July 99

Jul 24 - Java N More

Back after some time off concentrating on the day job. Hey, sometimes eating and paying the rent takes precedence over comedy. (Maybe that's why I'm not a big star.) So tonight was a character piece; e.e. Crushings - The poet wrestler. I wrote the name down on the sign-up sheet. I told the host what the name was. He got it wrong. The thing about doing a poet is you get to read off a piece of paper. It's part of the act. So even though it was all new material, I wasn't worried about memorizing it. The one-liners failed miserably. Half way through my hands started shaking. This has never happened to me before. I've been nervous and all that, but never shaking hands. I calmed down as I preceded with the longer poems, but never really hit my stride. I never really got into character.
 

Jul 24 - Mock Cafe

The audience of four.I started off in character pretty good, but it didn't last. However I some fun with telling the audience that I was having trouble staying in character. It felt so much better just talking to the audience like people. The one-liners bombed again. The longer poems did OK. But it was the ad-libbed, out-of-character stuff that worked best.
 

Jul 31 - Java N More

Weird set tonight. Another comic did half my act. It was all new material on both our parts, so I'm not saying their was any borrowing of material, but his take on some current events was so close to mine, that I had drop it all in favor of old material. Oh yeah, the place was PACKED. Real audience members and everything. There were over a dozen comedians, nearly all of whom were funny. So I went up 12th and it was already after closing time, so I had to rush through my material. It was OK.
 

Jul 31 - Mock Cafe

Didn't get up. Had trouble finding parking so I was high up on the list. Again over a dozen comedians, and a whole set who weren't at Java N More. Again, very funny stuff.
 

Jul 31 - Thoughts

So I think now that I have all the tools. I need to get alot more stage time to refine them, but I'm not doing anything inherently wrong on stage. What I need to do now is to work more on finding my voice. No. I have found my voice. What I have to do is work on using my voice in my comedy. I have to find a way to make the pain funny, without turning mean and cynical. To lead people down the dark alleys where the clever graffiti is hidden. To show people how funny it is that that woman on MUNI was trying to commit suicide by eating too many grapes. (OK, that one might take some work.)