Venue: Corner Bar
Date: 17 December, 2010
I saw the Dez.
Here's the backstory: In my senior year of high school (the prehistory of this blog and my standup "career"), I performed at a venue called Cosmics. One of the comics who also performed at Cosmics was a guy called The Dez.
Cut to 4 years later. We're performing in a better room. However, I'm using a lot of the same jokes, albeit with some reworking of the premises. The Dez is also doing a little of the same material, but it feels different. Has much really changed these last 4 years?
Maybe. I'm able to go out and see more things now. I have 4 more years of experience under my belt. I've seen most of college and a place in Australia.
I think there's something interesting about looking at my comedy moment to moment, seeing where it takes me and how I feel about it in that moment. But if after 4 years, I'm still doing a couple of the same jokes, then I'm probably not changing things up that much. I should look at it year by year.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
open mic 12
Venue: Corner Bar Comedy Underground
Date: 10 December, 2010
There is a problem... I've hit a sort of plateau. Not some sort of awesome high plateau where I cannot come down from that. More like a 'decent' level where there's not too much to complain about, but also not too much to get excited about. But I'm gonna try and give lessons out of this. That's right, this blog is gonna be advice from a guy who's not qualified to give advice.
Three minutes per week isn't that much. I need to do more open mics and I need to get one of them voice recorders. That way, I'll be able to actually get more experience about which jokes I can cut.
I think I'm gonna have to cut the 'Martin Bryant' joke, if only because I apparently look a lot more like Jeremy Davies. And that's a good thing.
Date: 10 December, 2010
There is a problem... I've hit a sort of plateau. Not some sort of awesome high plateau where I cannot come down from that. More like a 'decent' level where there's not too much to complain about, but also not too much to get excited about. But I'm gonna try and give lessons out of this. That's right, this blog is gonna be advice from a guy who's not qualified to give advice.
Three minutes per week isn't that much. I need to do more open mics and I need to get one of them voice recorders. That way, I'll be able to actually get more experience about which jokes I can cut.
I think I'm gonna have to cut the 'Martin Bryant' joke, if only because I apparently look a lot more like Jeremy Davies. And that's a good thing.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
The 500 Open Mics christmas list
Hey nobody in particular!
It's that time of year, and I'm a greedy capitalist at heart. But this is the list of stuff I should get for my comedy career, to get me out there better.
- A professional headshot
- A voice recorder
- Business cards
- An update of my website that has all kinds of material about me on it.
I probably should get video of me doing stand-up on youtube at some point. That's a near-future goal.
It's that time of year, and I'm a greedy capitalist at heart. But this is the list of stuff I should get for my comedy career, to get me out there better.
- A professional headshot
- A voice recorder
- Business cards
- An update of my website that has all kinds of material about me on it.
I probably should get video of me doing stand-up on youtube at some point. That's a near-future goal.
open mic 11
Date: 3 December, 2010
Venue: The Corner bar, Minneapolis
My US re-debut! That, plus I hadn't done stand-up for a couple weeks. Plus, I hadn't done stand-up in this venue in like 6 months. Lotta pluses going on tonight.
The Corner Bar's Comedy Underground is held in a basement under the bar. It's a dedicated room: everyone who's there is there for a reason. The downside is that it's kind of hard to find the room in the first place... it's a little out-of-the-way, and there's not much in the way of signage to get you there. Here, the rules are different. You sign up the night of the event, and you get maybe as little as 3 minutes, maybe as much as seven. It seems to work.
But you really don't care about logistics. You care about the emotional pathos of it all. DID I SUCK?
Nope. I didn't exactly rock it out of the park, but people laughed. I was a bit out of sorts and I didn't have a set list going. All of this made me nervous. Next week, next week. I was really excited because I actually had an audience of supportive person (singular) there to cheer me on. Now that I know that people will laugh at my jokes, things are better. I need to visit more open mics, but I also need to get good tires on my car.
500... here I come.
Venue: The Corner bar, Minneapolis
My US re-debut! That, plus I hadn't done stand-up for a couple weeks. Plus, I hadn't done stand-up in this venue in like 6 months. Lotta pluses going on tonight.
The Corner Bar's Comedy Underground is held in a basement under the bar. It's a dedicated room: everyone who's there is there for a reason. The downside is that it's kind of hard to find the room in the first place... it's a little out-of-the-way, and there's not much in the way of signage to get you there. Here, the rules are different. You sign up the night of the event, and you get maybe as little as 3 minutes, maybe as much as seven. It seems to work.
But you really don't care about logistics. You care about the emotional pathos of it all. DID I SUCK?
Nope. I didn't exactly rock it out of the park, but people laughed. I was a bit out of sorts and I didn't have a set list going. All of this made me nervous. Next week, next week. I was really excited because I actually had an audience of supportive person (singular) there to cheer me on. Now that I know that people will laugh at my jokes, things are better. I need to visit more open mics, but I also need to get good tires on my car.
