Many of you may be wondering (as I currently am)... how did this happen?
Two people are to be hailed for this event. The first is a friend from college who has been dominating the San Fran comedy scene for the last three years, Nico Santos. Nico contacted me to let me know about a show going on down there with David Cross headlining, Cathy Sorbo doing one of the featured sets and Nico hosting (with an out-out-outside shot of me getting a guest set... I'll spare you the suspense, I didn't get it). He suggested I come down for it. The out-out-outside shot was enough to bring me down... now how the fuck do I get down there? That question segues us into the second person that deserves vast amounts of praise, my roommate, yes the asshole, Joe. I'll spare you the gruesome details (as he probably wouldn't want them spilled all over the ether... I will volunteer that it involved killing a chicken and using its blood to draw a circle on the ground... but I've already said too much), suffice it to say that he got me there. No bullshit here, he deserves credit for every good thing that happens to me in comedy. He's not alone, I get support from a lot of people, and I love and appreciate them very much for it, but Joe is the first on the list and no one will take that from him or me ever. He knew (better than me to be honest with you) how important it was for me to get down there and made it happen. I didn't want the chicken anyway, they make shitty pets.
They say in entertainment it's not what you know, it's who you know. In comedy I think it's who you know and oh-by-the-way-it's-incredibly-convenient-if-you're-funny-too. Well luckily for me, I know Nico Santos. Nico and I were in the Theatre Dept. of Southern Oregon University together where we studied becoming incredibly jaded about acting (he went on to Costume Design, I went on to Directing, we both went on to comedy). He was a fucking funny guy then so it came as no surprise when I found out he was kicking ass in the San Francisco comedy scene. What I didn't realize was exactly how much ass he was kicking.
He set me up with 7 minutes at the Punch Line SF's "Comedy Showcase". Cool, should be fun. What I didn't realize until I got there is that most comedians break their heads over that scene for as much as a year before they get a spot at the Showcase. Nico had enough pull to set me up with it and that was that. Oh, did I mention Nico had never actually seen my stand-up before? Ballsy mother fucker if you ask me. The other thing with The Punch Line is that you show up, and if they put you up you go and if not you don't. Nonetheless you have to wait to find out. Here, they put up a list and if you're not on it you go home. Not in SF... ouch. What I'm saying to you in so many words is Nico stuck his neck out for me having no idea how good I actually am and I jumped over a handful of comedians who probably want to stab my eyes, that is to say... no pressure.
Before the show starts Nico introduces me to a bunch of comics who are all incredibly nice. That put me at ease actually, you could tell that they all really support each other down there. It's like that for the most part in Seattle, but you never know if that will be the case elsewhere. Big ups to SF comics. People find out they go up right before they actually go up, I get slated for 3rd. Fucking great. The crowd was kinda cold and the first couple of comics didn't have a lot of luck with them so I knew I had to turn up the juice. I had to remind myself that this is fun and I'm just going to have a good time if they like me or not. OK then here I go...
...it went
AWESOME!
Which is not to say it was a perfect set, but I grabbed them right away, and they left with me as well. I did Bumbershoot, Nicole Ritchie, Toby, George Gaynes (which I might shelve or rework a bit), Bidet, Neuva Ring, and closed with Cheesecake. I had to drop a chunk of Cheesecake (I kill me) because of time, (which is a lesson I'm glad I learned 3 entries ago and not tonight), but they loved it. They loved Bumbershoot, Nicole, and Toby. George got silence and Neuva Ring got groans and one guy fucking dying. Overall they loved me. What was better was seeing that the host really dug me as I left. What was the best was the look of "wow" on Nico's face when I got off the stage. I was accepted. I was in. Oh yeah, and I have it on DVD too.
I got a lot of compliments from the other comedians as well. They all were really cool and supportive. I was on Cloud 9, from where I watched the rest of the show. SF has some amazing comics and I'd go into some of them if I wasn't getting tired (I'd go into some of them period, OH SNAP!), however I will talk about Nico because this was actually my first time seeing him as well and HOLY SHIT IS HE FUNNY! He had my favorite bit of the night as well as one of my favorite sets. I don't want to give anything away so I'll just say that I was in the bathroom when he went up so I listened to his opener in there and lost it mid-pee. On top of that he has an amazing Iron Chef judge impression as well as a dead on Aaron Neville, but his closer, oh Dear Holy Lord, his closer reduced me to tears.
The rest of the weekend was San Frantastic. I hung out with a variety of our friends that ended up down there. Saw the David Cross show. Got to talk shop with Nico and a lot of the other comics down there. Learned a lot about where I'm going and how I get there and how I WANT to get there. Perfect fucking vacation.
Lesson: When life hands you an opportunity, take it no matter what. (Even if it involves sacrificing a chicken oh wait I've said to much never mind).
Back-up lesson: Keep good people in your life, they will pave the way to your success. It wont happen alone.
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