First: Writing circle and we have great new bits. Danielle has one that takes her shit to the next level. I have one that's out there, but something I've had in my head for awhile. James and Paul have some really funny shit. We are joined by Jeff, James's friend, who is going to do a birthday/showcase with us in a week (more on that later... specifically Oct. 20th). His stuff is generic in theme, but he has some good twists to it.
Then: Open mic. I'm trying to get into character for my bit tonight, which is where I fake a nervous breakdown and turn it around into a very cliche' joke. It killed at the circle and I was excited but I also knew it was going to be hard. So I try to set up with everyone that I'm having a really bad night.
Then: I hear from John Sanders that Craig Gass is here. Craig is responsible for a huge wake-up call I had when I was really doubting myself with comedy (see "Day 18: Wake-Up Call"). I emailed him later and told him how much his set effected me and we had a brief and nice exchange. Well lo and behold he's here. I introduced myself to him and he was really cool. He took off where our email left off and gave me some humbling advice on not getting down on other "hack" comedians that I'm not into. If they're making people laugh, then they're doing something right and you can't dismiss that (I totally agree and am slightly embarrassed).
Then: I'm about to go up. Shit, why does he have to be here when I'm doing new stuff. Fuck. I do it. I was way over the top when I performed it and it didn't land that hard. Shit. Forgot my fucking recorder too. Shit. Oh well. I end with the new improved drinking... which did pretty good. Craig liked that part. He's a nice guy.
Then: Danielle did her new candy bit. Applause.
Then: He does his set, which is a shortened version of the one I saw before. Minds are blown. I'm right.
Finally: We say our good byes. He really liked Solomon. He's here all week. Good.
Lesson: I should really nail down the complicated stuff before I put it up. The more I like a bit the harder it will be to put up. The harder it is to perform the better a joke it will be when it's ready.
Backup lesson: If someone I want to impress is there... go with the good material, drop the new stuff...
Edit on Backup lesson: Actually the best way to impress someone you want to impress is to try not to impress them.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Day 50: Holy Shit 50 Sets!!! 10/12/07
Jesus. 50 sets. I didn't think it would get to this. It seems like a lot but I guess it's not if you think about it. Bill Hicks would perform 250 nights out of the year. I still feel like I just started, and in comic terms I have. I'm still a rookie after all. The thing with 50 is that I have always had this habit of starting something and flaking out a little bit into it. I was afraid of starting comedy for that very reason. Now I'm at 50, which means I can do 100, then 200, then die.
As far as the set goes... It was at Lo-Ball, which is my favorite room right now. Tonight was a showcase for new stuff. After my last Lo-Ball set I reconfigured Drinking/Drugs bit with the writing circle. I debuted it tonight and am a lot happier with it. I still think it needs a little more work but it's getting there. I put up Ben Stiller and Bill Clinton to little fanfare... just enough to think they don't need to be trashed yet... they just need work. When I got the light I went into impressions of other comedians doing "Bidet". Tonight it was Solomon, John Sanders and Emmet Montgomery. This is getting to be quite a popular bit, which makes sense because it's a tribute to other comics and tends to come off flattering. I like it. When I came up with it, it was just a fun idea, but now I'm thinking it's something I can take with me and use at other sets with comics I know.
Fun night all around. All the comics are great in this room (Derek Sheen, one of my top 5 in the scene, DESTROYED). It's free and relaxing and is what comedy is supposed to be. Afterward a bunch of us hung out at a bar and it's a weird thing to hang with other comedians (type-a personalities who like attention), but a good time anyway. It's a good life.
Lesson: I did 50... I could do 50 more.
Back-up lesson: A bit you might toss off might actually be gold (and vice versa).
As far as the set goes... It was at Lo-Ball, which is my favorite room right now. Tonight was a showcase for new stuff. After my last Lo-Ball set I reconfigured Drinking/Drugs bit with the writing circle. I debuted it tonight and am a lot happier with it. I still think it needs a little more work but it's getting there. I put up Ben Stiller and Bill Clinton to little fanfare... just enough to think they don't need to be trashed yet... they just need work. When I got the light I went into impressions of other comedians doing "Bidet". Tonight it was Solomon, John Sanders and Emmet Montgomery. This is getting to be quite a popular bit, which makes sense because it's a tribute to other comics and tends to come off flattering. I like it. When I came up with it, it was just a fun idea, but now I'm thinking it's something I can take with me and use at other sets with comics I know.