500... here I come.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
open mic 10
Venue: Newmarket Hotel, Brisbane
Date: 22 November, 2010
This was my last night in Australia. What a night it was. I'm not going to pretend like I was on fire or anything, but it felt good and people laughed a lot. It went well, so there's nothing really significant to say about that.
I am going to pick up on something that happened after the show. One of the comics, a semi-pro working out of Sydney, mentioned that my writing and style might have been a bit too smart for the audience. This makes sense. I'm performing in bars, mostly. It's not exactly the most intellectual of places, but it's not the least either. I can't exactly bring in hundreds and thousands of people who like my material, so I have to play to the audience I'm given.
There are lots of comics out there I don't find funny. These same comics are hilarious to millions of people. It seems that just about anyone who performs could find maybe 10,000 people worldwide who think that they're funny. Its just the question of how do you find those people who think you're funny: by doing open mics over and over again, and getting more people exposed to your brand of humor.
So maybe I'm a bit too smart for the average open mic crowd. I'm not gonna change it. I'm not gonna dumb it down. I'm gonna do 490 more of these, and maybe then I'll find the 10,000 people who think I'm funny.
Date: 22 November, 2010
This was my last night in Australia. What a night it was. I'm not going to pretend like I was on fire or anything, but it felt good and people laughed a lot. It went well, so there's nothing really significant to say about that.
I am going to pick up on something that happened after the show. One of the comics, a semi-pro working out of Sydney, mentioned that my writing and style might have been a bit too smart for the audience. This makes sense. I'm performing in bars, mostly. It's not exactly the most intellectual of places, but it's not the least either. I can't exactly bring in hundreds and thousands of people who like my material, so I have to play to the audience I'm given.
There are lots of comics out there I don't find funny. These same comics are hilarious to millions of people. It seems that just about anyone who performs could find maybe 10,000 people worldwide who think that they're funny. Its just the question of how do you find those people who think you're funny: by doing open mics over and over again, and getting more people exposed to your brand of humor.
So maybe I'm a bit too smart for the average open mic crowd. I'm not gonna change it. I'm not gonna dumb it down. I'm gonna do 490 more of these, and maybe then I'll find the 10,000 people who think I'm funny.
Monday, November 15, 2010
open mic 9
Venue: Newmarket Hotel
Date: 15 November 2010
I am not an expert in standup comedy. I can really only speak about how I feel about specific jokes and gigs - anything more than that is out of my expertise. That said, tonight was not good. I wouldn't hesitate to call it the worst gig I ever did the entirety of this blog.
So I've been seeing a lot of progress in my own comedy and I got a little cocky. I thought that I wasn't some kid that's only done this 8 or 9 times, I was a veteran who'd been doing this on and off for four years. I'd even watched the performances from the USC stand-up comedy club and thought that I was better then all of them. Not that I was an expert, but that I was clearly one step above them. I'm sure they've all been doing more open mics than I have, and I'm sure that if I were in that room, that the responses I'd be getting were about the same as theirs, maybe less maybe more.
There's a tendency to believe the audience laughs loudest for you. When you're on stage and rocking faces, you believe that your laughter is louder, longer and more frequent than it is for anyone else. That's just basic psychology, and there's nothing you can really do to change that.
This gig, I could do no right. My jokes and off-the-cuff material were all met with silence. I backpedaled, backpedaled on my backpedalling, and eventually just threw in the towel. I resigned myself to defeat before I'd even told 3 of my better jokes. Maybe it was my mindset. Maybe I'd just gotten arrogant. I thought that I was something I wasn't, and it bit me in the ass.
So let's try this again. Hi, I'm Nick Klaus, and I'm new at this. I don't really have much of a clue what I'm doing. After 500 open mics, maybe I'll have a bit of a clue. Maybe I'll know even less.
Date: 15 November 2010
I am not an expert in standup comedy. I can really only speak about how I feel about specific jokes and gigs - anything more than that is out of my expertise. That said, tonight was not good. I wouldn't hesitate to call it the worst gig I ever did the entirety of this blog.
So I've been seeing a lot of progress in my own comedy and I got a little cocky. I thought that I wasn't some kid that's only done this 8 or 9 times, I was a veteran who'd been doing this on and off for four years. I'd even watched the performances from the USC stand-up comedy club and thought that I was better then all of them. Not that I was an expert, but that I was clearly one step above them. I'm sure they've all been doing more open mics than I have, and I'm sure that if I were in that room, that the responses I'd be getting were about the same as theirs, maybe less maybe more.
There's a tendency to believe the audience laughs loudest for you. When you're on stage and rocking faces, you believe that your laughter is louder, longer and more frequent than it is for anyone else. That's just basic psychology, and there's nothing you can really do to change that.
