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.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
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.
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