Fun night all around. All the comics are great in this room (Derek Sheen, one of my top 5 in the scene, DESTROYED). It's free and relaxing and is what comedy is supposed to be. Afterward a bunch of us hung out at a bar and it's a weird thing to hang with other comedians (type-a personalities who like attention), but a good time anyway. It's a good life.
Lesson: I did 50... I could do 50 more.
Back-up lesson: A bit you might toss off might actually be gold (and vice versa).
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Day 49: Kona 10/11/07
First time at the Kona Kitchen tonight. The rumor was that it was a really tough room. The reality is that it is a really empty room. Well at least tonight it was. Two audience, the other 13 people were comics. Since Kona is a new room for me (as far as comedy goes, I've spent many many karaoke hours there), I decided to go with my solid stuff (Bumbershoot, Toby, Nicole, Cheesecake). It went all right, but the problem was the majority of the people there were people who had seen that set ad nauseum. The other thing is that I didn't prep my set. I've gotten so comfortable with it that I just walked up and did it. Bad idea, no matter how many times I do something I need to take the time to run through it, other wise I end up floundering through it. Which I did. I could've just treated it like what it was, an open mic, and tested newer shit instead of trying to impress the choir. Next time I'm at Kona, maybe there will actually be people there.
Lesson: Prep, every time.
Back-up lesson: Comics have already seen my shit, if it's just us, bust the new stuff.
Lesson: Prep, every time.
Back-up lesson: Comics have already seen my shit, if it's just us, bust the new stuff.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Day 48: Newbs 10/7/07
Ahhh... a good night.
Started off with writing circle. In attend are: Danielle, James, Paul, me, Josh Anderson in his comedy debut (who's probably going to end up putting the rest of us to shame) and special guest Richard Jensen. Richard is a good friend from Ashland OR that visits on his birthday. He's vloging his trip to Seattle which includes taping our writing and our sets. (Check his blog at blog.myspace.com/richardjensen for soon there will be intimate coverage of us... +it's one of my faves for political writing and all around Richard goodness). The circle was great. A lot of new stuff being thrown out there. I tried out a bunch of new bits that have been coming to me plus tried to restructure "non-drinker" which I think will be a lot more funny.
Then to Comedy Underground. Richard was goodly enough to video all of our sets. The fun part about tonight is that there are insanely drunk hecklers in the front. They really didn't mean any harm but they were intoxicated and thought it was audience participation. It's fascinating to see how other comics reacted to them. Some better than others. Danielle and James had great stuff. Josh was really good with them too (his first time up no less!). I did all right but jumbled what I said and got sidetracked. Andy Peters (probably my favorite local comic at this point) delivered genius with them. Look for him, watch him, he is the best.
A lot of people were (understandably) really upset with the hecklers. One comic went way to far. I liked the energy they brought to the crowd and what it did to/for the comics. This is an important hurdle to jump and open mic's as good a time as any to jump it.
So I tried out my new material: Wet-dream (did well), Owen Wilson (needs condensing, but all right), Bill Clinton (short but sweet), Bush (another short but sweet), Mit Romney (fucked up the premise so I abandoned it). I ended with Toby and exit.
Over all I think that my writing has improved a lot. The circle helps immeasurably. We get used to just knowing what works and doesn't and so every time we write something new we take care of most of the editing ourselves. That's why my old stuff is so clunky.
So we're gearing up for a showcase for our group on October 20th... if any of you read this lemme know and I'll give you the details.
Lesson: Heckling's a fact of comedy life. Learn how to get your licks in.
Back-up lesson: Writing circle is invaluable. Have it always.
Started off with writing circle. In attend are: Danielle, James, Paul, me, Josh Anderson in his comedy debut (who's probably going to end up putting the rest of us to shame) and special guest Richard Jensen. Richard is a good friend from Ashland OR that visits on his birthday. He's vloging his trip to Seattle which includes taping our writing and our sets. (Check his blog at blog.myspace.com/richardjensen for soon there will be intimate coverage of us... +it's one of my faves for political writing and all around Richard goodness). The circle was great. A lot of new stuff being thrown out there. I tried out a bunch of new bits that have been coming to me plus tried to restructure "non-drinker" which I think will be a lot more funny.