This gig, I could do no right. My jokes and off-the-cuff material were all met with silence. I backpedaled, backpedaled on my backpedalling, and eventually just threw in the towel. I resigned myself to defeat before I'd even told 3 of my better jokes. Maybe it was my mindset. Maybe I'd just gotten arrogant. I thought that I was something I wasn't, and it bit me in the ass.
So let's try this again. Hi, I'm Nick Klaus, and I'm new at this. I don't really have much of a clue what I'm doing. After 500 open mics, maybe I'll have a bit of a clue. Maybe I'll know even less.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Open mic 8
Venue: The Bank, Fortitude Valley
Date: 10 November, 2010
I don't take compliments well. I'm my own harshest critic, so when people compliment me, I don't know how to respond. Obviously, the word 'thanks' leaves my mouth - I've learned that much. But what the hell am I supposed to say after that? But this was open mic #8 for me, I don't think I've earned the right to be thanked yet. Once I hit 50, then we'll talk.
I tried some new stuff, used some old stuff and people in the audience seemed to enjoy it. People say the Bank is a bad room. I don't disagree, but it's a country mile better than the Hamilton. People here aren't really distracted by pokies or conversations at their own tables. Yes, it's a smaller audience, but it's an audience that mostly wanted to be there. And I've had loads of experience in the past performing in front of small audiences. (this was 4 years ago, but the general principle remains) The only other downside is that there's a lot of noise coming in from the street and the bar across the way.
An aside: the Bank has a wood-fired pizza cafe next door that's vaguely associated with the bar. They have a 50% off deal on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It's a rather large pizza, and I thought that I could eat the whole thing. I was half right.
Another aside: A few weeks ago, some girl at a kebab place recognized me from open mic. She made some joke about how I was going to run home and blog about it. Well, I held off until now. I mean, it's cool that I'm recognized by complete strangers, but it's not as though I've hit some level of awesomeness that makes me famous.
Date: 10 November, 2010
I don't take compliments well. I'm my own harshest critic, so when people compliment me, I don't know how to respond. Obviously, the word 'thanks' leaves my mouth - I've learned that much. But what the hell am I supposed to say after that? But this was open mic #8 for me, I don't think I've earned the right to be thanked yet. Once I hit 50, then we'll talk.
I tried some new stuff, used some old stuff and people in the audience seemed to enjoy it. People say the Bank is a bad room. I don't disagree, but it's a country mile better than the Hamilton. People here aren't really distracted by pokies or conversations at their own tables. Yes, it's a smaller audience, but it's an audience that mostly wanted to be there. And I've had loads of experience in the past performing in front of small audiences. (this was 4 years ago, but the general principle remains) The only other downside is that there's a lot of noise coming in from the street and the bar across the way.
An aside: the Bank has a wood-fired pizza cafe next door that's vaguely associated with the bar. They have a 50% off deal on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It's a rather large pizza, and I thought that I could eat the whole thing. I was half right.
Another aside: A few weeks ago, some girl at a kebab place recognized me from open mic. She made some joke about how I was going to run home and blog about it. Well, I held off until now. I mean, it's cool that I'm recognized by complete strangers, but it's not as though I've hit some level of awesomeness that makes me famous.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Open mic 7
Venue: Newmarket Hotel
Date: 25 October, 2010
Three things made this performance interesting
-The girls from open mic 4.5 were in the audience tonight, seeing me live
-I was the last one to go on tonight. Literally the last. Usually, they reserve that spot for someone like Mark Mead or Shayne Hunter, but tonight it was me. This doesn't mean I'm as good as them, rather the guy who was supposed to be last canceled.
-I wasn't fully in control
That last bullet point needs some explaining. Imagine being rather drunk, to the point where your mouth is saying things but your brain hasn't yet decided if it's a good idea to say those things. It felt a little like that, only minus the drunkenness. I don't know if it's me getting caught up in the moment, or something a little more insidious.
What I do know is that I dropped some new material (a lot of which was actually old material. In other words, 17-year-old me was in charge for a lot of the show.) and it went over well. I also reworked the secondhand smoker joke, to great success.
I think I need to slow things down a little. Maybe that will give me the control I'm looking for.
Date: 25 October, 2010
Three things made this performance interesting
-The girls from open mic 4.5 were in the audience tonight, seeing me live
-I was the last one to go on tonight. Literally the last. Usually, they reserve that spot for someone like Mark Mead or Shayne Hunter, but tonight it was me. This doesn't mean I'm as good as them, rather the guy who was supposed to be last canceled.
-I wasn't fully in control
That last bullet point needs some explaining. Imagine being rather drunk, to the point where your mouth is saying things but your brain hasn't yet decided if it's a good idea to say those things. It felt a little like that, only minus the drunkenness. I don't know if it's me getting caught up in the moment, or something a little more insidious.
