January 99

Fri Jan 1 - One World Cafe

Had a pretty good set. I actually think I can stop worrying about my energy level. The last few shows I've been able to get really up for shows despite what was going on around me. Now I have to start work on making contact with the audience. Telling jokes to people rather than the walls. Yes, the dreaded "EYE CONTACT". And speaking of energy, I never thought I'd say this, but my last show at the luggage store I went overboard. I didn't think you could have too much energy, but you can. There is a level where fear starts creeping into the eyes of the audience. As I listen to the tape from that night I don't sound funny. I sound psychotic.
 

Sat Jan 2 - Java N More

Did a fun set tonight. I did the flipper bit which is always alot of fun. Didn't get very far on the eye contact though, as the audience was very small and sitting far away. Such is how comedy goes in these coffeehouses.
 

Thu Jan 7 - Las Vegas Lounge, Las Vegas NV

My Las Vegas debut! It went well. My energy was good, I made lots of eye contact. I want to thank Barnaby the host for making me feel so welcome. My set went so well in fact that half way through I noticed one of the comedians writing down everything I said. It may sound weird, but I find that flattering. There are several important things about doing this show.
First; I called ahead to get details and arrange a set. This may not sound like a big deal but for someone with a phone phobia like me this is a difficult task.
Second; I proved to myself that I can walk into a strange venue and be funny. I made good judgements about what the audience would react to, and tailored my set successfully.
Third; There were relatives of mine who came to see me perform. In the past this has caused me to tighten up, but this time I put them completely out of my head.
 

Sun Jan 10 - Punchline

I GOT UP! I told Hutch about Las Vegas show and he listened. I wasn't sure I had him convinced but after the show started he walked up to me and told me I was up next. I grabbed my notebook to throw together a set but my mind wasn't working, so I had to go up and wing it. This worked out well though. I'm a note addict. If I know my notes are within reach I'll use them, but if there are no notes to look at, I do fine. I just have to remember to leave the notes back at the table, or better still, back at home. I started off with the Minnie Perl line, and got a good laugh. Then I did some lame Las Vegas ad-libs that didn't. I went into the boxing causes brain damage routine and it killed. From that point on it was one of the best 5 minutes I've ever done. At the time it seemed much shorter. I got the light after what seem like two minutes, and wrapped it up. I timed the set when I listened to the tape. 5 minutes and two seconds. I got the light at 4:30 and wrapped it up in 30 seconds just like I'm supposed to.
 
So what does this mean? First I'm way ahead of schedule on my goals for 99. I played an out-of-town show and did well. I played the Punchline and did very well. I got a video-tape of the Punchline set on the way. This is the first tape I'm not embarrassed to show to people. Second, It shows how important self-promotion is. If I hadn't bragged about my Vegas set, I wouldn't have gone up tonight.
 

Tue Jan 12 - Luggage Store

Boy did that suck. I had no preparation, no energy, and did unfunny material. Not material that I thought was funny and no-one laughed at, but material that I knew wasn't funny. The cycle hits again. As chronicled earlier, I have this, for lack of a better term, intimacy problem. In this case an intimacy with the audience problem. After the success of last Sunday, I become afraid of being too exposed to audiences. I'm afraid I won't have that success again. So I do things to prevent myself from being let down. In this case I did material that I knew would alienate the crowd. This all happening sub-consciously of course. Then I have all these excuses, like I was tired, I got a depressing phone call, etc, which takes the blame off me not working hard enough to be funny. I have to stop doing this. At least this time around I recognize what I'm doing so hopefully I can work through it, and learn to avoid these behaviors in the future.
 

Fri Jan 15 - One World Cafe

Well it was better than Tuesday. Not much though. Again I invented all these reasons and defenses so when the audience didn't laugh at me, it wouldn't be my fault. So tomorrow night, no excuses!
 
I also want to thank the two women who came all the way from Pacifica to see the show after seeing it listed here. It makes me feel good that what I'm doing has some impact.
 

Sat Jan 16 - Java N More

Better. I reworked the set from last night and it flowed much better. Still having trouble opening up, but during my set there was a line of people waiting for coffee, and I got some positive feedback from some of them.
 

Sat Jan 16 - Mock Cafe

Even better. I was more relaxed. I had more fun. There was an actual audience. It feels good to be making progress so quickly. This time around I'm working through these problems in a matter of days rather than weeks or even months.
 

Sun Jan 17 - Punchline

I didn't go up, but it was one of the best comedy shows I ever saw. There was some audition deal for Comedy Central so all the big names in the showcase world were there with their "A" material. Much funniness.
 

Sat Jan 23 - Java N More

Unconnected piles of bits. Some of them worked, others didn't. I need to spend more time writing. I tried to take my raw ideas and just use them. The Bill Clinton joke killed. The MUNI segment sucked! The rest was kind of hit and miss.
 

Sat Jan 23 - Mock Cafe

The audience of three! The routine smoothed out from the earlier set, but still not flowing very well.
 

Tue Jan 26 - Luggage Store

I was very tired from work, so I spent alot of time getting pumped up, and when I went on stage I acted like a fucking game show host. Just bursts of false energy. No sincerity whatsoever. I got some laughs, but I'm not happy about this set went. At the end of the cheese food song I actually clapped for myself. LOW LOW LOW. HACK HACK HACK.
 

Thu Jan 28 -writing session

So here's a thought; In my mind I have always treated the audience as a bunch of strangers that I have to impress. Maybe I should be treating them like my friends. Like hey it's good to see you, I've got to tell you about this funny stuff that happened to me! This may be why I've been sub-consciously backing away from success. I'm afraid to open up too much to the audience because I'm afraid they'll let me down. Most of my friends have let me down in the past. This is mostly due to me keeping them at a distance. A self-fulfilling prophecy.
 

Fri Jan 29 - One World Cafe

Had a bunch of new jokes to try. I had spent quite a bit of time working them out though, so it went pretty good. I tried opening up, but I was working straight from my notes, so that put some distance between us.
 

Sat Jan 30 - Java N More

A great thing happened tonight. I forgot my notes at home. After a few moments of panic, I settled down, and when I got on stage it all came to me. The set went OK. I had fun. It's fun developing jokes over several sets in a short period of time.
 

Sat Jan 30 - Mock cafe

First; thanks to the applause I got for the web site. I really appreciate it.
 
This was a fun set. I love working without a net. The ad libs came so easy. They weren't all funny, but they were real.