Then to Comedy Underground. Richard was goodly enough to video all of our sets. The fun part about tonight is that there are insanely drunk hecklers in the front. They really didn't mean any harm but they were intoxicated and thought it was audience participation. It's fascinating to see how other comics reacted to them. Some better than others. Danielle and James had great stuff. Josh was really good with them too (his first time up no less!). I did all right but jumbled what I said and got sidetracked. Andy Peters (probably my favorite local comic at this point) delivered genius with them. Look for him, watch him, he is the best.
A lot of people were (understandably) really upset with the hecklers. One comic went way to far. I liked the energy they brought to the crowd and what it did to/for the comics. This is an important hurdle to jump and open mic's as good a time as any to jump it.
So I tried out my new material: Wet-dream (did well), Owen Wilson (needs condensing, but all right), Bill Clinton (short but sweet), Bush (another short but sweet), Mit Romney (fucked up the premise so I abandoned it). I ended with Toby and exit.
Over all I think that my writing has improved a lot. The circle helps immeasurably. We get used to just knowing what works and doesn't and so every time we write something new we take care of most of the editing ourselves. That's why my old stuff is so clunky.
So we're gearing up for a showcase for our group on October 20th... if any of you read this lemme know and I'll give you the details.
Lesson: Heckling's a fact of comedy life. Learn how to get your licks in.
Back-up lesson: Writing circle is invaluable. Have it always.
Day 47: Blowing the dust off 10/5/07
Another fantastic night at Lo-Ball, many good comedians, many laughs... but enough about them, on to me.
I tried an old bit ("old" is probably not very appropriate as I've been doing this for eight months... with three months off in the middle) that I haven't put up in awhile and I was curious how it would do. This was "Non-drinker": as it turns out, not that well.
There are two kinds of learning experiences you can have at an open mic: Hot rooms and Cold rooms. In a cold room (where no one's really laughing at anything), if you get a laugh, you know a bit is good, because you had to earn the laugh. The rest of the stuff, may have potential and needs work, or should be canned, but it's hard to tell. Lo-Ball is a Hot room usually, so if a bit DOESN'T work there, it should be let go of, while if you get a laugh it's either good or needs work. Going back and forth between hot and cold rooms is a great way to test exactly what material lands, falls, and needs work.
Point being: "Non-drinker" needs work. Some of it went OK and some parts landed, but over all it was not the laugh hilarity that I usually like to inspire in a crowd. This is good for two reasons. One is that I'd like to get as much of my old material up to my strong list and I need to know what needs help, clearly this does. The other reason this is good is that I felt myself starting to get arrogant. I'm in NO place to afford arrogance now, so I need to be reminded that a lot of my shit is still far from gold.
Lesson: Not all of the stuff I thought work does... polish it off and make it shiny
Back-up Lesson: Alternate Hot and Cold rooms to know where your stuff really is.
I tried an old bit ("old" is probably not very appropriate as I've been doing this for eight months... with three months off in the middle) that I haven't put up in awhile and I was curious how it would do. This was "Non-drinker": as it turns out, not that well.
There are two kinds of learning experiences you can have at an open mic: Hot rooms and Cold rooms. In a cold room (where no one's really laughing at anything), if you get a laugh, you know a bit is good, because you had to earn the laugh. The rest of the stuff, may have potential and needs work, or should be canned, but it's hard to tell. Lo-Ball is a Hot room usually, so if a bit DOESN'T work there, it should be let go of, while if you get a laugh it's either good or needs work. Going back and forth between hot and cold rooms is a great way to test exactly what material lands, falls, and needs work.
Point being: "Non-drinker" needs work. Some of it went OK and some parts landed, but over all it was not the laugh hilarity that I usually like to inspire in a crowd. This is good for two reasons. One is that I'd like to get as much of my old material up to my strong list and I need to know what needs help, clearly this does. The other reason this is good is that I felt myself starting to get arrogant. I'm in NO place to afford arrogance now, so I need to be reminded that a lot of my shit is still far from gold.
Lesson: Not all of the stuff I thought work does... polish it off and make it shiny
Back-up Lesson: Alternate Hot and Cold rooms to know where your stuff really is.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Day 46: Wasted Time 10/2/07
So I just got back from Austin and I'm fucking tired but what the hell, I'll brave Mainstage's music/comedy open mic. When I get there, surprise, things are in disarray. Cutting to the chase the comics take the first half-hour and the most notable set is Lydia who is like a tornado destroying (the good destroying) every room she passes through. After that there's about 45 minutes of music, then James and I go.