What I do know is that I dropped some new material (a lot of which was actually old material. In other words, 17-year-old me was in charge for a lot of the show.) and it went over well. I also reworked the secondhand smoker joke, to great success.
I think I need to slow things down a little. Maybe that will give me the control I'm looking for.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Open mic 6
Date: 18 October
Venue: Newmarket hotel
This was interesting. Interesting indeed.
I invited my housemates to come see me. They'd never seen me perform, so there was some pressure. And I was first. I hate going first, I think. I mean, jumping on stage to a ripe and fresh crowd was an amazing boost of confidence. I came at it pumped and ready to rock some faces and blow some minds.
So the set started out brilliantly, but fell apart as I started the CSI bit. It never really recovered after that. That makes 3 bits that worked (well, two really) and 3 that didn't, if you care about the math. Not exactly what I was hoping for, or expecting.
I think what I need is more consistency. Last time I was here, I told some jokes that went over amazing. This time, I told those same jokes, to the same (good) room and got nothing in return. Different people, but the room should be fairly identical week-to-week. So the thing that must have changed was how I delivered it.
This reminds me of something that happened in high school. I used to do a competitive humorous speech category. After a while, the jokes didn't work. What my coach said I needed to do was to keep it fresh.. to not just go through the motions, but to perform it with something behind it. Now, this lack of skill came about after 6 or 7 tournaments, after I'd given the speech at least 25 times. 25 times made it stale. Here, I've only done some of these jokes two or three times. Some of them aren't good to begin with so there's no saving those. But two times should mean the joke is still fresh, right?
I don't feel like I'm yet at a place where I can give out advice to other young and aspiring comics. What I can do is try and give the reasons behind why I'm doing what I am, and then evaluate those choices after 20 or 30 sets. And what I am choosing to do is to be ruthless. I'm still fresh and I don't yet have a stable of jokes that work every time. I figure I get about 6 to 8 jokes per 5 minute set I perform. So swapping out jokes until I hit that magic 8 good jokes benchmark. Then I just drill that until I get those consistent.
I figure I have 2 jokes that are consistently good, and 2 that might still have legs in them but aren't there yet. This lineup's gonna change a bunch. Let the games begin.
Venue: Newmarket hotel
This was interesting. Interesting indeed.
I invited my housemates to come see me. They'd never seen me perform, so there was some pressure. And I was first. I hate going first, I think. I mean, jumping on stage to a ripe and fresh crowd was an amazing boost of confidence. I came at it pumped and ready to rock some faces and blow some minds.
So the set started out brilliantly, but fell apart as I started the CSI bit. It never really recovered after that. That makes 3 bits that worked (well, two really) and 3 that didn't, if you care about the math. Not exactly what I was hoping for, or expecting.
I think what I need is more consistency. Last time I was here, I told some jokes that went over amazing. This time, I told those same jokes, to the same (good) room and got nothing in return. Different people, but the room should be fairly identical week-to-week. So the thing that must have changed was how I delivered it.
This reminds me of something that happened in high school. I used to do a competitive humorous speech category. After a while, the jokes didn't work. What my coach said I needed to do was to keep it fresh.. to not just go through the motions, but to perform it with something behind it. Now, this lack of skill came about after 6 or 7 tournaments, after I'd given the speech at least 25 times. 25 times made it stale. Here, I've only done some of these jokes two or three times. Some of them aren't good to begin with so there's no saving those. But two times should mean the joke is still fresh, right?
I don't feel like I'm yet at a place where I can give out advice to other young and aspiring comics. What I can do is try and give the reasons behind why I'm doing what I am, and then evaluate those choices after 20 or 30 sets. And what I am choosing to do is to be ruthless. I'm still fresh and I don't yet have a stable of jokes that work every time. I figure I get about 6 to 8 jokes per 5 minute set I perform. So swapping out jokes until I hit that magic 8 good jokes benchmark. Then I just drill that until I get those consistent.
I figure I have 2 jokes that are consistently good, and 2 that might still have legs in them but aren't there yet. This lineup's gonna change a bunch. Let the games begin.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Open mic 5
Date: 14 October 2010
Venue: Hamilton Hotel
So, how'd it go?
Eh. It wasn't anything special. Kind of shit, actually.
But this is open mic #5. That mean's you're 1% of the way there
And your point?
If this is 1% of how funny you're capable of being, think how good 100% is gonna be like
Huh. That makes me feel better. Thanks, unconscious mind.
Here's the story: This was the last night ever at the Hamilton. Ever.
EVER.
I mean, even Shayne Hunter (who's probably top-3 of the open mic-ers here) bombed. Usually he doesn't, and I'll spare you the analysis of how it happened, but it is a bit reassuring knowing that even the best guys have bad nights.
