Six Months of Open Mic

I've just recently surpassed the six month mark of doing open mic stand up comedy. When I started back in March, I told myself that I just wanted to give it a shot, and do it consistently for at least six months. Well, here I am, and in danger of being too immodest, I'm doing a lot better at it than I imagined. My delivery has improved ten fold, and my confidence on stage has really started to shine through. 

I think my greatest asset has been recording my shows (typically just audio) and reviewing them relentlessly. If something doesn't work, I typically blame it on my delivery and not on the crowd. For a while, if something didn't work, I would comment afterwords on how the crowd just wasn't into it. However, as I've done this more and more, I've brought the worst crowds out of a funk and had them laughing again, so I now try to avoid that excuse. Instead, I just meticulously go over my material, picking it apart and trying out new premises, punchlines, and transitions. 

I'm still making plenty of rookie mistakes, and my jokes still sometimes fall flat on their face the first time I tell them, but it happens less and less. I'm still learning and improving each time I go up, and soon, I think I will have moved up from noobie to novice.