Day 8: Reality Check 3/17/07

It's good to be humbled.

Short story: the set didn't go very well.

I shouldn't say it was bad. It just wasn't all that good. My friends were there but the audience wasn't feeling me. I did a combo cocaine/Cheesecake Factory bit. Several problems with that, one being I should not have done more than one bit (I went a little long) and another being that both bits were designed to tie in with other stuff, not each other. There was also the factor of diminishing returns. I worked my 9th day in a row and this was my 4th hosting gig. I was tired and I didn't have my usual drive.

Oh yeah, the guy that runs a circuit was there.

Oh well. My ego was getting to big for my britches there and I needed to be reminded that I'm a beginner in this game no matter what my background is. Advantages shmantages, comedy is it's own art and I still have to study. People work on this stuff for years. I'm in a good place for a month, but a month is a month. I've got a lot of work to do.

The upsides to this night and this weekend FAR outweigh the bad. Actually there is no bad here. I learned a lot about the business and the local scene. I have an in at the Mainstage and can probably get a guest spot as often as I want. I met a handful of the local comics who helped me with info about the scene around here and what's going on at what clubs on what nights. Julie and Patty (mainstage owners) are awesome and very supportive. Getting to talk to and watch Betsy Wise was great. She had a lot of great input and was very kind. She introduced me to David (circuit guy) and talked me up to him. He talked to me and gave me great advice.

Fuck it, I'm on my way.

I was talking to Joe (a-hole) the other night and we were talking about things that discourage one from their dream. He mentioned that when someone wants to do something so much and they are so passionate about it that they want to be great at it right out of the gate. The fear is that you wont be amazing right away. I think that's the very think that kept me from doing comedy all this time. I want to blow peoples fucking minds. The Reality is there is no way I'm going to do that right away. I'll have good nights and bad nights at best, but it's going to take time effort and energy to get to where I want to be. My vanity wants to fight that and say "I'm great now", but while I have material that I like, I know it's not going to change the game. That's a while off.

What I do have is WAY more access to the game than I did one week ago. That's saying a lot. I'm not going to get anywhere having a big head about it.

My friend Josh had a mantra when he was at the Art Institute. "Draw or Die". That's it right there in a nutshell. Subtle genius. "Draw or Die". I could say "Joke or Die" or "Laff or Die", but it doesn't have the same weight. There are opportunities to do comedy 7 nights a week here. Time to get on it. Draw or Die.

Lesson: Stay in reality, stay in the game.

Backup Lesson: Draw or Die