No more of that shitty room for me. Now it's nothing but steak and chips. Except not. See, much as I hated the nights where nothing happens and nobody laughs, (all... 3 of them so far) it's kind of relaxing. There's no pressure. If I only do the Newmarket, I've got a few less labs to try new stuff out. So... I gotta try and get in at The Bank on Wednesdays.
OOH OOH! There's a picture of me doing comedy out there somewhere, Courtesy of Mad Mike Bennett. Nice guy, that Mike. I'll get it here soon.
Venue: Hamilton Hotel
So, how'd it go?
Eh. It wasn't anything special. Kind of shit, actually.
But this is open mic #5. That mean's you're 1% of the way there
And your point?
If this is 1% of how funny you're capable of being, think how good 100% is gonna be like
Huh. That makes me feel better. Thanks, unconscious mind.
Here's the story: This was the last night ever at the Hamilton. Ever.
EVER.
I mean, even Shayne Hunter (who's probably top-3 of the open mic-ers here) bombed. Usually he doesn't, and I'll spare you the analysis of how it happened, but it is a bit reassuring knowing that even the best guys have bad nights.
No more of that shitty room for me. Now it's nothing but steak and chips. Except not. See, much as I hated the nights where nothing happens and nobody laughs, (all... 3 of them so far) it's kind of relaxing. There's no pressure. If I only do the Newmarket, I've got a few less labs to try new stuff out. So... I gotta try and get in at The Bank on Wednesdays.
OOH OOH! There's a picture of me doing comedy out there somewhere, Courtesy of Mad Mike Bennett. Nice guy, that Mike. I'll get it here soon.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Open mic 4.5
Venue: Newmarket hotel, afterhours.
Date: 11 October 2010
What do you mean .5 of an open mic? I wasn't scheduled to be on tonight. I didn't go on during the show, I was just drinking with Mitch, Connor and a couple from Cairns after the show.
Oh and there were a couple of attractive women there too. Did I mention that?
Anyways, Connor and Mitch were on that night and they were great. The woman from Cairns wanted me to show off some of my jokes. So I did. That's why I'm calling it 1/2 of a open mic. It's not a *real* open mic because the audience was 6 people in total and I was just doing it to please them.
Anyways, we stayed around until about 11pm. Which as it turns out is just after the last bus comes by. Dammit indeed. So I had to get a ride to the city from those two women, whom I might have mentioned are cute.
The lesson here: Know when the bus leaves. And drink more often with Mitch. Dude is seriously funny.
Date: 11 October 2010
What do you mean .5 of an open mic? I wasn't scheduled to be on tonight. I didn't go on during the show, I was just drinking with Mitch, Connor and a couple from Cairns after the show.
Oh and there were a couple of attractive women there too. Did I mention that?
Anyways, Connor and Mitch were on that night and they were great. The woman from Cairns wanted me to show off some of my jokes. So I did. That's why I'm calling it 1/2 of a open mic. It's not a *real* open mic because the audience was 6 people in total and I was just doing it to please them.
Anyways, we stayed around until about 11pm. Which as it turns out is just after the last bus comes by. Dammit indeed. So I had to get a ride to the city from those two women, whom I might have mentioned are cute.
The lesson here: Know when the bus leaves. And drink more often with Mitch. Dude is seriously funny.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Open mic 4
Location: The Hamilton Hotel
Date: 7 October, 2010
Let's dive in and look at the biggest scandal rocking the Brisbane open-mic comedy world. Some Journalist decided that as part of her "30 before 30" that she would do open mic. There's nothing wrong with that. More power to ya. (except my 25 before 25 list wants me to be at 200 open mics by that point. Which makes me 200 times cooler than yours.)What was the problem was the way she treated the other open mic'ers in her column.
An excerpt:
Some of them were so relentlessly awful that I felt like taking them aside and just asking what was so wrong in their life that they felt the need to torture themselves like this. I wish I could repeat some of the jokes, but you might be eating as you read this.
This is open mic. We don't have the "10 years of improv training" that you have. Most of us doing this haven't even been on stage more than a dozen times. And we do it because we enjoy it, we do it because we like a challenge. Heck, some of us are doing it just for the hell of it... much like you are.
The column ends with this:
It takes a certain kind of self-flaggelating narcissistic masochist with something to prove to actually get up there in the first place. And hey – now I can proudly say I'm one of them.
Trust us, you're not one of us. For one, we're supportive of each other.
And narcissistic? Have you met me? Granted, I wasn't up that night, but I'm at least 30% humble. The masochism is spot on, however.
Enough of her. Let's focus on me. How did my night go?
