Soooo.... how'd that work out?

There's this phenomena that I experience every time I get off stage of... how to put it gently... utter disappointment. I don't know what it is, if it's my body coming off an endorphin high or just the product of a freshly crushed ego, but I always get off stage thinking I did an absolutely atrocious job. I usually can't shake the feeling until I've listened to the audio back at home and hear some of the laughter that somehow didn't quite register while I was on stage. That said, my immediate impression of myself is always much worse than the actual performance, but even still, it's a humbling experience to put yourself through that on such a regular basis.

Now, I'm not going to pretend that my set last night brought the house down or even was near the top of the showcase list. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I was one of the last comics to go on, and it was nearing the end of a full 2 hour show that went through 5 or 6 showcase comics, then the headliner, Edwin San Juan, and then 5 more showcase comics. The comic right before me, though a good friend, got a little ranty and I saw the already waning post-headliner audience get even slimmer. I fortunately had a small posse of friends who stuck around to see me perform, but the crowd was limp and tired of laughing.

The saddest part of it all was that I gave what was probably my best performance yet (I know, I say that every time), but to a Monday night audience that had already given all it had to the comics before. Luckily, I've become an expert at finding the grins and nodding heads in skimpy crowds, and replacing them with belly laughs in my head. I'm not sure if I'm going to post the video from last night. A buddy recorded it, but didn't hit record all the way so the first 2 jokes (which, in retrospect, were probably not that funny) didn't make it on there. It's an embarrassingly quiet crowd, though, and since I occasionally point friends to my YouTube results to get a sense of my comedy, I might just leave this developmental step off of the public list. As painful as it may've been, I still walked away a better comic than when I came in.

A (slightly) new approach...

I'm going on stage at Club Deluxe tonight as part of their Monday night showcase. It's my third time appearing in their showcase, and although my sets there have gotten increasingly better, I'm hoping to make this performance significantly better than the rest. I'm not only pulling out some of my best jokes, I also carefully trimmed back the premise of each and isolated the punchline, keeping the least amount of premise necessary. This will allow me to tell more jokes, and use the momentum to keep the crowd going. Besides, I'm learning that if part of a premise can be removed without hurting the joke, then it's not really a premise at all, it's unfunny fluff.

At some point, I'll want to re-extend these jokes, as a few of them have become only a shade longer than a one-liner. However, for tonight, my goal is to get at least a couple eruptions of laughter without killing the mood with an interminable build-up. I'll be sure to update you on how it goes.

Tonight's Headliner at Club Deluxe: Edwin San Juan

Better, but a long way to go.

So, I went on stage at Club Deluxe last Monday as part of their comedy showcase. My jokes went okay, they got some laughs, but they only revealed to me how amateur I still am. The comedians who came after me had tight sets that got laugh after laugh. Mine got a few chuckles, but I just couldn't keep the crowd at the feverish pitch that comedians strive for. Granted, I'm still new at this whole thing, but it really put in perspective where I'm at in my development. On the other hand, going on stage before so many comedians who are between my level and the level of a professional is really helping me understand where I need to go next. 

In my set on Monday, I brought out some of my best jokes, and many of them went okay, but they really didn't get the response I was hoping for. It could be that my timing is still off, or that I'm not building enough tension before the releasing punchline. Either way, I took away a slightly better understanding of what makes them funny or unfunny than when I walked in. For example, I botched the punchline of the Tupperware joke by literally one word, and it made all the difference. And for some reason my Sports joke drew as much sympathy as laughs (notice the "awww"). I'm still digesting the lessons of that night, but it at least went well enough that the host personally mentioned to me how much I've been improving and that he was still happy that I was able to bring in a small crowd of drinking, cover-paying customers.  :P

Here it is, let me know what you think.

Back in the Mix

So, I recently tried entering the Butterfinger Comedy Showdown, with no success. Granted, I'm new at this and really shouldn't have the audicity to think that I could already win comedy competitions, however this one was different. This one was poorly marketed. It was only open to submissions for a month, and by week two there was still only one submission... and it sucked. The caveat for the submission was that it had to somehow reference Butterfinger, but according to the rules, it couldn't mention any other brands... or any people, real or fake... or insult anyone... or be more than a minute long. 

With my hands tied, I tried to give it a shot since the prize was a trip to LA for an appearance at the Comedy Store, where you competed with one other winner for a spot at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal, which is huge. In any case, you can see my video submissions here and here. Granted, not my best work, and it didn't help that you could hear the cook in the background and that this was an absolutely dead night at the BrainWash, no one was laughing at anyone. It was painful, and I felt a little like a corporate sell out whore, but I still think I did better than a few people that made it into the top five, namely, the stupid bitch listed under elham.jazab. I'm not sure if she was picked for demographics or what, but she really did suck.

In any case, I then went on a vacation for a little over a week, and so bottom line was that I hadn't told any good new material for a few weeks. I went up last Thursday, however, and killed, so I'm pretty glad to not be doing comedy for anyone but me once again. This upcoming Monday I have another part in the Club Deluxe showcase, which I'm very excited about. Last time I appeared, I literally brought over 20 people, which was pretty substantial considering that this was the first time I had been up there and that there were only a little less than 30 people in the entire place. Nonetheless, as I've noted, I was less than ecstatic over my last performance, so this one I'm bringing my A-game. I'm only bringing stuff that I've tested a few times before and on which my timing is about as good as it's going to get. We'll see how it goes, wish me luck.

