Fun set tonight. I haven't been on stage in a long time but I had minimal stage rust. Tonight's set was a bit of an experiment. I tried rewriting some existing material using some methods I've learned working on my novel. I also worked very hard at slowing myself down on stage. It worked well. Unfortunately I won't be on stage again for two weeks. Also unfortunately I had to take off before the show ended. I wanted to watch some of the other comics.
Wrote some good stuff today. I finally managed to bridge the relationship between two of the main characters. I've been worried about pulling that off. I'm going to visit my sister and parents so I'm not going to be able to write for at least a week. Hopefully I'll pick up where I left off.
Got off to a rough start. The jokes about my new haircut bombed. The my strip mine joke bombed. I got the audience back trough the rest of my set though. I didn't work the audience as well as I could have.
Got a great idea for a mystery short story today. I've been saying that I'm not going to work on anything other than my novel, but I think this story has potential and I want to write it while I'm excited about it. I think this story is publishable, and I've been lacking some confidence in my writing lately.
I got to the Mock at 5 past seven and was 11th on the list. Fortunately a couple of comedians went short and I got to do a set. Unfortunately I had to follow a dead set. I ad-libbed a terrible joke to start with. I got nervous and rushed my material. I got some good laughs as set progressed though. I have alot of confidence in my current material. I need to work on my stage prep. I spent some time before the show working on my mystery story. I had trouble shifting roles. No more writing stories just before shows.
I went out for a walk at lunch and stop by Stacey's Bookstore. I was looking through the bargin bin when I saw a book with my name on it. At first I felt very sad, then I noticed that it was HEAVENVILLE, my first novel. I said to myself, "Oh well, it had to happen eventually." I couldn't remember how long ago I wrote HEAVENVILLE so I picked it up to look at the date, but I picked up some other book. I started looking through the bin for my book when I realized that I haven't even finished writing that book yet.
I had a great set tonight. I took my time. I had fun. I had a nice balance between performance and material. The milk cat bit works great as an opener. The Rooter Bong bit was weak. The other bits are developing nicely.
Had a good writing session today. I got strated for real on the mystery story. So far the story is rather awkward, but I have to learn that that's OK. My inner censors have crept back in. I have stop trying to get things right in the first draft. It is going to suck. Rewrites are there for fixing things. It is more important to write, than to write well. Nothing is carved in stone.
Bam Pow Whack! Now I remember why I do comedy. I haven't had this much fun in a comedy club since Wallaby's in Iowa City closed. The difference seems to be that Heather, the owner, is a comedian and still loves comedy and comedians. At the big clubs here in SF I always feel like an outsider trying to break in. I felt very welcome.
Also I had a great set. Nearly every punchline worked. One ad-lib started going wrong, but I managed to bail out of it and get a laugh.