Well, the Hamilton is a tough room. Seriously, take a drink every time I say that in this blog. There was something resembling an audience tonight, but most of them only paid attention for the first few seconds, and if they decided it wasn't worth listening to a comic, they ignored him or her.
I did ok. It started off not bad and the audience got quieter from there. I did break out a new joke, which I think has legs. I just need to mime it out better and make it clear what it is I'm doing.
I really want to work on my ability to chat with the audience. In rooms like this, it's got to be the only way to get people to pay attention.
The other great bit of the night: the drunk heckler woman. Stav, the MC for the night (and B-105 morning show co-host) was riffing on an audience member who admitted to working for BP. Drunk heckler woman shouts out 'it wasn't BP'
There was a pause. We briefly considered if she was right
Then everyone in the audience shouts out (mostly in unison) YES IT WAS.
Moral of the story: if you're going to be drunk and heckling, please be stupid too.
Date: 7 October, 2010
Let's dive in and look at the biggest scandal rocking the Brisbane open-mic comedy world. Some Journalist decided that as part of her "30 before 30" that she would do open mic. There's nothing wrong with that. More power to ya. (except my 25 before 25 list wants me to be at 200 open mics by that point. Which makes me 200 times cooler than yours.)What was the problem was the way she treated the other open mic'ers in her column.
An excerpt:
Some of them were so relentlessly awful that I felt like taking them aside and just asking what was so wrong in their life that they felt the need to torture themselves like this. I wish I could repeat some of the jokes, but you might be eating as you read this.
This is open mic. We don't have the "10 years of improv training" that you have. Most of us doing this haven't even been on stage more than a dozen times. And we do it because we enjoy it, we do it because we like a challenge. Heck, some of us are doing it just for the hell of it... much like you are.
The column ends with this:
It takes a certain kind of self-flaggelating narcissistic masochist with something to prove to actually get up there in the first place. And hey – now I can proudly say I'm one of them.
Trust us, you're not one of us. For one, we're supportive of each other.
And narcissistic? Have you met me? Granted, I wasn't up that night, but I'm at least 30% humble. The masochism is spot on, however.
Enough of her. Let's focus on me. How did my night go?
Well, the Hamilton is a tough room. Seriously, take a drink every time I say that in this blog. There was something resembling an audience tonight, but most of them only paid attention for the first few seconds, and if they decided it wasn't worth listening to a comic, they ignored him or her.
I did ok. It started off not bad and the audience got quieter from there. I did break out a new joke, which I think has legs. I just need to mime it out better and make it clear what it is I'm doing.
I really want to work on my ability to chat with the audience. In rooms like this, it's got to be the only way to get people to pay attention.
The other great bit of the night: the drunk heckler woman. Stav, the MC for the night (and B-105 morning show co-host) was riffing on an audience member who admitted to working for BP. Drunk heckler woman shouts out 'it wasn't BP'
There was a pause. We briefly considered if she was right
Then everyone in the audience shouts out (mostly in unison) YES IT WAS.
Moral of the story: if you're going to be drunk and heckling, please be stupid too.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Open mic 3
Venue: Newmarket Hotel
Date: 20 September, 2010
This is probably the best room in Brisbane. There's a lot of expectation riding on this one.
Things weren't looking so hot. It was another rainy night, and people weren't filling up the room. Twenty minutes before showtime, and it looked like there wouldn't be more than 15 people in the audience. Then a wave came in. Not like 200, but easily 30 people in total. That's pretty good for a bar without a dedicated room for comedy.
30 faces. 30 sets of eyes staring at me. That's a lot of pressure. Okay, not really. But it's the largest room I've ever played this year.
Man, I rocked it. I'm not going to say it was easy, or that I'm somehow amazing and immune from bombing, but tonight felt great. So yay, go me.
I'm gonna be nitpicky. I really need to have better segues between jokes, or better ways of mentioning things that comics brought up beforehand. I also think the Brisbane bus joke needs a tighter intro. But I cut out a lot of fat, and threw out some jokes I'd written a long time ago that I hadn't performed yet. They went well. I think my only bit that didn't go over as well as it could have was the last bit.
Here's where I'm a bad comic. I borrowed the structure of a Eugene Mirman joke. Not word for word, like some open mic-goers I've seen before, *cough*Gonzo*cough*, but enough of the gist of it. Like if you saw them side-by-side, you'd be like 'hey, these two look kinda similar'. In the ultimate karmic turnabout, it didn't go over as well as I thought it would. That sounds like a good death knell for that joke.
It went well. The organiser gave me a handshake during the intermission and said that I'd got some good stuff. People are nice, but it still is a good sign. I'm definitely going to be that comic who's using new stuff all the time. I'm okay with that.
I've got funny jokes. I'm going to try and get video of them soon.
Date: 20 September, 2010
This is probably the best room in Brisbane. There's a lot of expectation riding on this one.
