September 99

Sep 11 - Java N More

OK this time, I have an excuse for taking two weeks off from comedy. I was very sick. But I'm feeling much better now.
 
Pretty good set, almost all new material. Some of it worked some of it didn't. Good crowd. Several non-comedians.
 

Sep 11 - Mock Cafe

Better set, smaller crowd. The couple in the back liked nearly everything I did, and the guy up front laughed at a few things, though he was trying hard not to laugh.
 

Sep 18 - Java N More

Did a really good set. Had lots of fun. It's funny because I was video-taping my set, which usually makes me self-conscious, but just as I was being intro'd, the low battery light started flashing, so I thought it would die before I finished my set, so I didn't worry about it. But it didn't die, so I have a decent tape of a pretty good set.
 

Sep 18 - Mock Cafe

OK set. I did a completely different set. The problem was that I didn't have time to run through the material before hand, so my delivery wasn't as crisp as it could have been. I also think I spit on the this woman in the front row, so that isn't cool. Again I video-taped the set, but managed to put that fact completely out of my head.
 

Sep 19 - Punchline

No set for me tonight. It was the super-secret Aspen showcase. But to the credit of whoever put the list together, it wasn't the "white males on parade" that it has been in the past.
 

Sep 19 - The answering machine

Got a great message on my answering machine from someone who liked my web site, and singled out this journal. Thanks, I always like praise for my work.

Sep 26 - Writing Session

Today I wrote the "hackest" routine of my life. It was about mall security guards. After writing this routine, and seeing it for what it was, I started to look at my last few performances. They weren't bad, but I noticed that I was hiding behind my material. My success or failure depended on how well I told my material. This isn't what I should be doing. My strength is my energy, stage presence and weird outlook. I need to put these things before my material. I think this makes me more honest with the audience.
 

Sep 26 - Java N More

Small audience, but they were good laughers. I went up with a few topics in mind, but no real material written. It worked pretty well. There were some rough spots, but there were also some unplanned revelations. Funny Ones. It's like writing while you are performing. (Which makes my tape of my set MUCH more important.)

Sep 26 - Mock Cafe

Good audience! It was a little light when I went up, but grew as the night progressed. I refined a few things from my set at JnM, and things went well, still a few rough spots, but the ad-libs were even funnier than the first set. This is going to be alot of work.
 

Sep 27 - Thoughts

Something I forgot to mention; I watched the other comedians last night, and saw other people whose material was the crux of their act, rather than their performance of the material, and for some of them it works. For some others it didn't. What I'm trying to say is that what I am writing about is my strengths and weaknesses. Yours will probably be different. So kids, don't try this at home, unless YOU think that it's right for YOU.