which is good. Not consistently hilarious, which would be awesome, but consistent in that no show is really a huge hit or miss, just another day at the office. I imagine this is how it must be for all of the other guys, who do four minutes of old material, two minutes of new material, keep thirty seconds of that, and head home. So maybe I'm becoming more like a regular? That would be nice. Tonight also confirmed that the crowd has a huge impact on material. One comedian I'd heard many times before, who writes in a very Mitch Hedberg, one-liner, witty observation style, did much worse than usual. The crowd tonight wanted people who were loud and over the top. Not exactly my persona, but I tried to work with that. After my set I was given a card by the guy who runs the room that said "Talk slower" and "Pause for punches" on it. I shall make note of them.
I'll now respond to some answers/discussion of the things I've been talking about. One art-form that two people have said is magic. I agree the comparison works on many fronts. It is certainly not cultivated in schools or thought of as a legitimate career path. There are certainly stars, but there is no clear path to stardom. I take a few issues though. First, I think the stardom level is smaller. There are some magicians at the top, like Penn and Teller, David Blaine, Cris Angel, but I think you're hard pressed to hear people talking about a young, up and coming magician. Or maybe I hang out in the wrong crowd. The other issue is that I feel it's much easier to practice magic. You can do it in front of the mirror, for one, and see if the card in your other hand is visible. You can also test it on the same person multiple times, because they will tell you if it gets better. These two methods do not hold up for comedy as much.
The other answer I think I liked the best is from Blythe's lovely comment, which is movie-making. There are definitely star directors, as well as stars at all levels, those known in certain crowds. There is definitely no path to stardom, as the best director could make a movie and put it on youtube and no one would see it. It is not cultivated in schools a whole bunch, though I would argue more than comedy. That might just be because it sounds good for a school to brag about it's film class where everyone gets their own camcorder or what not. So, it works. The only issue I take is that, although it is hard to get started, I'm pretty sure many schools offer film studies/film making majors. So you can spend an undergraduate career honing your skills, as you can with many other visual arts. But for now movie-making gets the prize. And maybe we need to start pushing movie making in our schools. Just as comedy works on creativity, originality, writing, speaking, confidence, and many other things, film making would help with creativity as well, communication, working with others, editing, and other skills. So maybe teaching through unconventional methods is the answer to our educational problems. Take that Chicago Math!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Performance the Sixteenth
Tonight at the 11th Street Lounge. It's an open-mic, except someone apparently stole the microphone, so it's open mic-less. And you have to sign up in advance, so it's not really open. Nonetheless, I'll be performing there!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Nothing
The title not being a verb is symbolic of how little I did today. I trouble even to recount most of it. There was a lot of sleeping and napping and the like. I did watch the Next Food Network Star finale, which I had been looking forward to. I won't share my thoughts for fear of spoiling it. So, not much happened today. I have a performance tomorrow, that should be nice.
In response to my post two days ago, I received only one possibly answer, which was poker. I think it works on some levels. There are definitely big names and no clear path to stardom. However, it doesn't work entirely. First, the option of cultivating it is not really there if it is illegal to do under twenty-one. And playing not for money is entirely different. So, no hope of bringing poker into our schools. The second thing is, unlike almost all other things, anyone with enough money can enter poker's most prestigious tournament. The best poker player in the world that no one knows about could enter the World Series of Poker, win, and become a star. There is nothing like that for comedy. If the world's funniest yet undiscovered comedian performed at any of the places I perform, at least in the short term all that would happen is they would get laughs. No one from Comedy Central would book them, the audience would just head home and note that one comedian did particularly well.
So, I'll still take answers, or hear criticisms of my evaluation of comedy.
In response to my post two days ago, I received only one possibly answer, which was poker. I think it works on some levels. There are definitely big names and no clear path to stardom. However, it doesn't work entirely. First, the option of cultivating it is not really there if it is illegal to do under twenty-one. And playing not for money is entirely different. So, no hope of bringing poker into our schools. The second thing is, unlike almost all other things, anyone with enough money can enter poker's most prestigious tournament. The best poker player in the world that no one knows about could enter the World Series of Poker, win, and become a star. There is nothing like that for comedy. If the world's funniest yet undiscovered comedian performed at any of the places I perform, at least in the short term all that would happen is they would get laughs. No one from Comedy Central would book them, the audience would just head home and note that one comedian did particularly well.
So, I'll still take answers, or hear criticisms of my evaluation of comedy.
Sailing
Another lazy weekend day. Some friends of Kabeer's and AP's crashed here last night, so I awoke to people sleeping all over the house. Then I watched them rush to get dressed before they headed out to a show. Not much happened in the afternoon. Laziness, perhaps. I put together my routine and then headed out to E.J.'s Landing.
This show is up there for the strangest I've done. The show was in a nautical themed restaurant in a Comfort Inn in College Park, MD, aka the place where people stay for the night when they're visiting UM. There were a large number of people there just to see one woman. They were fairly uninterested in much of what else was going on. Otherwise it was some comedians, only one of whom I'd seen before, and he ended up going first and then leaving. So an interesting crowd.
The order was out of a hat (actually, some sort of mock fishing trap I believe), and unfortunately I ended up going last. The comedians before me were not particularly good. They also went too long. Even with a fairly lengthy given time of 8-10 minutes, some people went way over. If anyone out there wants to start their own open-mic comedy show, limit people's time to 6, maybe 7 minutes, and make sure everyone knows that's the time. It's annoying when you follow the rules and others just keep yakking.
My set was OK. I'm not putting a lot of value in the feedback I received, just because there was no one listening. I picked up one or two little things that I'll know to do again, but not much else. Maybe I learned that it's hard to make people laugh who don't want to laugh. Or that 2 star hotel restaurants are strange places for comedy shows. There was also a very drunk woman who kept yelling things. She seemed to believe the comedian after me could not wear purple, though I think he pulled it off fine. Anyway, I'll be back there in two weeks for a comedy contest (woo?!) so hopefully the people there will want to see comedy and laugh and such.
This show is up there for the strangest I've done. The show was in a nautical themed restaurant in a Comfort Inn in College Park, MD, aka the place where people stay for the night when they're visiting UM. There were a large number of people there just to see one woman. They were fairly uninterested in much of what else was going on. Otherwise it was some comedians, only one of whom I'd seen before, and he ended up going first and then leaving. So an interesting crowd.
The order was out of a hat (actually, some sort of mock fishing trap I believe), and unfortunately I ended up going last. The comedians before me were not particularly good. They also went too long. Even with a fairly lengthy given time of 8-10 minutes, some people went way over. If anyone out there wants to start their own open-mic comedy show, limit people's time to 6, maybe 7 minutes, and make sure everyone knows that's the time. It's annoying when you follow the rules and others just keep yakking.
My set was OK. I'm not putting a lot of value in the feedback I received, just because there was no one listening. I picked up one or two little things that I'll know to do again, but not much else. Maybe I learned that it's hard to make people laugh who don't want to laugh. Or that 2 star hotel restaurants are strange places for comedy shows. There was also a very drunk woman who kept yelling things. She seemed to believe the comedian after me could not wear purple, though I think he pulled it off fine. Anyway, I'll be back there in two weeks for a comedy contest (woo?!) so hopefully the people there will want to see comedy and laugh and such.
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