Things weren't looking so hot. It was another rainy night, and people weren't filling up the room. Twenty minutes before showtime, and it looked like there wouldn't be more than 15 people in the audience. Then a wave came in. Not like 200, but easily 30 people in total. That's pretty good for a bar without a dedicated room for comedy.
30 faces. 30 sets of eyes staring at me. That's a lot of pressure. Okay, not really. But it's the largest room I've ever played this year.
Man, I rocked it. I'm not going to say it was easy, or that I'm somehow amazing and immune from bombing, but tonight felt great. So yay, go me.
I'm gonna be nitpicky. I really need to have better segues between jokes, or better ways of mentioning things that comics brought up beforehand. I also think the Brisbane bus joke needs a tighter intro. But I cut out a lot of fat, and threw out some jokes I'd written a long time ago that I hadn't performed yet. They went well. I think my only bit that didn't go over as well as it could have was the last bit.
Here's where I'm a bad comic. I borrowed the structure of a Eugene Mirman joke. Not word for word, like some open mic-goers I've seen before, *cough*Gonzo*cough*, but enough of the gist of it. Like if you saw them side-by-side, you'd be like 'hey, these two look kinda similar'. In the ultimate karmic turnabout, it didn't go over as well as I thought it would. That sounds like a good death knell for that joke.
It went well. The organiser gave me a handshake during the intermission and said that I'd got some good stuff. People are nice, but it still is a good sign. I'm definitely going to be that comic who's using new stuff all the time. I'm okay with that.
I've got funny jokes. I'm going to try and get video of them soon.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Open mic 2
Venue: The Hamilton Hotel,
Date: 16 September, 2010
The Hamilton was the first Brisbane open mic I ever visited, even though I didn't perform there until tonight. In a word, the venue is problematic. The stage is erected right next to the betting parlour, and close to the TVs. If you're at the Hamilton, you're either performing or you're not there for comedy.
The problem is that you're stuck with an unwilling audience, so they're not really going to laugh at much. The upside is that going into it, you can expect that people aren't going to laugh at things. That takes the pressure off.
This night went much better. I had the little list of jokes I wanted to do all written out. I told them to the audience. They made noises back at me. The process continued for a bit too long.
If there's one thing I've learned from all my previous open mics (in the days before starting this project) its that the setup should be fairly minimal. You don't want too many words between starting the joke and the place where people are supposed to laugh. Knowing this, I'm tightening my set, getting back to something much cleaner.
Interesting footnote: Kitty's is dead. They're not using that venue anymore. The Hamilton will be dead soon too. This leaves me trying to get in at the Newmarket and wherever else they find rooms.
Date: 16 September, 2010
The Hamilton was the first Brisbane open mic I ever visited, even though I didn't perform there until tonight. In a word, the venue is problematic. The stage is erected right next to the betting parlour, and close to the TVs. If you're at the Hamilton, you're either performing or you're not there for comedy.
The problem is that you're stuck with an unwilling audience, so they're not really going to laugh at much. The upside is that going into it, you can expect that people aren't going to laugh at things. That takes the pressure off.
This night went much better. I had the little list of jokes I wanted to do all written out. I told them to the audience. They made noises back at me. The process continued for a bit too long.
If there's one thing I've learned from all my previous open mics (in the days before starting this project) its that the setup should be fairly minimal. You don't want too many words between starting the joke and the place where people are supposed to laugh. Knowing this, I'm tightening my set, getting back to something much cleaner.
Interesting footnote: Kitty's is dead. They're not using that venue anymore. The Hamilton will be dead soon too. This leaves me trying to get in at the Newmarket and wherever else they find rooms.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Open mic 1
Venue: Kitty O'Shea's
Date: September 5, 2010
If I want to make this odyssey truly satisfying, I should ideally start with nothing.
Boy, did I ever.
This night had all the elements of things going horribly wrong: the night was dark and stormy. I had no clue what I was going to do. The audience was three mostly disinterested people. All things considered, it was a good effort.
I still bombed. That's bad. Killing is good, bombing is bad and I was like amateur night at the RAF. There is no worse sound than the total absence of laughter you expect to hear. It is one of those sounds that makes the bottom of your stomach drop out and you suddenly feel
very
very
foolish.
So I cut my losses and bowed out after about three or four minutes. I'm not exactly sure how long I went on for, because silence has a way of stretching time.
Pommy Johnson, the MC for the night (and a very very funny man) got me some pity applause by saying that this was my first night.
I wanted to say that it wasn't. I knew in the past I could command a room like this and make people laugh. I've performed at the shittiest venue I know of, on nights that were (in the abstract) far worse than this. But that was years ago. I was a different person then.