I'm not really feeling it so I beta test the "Newgarden" bit. It got chuckles but in my heart I knew it wasn't ready for another run, I just wanted to put it on its feet. It does need a rewrite and memorization, but I thought fuck it why not? What did I learn? Nothing I already didn't know. There were many other bits I could've worked or at least take another opportunity at riffing, but honestly my heart wasn't in it tonight.
What happened here is that I wasted my time and my audience's time. Yeah it's an open mic, but what's the point if I'm not going to try to get anything out of it. Even if I'm not feeling it, there's no excuse not to train. That's how people become bad comics. That's what I don't want to be. If I'm gonna go up I have to go all out or else there's really no point. Stupid me.
Lesson: I'm not going to get where I want fucking around.
Backup lesson: If you're not feeling it, MAKE yourself feel it.
I'm not really feeling it so I beta test the "Newgarden" bit. It got chuckles but in my heart I knew it wasn't ready for another run, I just wanted to put it on its feet. It does need a rewrite and memorization, but I thought fuck it why not? What did I learn? Nothing I already didn't know. There were many other bits I could've worked or at least take another opportunity at riffing, but honestly my heart wasn't in it tonight.
What happened here is that I wasted my time and my audience's time. Yeah it's an open mic, but what's the point if I'm not going to try to get anything out of it. Even if I'm not feeling it, there's no excuse not to train. That's how people become bad comics. That's what I don't want to be. If I'm gonna go up I have to go all out or else there's really no point. Stupid me.
Lesson: I'm not going to get where I want fucking around.
Backup lesson: If you're not feeling it, MAKE yourself feel it.
Day 45: Cathy and Me part 2 9/27/07
Cathy Sorbo at the Underground... Jakee doing a guest set. It's kinda weird that I'm at this point because this was something I was trying to work myself up to. Now I'm performing with Cathy. Granted they're only guest sets and I'm not quite featuring yet, but still. Mr. Mookie's hosting, Blain Reader's (a comic that I have a lot of respect for) guesting and Key Lewis (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) is featuring.
I do my safe set (Bumbershoot, Bidet, Nicole, Toby, Owen and Cheesecake) to a hot, hot audience. Not a huge crowd, but a great one. The nice part is that I kill. Not only do I kill but make an impression on some people that I have not made yet, including Carl who was running the door and didn't remember who I was. Key Lewis was asking if I was coming back. That's a good sign.
I feel like I'm in this place where I can control the audience. It might just be a lucky streak, but lately I've felt like I can exert my will over the crowd and bring them too me. The trick is if I can do this with ALL of my material and not just the stuff I've been hitting lately. There's a lot of trusted material I haven't touched in a while and I wonder if it holds the same water. At the same time I've been getting a lot of new ideas for material. I believe I'm in a honeymoon period of comedy... I just need to take as much as I can from this time.
ps: Cathy was amazing as ever. I got to hear some material I haven't heard yet. Guess what, it was funny. Go see her.
Lesson: Open mics aren't the only place to get yourself known... do guest spots more.
Back-up lesson: It's good to keep strong material polished as long as you don't neglect other material to dust.
I do my safe set (Bumbershoot, Bidet, Nicole, Toby, Owen and Cheesecake) to a hot, hot audience. Not a huge crowd, but a great one. The nice part is that I kill. Not only do I kill but make an impression on some people that I have not made yet, including Carl who was running the door and didn't remember who I was. Key Lewis was asking if I was coming back. That's a good sign.
I feel like I'm in this place where I can control the audience. It might just be a lucky streak, but lately I've felt like I can exert my will over the crowd and bring them too me. The trick is if I can do this with ALL of my material and not just the stuff I've been hitting lately. There's a lot of trusted material I haven't touched in a while and I wonder if it holds the same water. At the same time I've been getting a lot of new ideas for material. I believe I'm in a honeymoon period of comedy... I just need to take as much as I can from this time.
ps: Cathy was amazing as ever. I got to hear some material I haven't heard yet. Guess what, it was funny. Go see her.
Lesson: Open mics aren't the only place to get yourself known... do guest spots more.
Back-up lesson: It's good to keep strong material polished as long as you don't neglect other material to dust.
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