My First Showcase

Last night I performed in the comedy showcase for Club Deluxe. It was the first time I've ever been chosen to go on stage. Up until last night, it had been only open mics, and the only qualification for getting on stage was showing up. Of course, Club Deluxe may not be the talent gatekeeper for all of San Francisco, but it was a small step in a good direction, and it felt pretty damn good.

The show was decent, not my best, but decent. I had been sick as hell the two days before and my fever had broken literally the night before the show. Whether that was an excuse for my timing being off is questionable, but it was surely a contributing factor. Another factor may have been that I had a huge group of friends arrive, which was both reassuring and slightly frightening. 

I don't know what it was, but the jokes just felt a little off. The pauses weren't long enough. The punchlines weren't punchy enough. The set just didn't come off quite as I had imagined. There were a lot of chuckles, but not a lot of big laughs. Don't get me wrong, it could have gone worse, and I was certainly better than at least half the other people that got up there, but all I can do is learn through obsessively replaying the video and then do better next time. 

There was one drunk, obnoxious girl in the audience who spoke throughout the entire showcase at normal volume or above, and she had been made fun of by multiple comics but just hadn't learned her lesson because she talked throughout my first joke. You'll see me take a quick dig at her right before my second bit, and I'm still debating whether it was the right move. In any case, share your thoughts about the performance if you have any. 

Sports, Blacking Out, Tupperware, Beard, Muni

This was my performance at Club Deluxe on September 1st. It was an open mic competition of sorts, not one that gave away money, but the "winners" would be asked back to be a part of future comedy showcases. They hold a 1 hour showcase every Monday night at 9pm right before the headlining comedian, and then do a true open mic after the headliner.

Sure enough, my performance was good enough to be asked back! I'm actually going back on stage next Monday, the 22nd. Sal Calanni is the headliner, and it's a $5 cover (though I'm pretty sure the showcase comedians don't get paid), but I'm just excited to have an attentive audience who actually has to pay to see me!

You'll see that I repeated the sports joke from the last video I posted, but I tried to slow it down and milk the timing a little better. I only brought material that I had tried out before, but I hadn't done any of these jokes for a month before, so they had some time to marinate. I'm sure I'll do a post soon on people who repeat their jokes too often, but suffice to say that I wasn't going to take a chance on brand new material on this night.

All five jokes seemed to go over really well. It's amazing to see the difference in audience reaction when you have a group of people who are actually listening to you. I really felt good after this performance, and I learned a lot from it. I'm sure I'll post a video of my upcoming performance, and we'll see if I was actually able to do some things better next time. Any thoughts you might have on the delivery or content would be appreciated.

Open Mic Comedy in San Francisco

This isn't the first list of San Francisco Open Mic venues out there, but it's up-to-date, which is more than you can say about most of the lists you'll find. Also, this will be San Francisco only. If you want to know about Open Mic elsewhere, then start your own damn blog.

ps. I'm only listing the one's I've been to, or know are legit. Please leave a comment if you know of one that is definitely going on as of Fall '08.

MONDAY

Club Deluxe
Comedy Showcase until 11, open mic afterwards

1511 Haight St (at Ashbury)

(415) 829-7061

Host: Al Gonzales

Sea Biscuit Cafe
Time unknown
3815 Noriega Street (at 45th Ave)
(415) 661-3784

Host: Sal Calanni

TUESDAY

Annie's Social Club

7-9 (SIGN-UP 6:30)
917 Folsom Street (at 5th St)

(415) 974-1585

Hosts: Jeff Cleary & Chad Lehrman

Grant & Green

10pm

1371 Grant Ave (at Green)

(415) 693-9565

Host: Ben Feldman

THURSDAY

BrainWash Cafe & Laundromat

7-Whenever (Sign up at 6:30 )
1122 Folsom (at 7th St)

(415) 861-3663

Host: Tony Sparks

The Usual Suspects Cafe
7pm-8pm
450 Broadway St (at Montgomery)
(415) 641-1717
Host: Danny Dechi

FRIDAY

The Usual Suspects Cafe
7pm-8pm
450 Broadway St (at Montgomery)
(415) 641-1717
Host: Danny Dechi

SATURDAY

Café International

Comedy Showcase 4th Saturday of the month
508 Haight St (@ Fillmore)

(415) 552-7390

Farley's Coffee
Second Saturday of every month, 7:15pm
1315 18th St. (at Texas)
Host: Liz Grant

The Usual Suspects Cafe
7pm-8pm
450 Broadway St (at Montgomery)
(415) 641-1717
Host: Danny Dechi

SUNDAY
Punchline Comedy Club

8pm

444 Battery St (at Clay)

(415) 397-7573

If you live outside of San Francisco, you can try to weed through the lists provided by www.SFStandup.com and www.BayAreaOpenMics.com. If you don't live in San Francisco, then why did you read through this entire post?