If I'm going to start from nothing, then there's no better place to start than here. I felt like a complete moron for a good half hour. The show ended, I talked with the other comics, and slowly started to feel better. Walking back to the bus, I felt... alive. I had done open mic and survived. I bombed and lived to tell about it. I was already re-working the things I had said on stage, creating newer, funnier things. Things I could not wait to try.
That's why I do open mics.
Date: September 5, 2010
If I want to make this odyssey truly satisfying, I should ideally start with nothing.
Boy, did I ever.
This night had all the elements of things going horribly wrong: the night was dark and stormy. I had no clue what I was going to do. The audience was three mostly disinterested people. All things considered, it was a good effort.
I still bombed. That's bad. Killing is good, bombing is bad and I was like amateur night at the RAF. There is no worse sound than the total absence of laughter you expect to hear. It is one of those sounds that makes the bottom of your stomach drop out and you suddenly feel
very
very
foolish.
So I cut my losses and bowed out after about three or four minutes. I'm not exactly sure how long I went on for, because silence has a way of stretching time.
Pommy Johnson, the MC for the night (and a very very funny man) got me some pity applause by saying that this was my first night.
I wanted to say that it wasn't. I knew in the past I could command a room like this and make people laugh. I've performed at the shittiest venue I know of, on nights that were (in the abstract) far worse than this. But that was years ago. I was a different person then.
If I'm going to start from nothing, then there's no better place to start than here. I felt like a complete moron for a good half hour. The show ended, I talked with the other comics, and slowly started to feel better. Walking back to the bus, I felt... alive. I had done open mic and survived. I bombed and lived to tell about it. I was already re-working the things I had said on stage, creating newer, funnier things. Things I could not wait to try.
That's why I do open mics.
The manifesto
People say to follow your dreams; do what you love instead of what makes you money. Some of these people are lucky enough to already be famous. Some aren't doing what they're truly passionate about, and instead are doing something to pay the bills. What happens is that most of us are doing things we'd rather not be doing because our dreams are just a bit too far away.
I'm fighting long odds. Comedy is a soul-crushing business, I'm told. Comedy is next to impossible to make it big in. If I believe that I stand a good chance of making it big, I'm delusional. I admit and openly accept that I don't stand a good chance of being successful in my goal. That's the basis of this blog: to see if I can actually do it.
Why am I doing this? Because I want to. Because I'm a hopeless optimist who will either be sorely disappointed in the bitter reality, or I'll somehow get lucky. If I fail at my goal, feel free to mock me. Feel free to join in the chorus of people telling me that I need to grow up and face the real world.
I admit that wanting something isn't enough. There are loads of people out there who want to be famous, to be rich, to be something special. We can't get what we want just because we want it really badly. But if years of focused dedication towards a goal isn't enough to make it happen, then I don't know what is.
The current thinking says that expertise and virtuosity in something only emerges after 10,000 hours of focused and dedicated practice. That's just under 3 hours per day, every day, for ten years. That's working a full-time job for 4 years and 10 months. It takes a lot. Why do you think that so many people stop before ever getting to that level?
I've been trying to be funny for longer than I can remember. I've been writing since age 13, and it took four years for that to click. I've probably put in 1000 hours already, but none of that matters. I'm setting this arbitrary goal of 500 open mics for myself.
I want to break the mold and do what I want because it makes me happy. I might succeed. I probably will fail. But I'd rather fail doing something that fulfills me than succeed at something that leaves me unsatisfied.
I'm fighting long odds. Comedy is a soul-crushing business, I'm told. Comedy is next to impossible to make it big in. If I believe that I stand a good chance of making it big, I'm delusional. I admit and openly accept that I don't stand a good chance of being successful in my goal. That's the basis of this blog: to see if I can actually do it.
Why am I doing this? Because I want to. Because I'm a hopeless optimist who will either be sorely disappointed in the bitter reality, or I'll somehow get lucky. If I fail at my goal, feel free to mock me. Feel free to join in the chorus of people telling me that I need to grow up and face the real world.
I admit that wanting something isn't enough. There are loads of people out there who want to be famous, to be rich, to be something special. We can't get what we want just because we want it really badly. But if years of focused dedication towards a goal isn't enough to make it happen, then I don't know what is.
The current thinking says that expertise and virtuosity in something only emerges after 10,000 hours of focused and dedicated practice. That's just under 3 hours per day, every day, for ten years. That's working a full-time job for 4 years and 10 months. It takes a lot. Why do you think that so many people stop before ever getting to that level?
I've been trying to be funny for longer than I can remember. I've been writing since age 13, and it took four years for that to click. I've probably put in 1000 hours already, but none of that matters. I'm setting this arbitrary goal of 500 open mics for myself.
I want to break the mold and do what I want because it makes me happy. I might succeed. I probably will fail. But I'd rather fail doing something that fulfills me than succeed at something that leaves me unsatisfied.
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