Apr 98

Apr 23 - Writing Session

My father-in-law passed away so I haven't been able to do comedy for a while. I've also been doing the looking for a job thing, which takes alot of energy. But enough with the excuses, I just haven't felt funny lately.
 
As I may have mentioned, I am a recovering introvert. When I was working on coming out of my shell I had this phrase, "Into the void," that I would say to myself when ever I had to do something that made me feel uncomfortable. I find myself saying this to myself again. The lack of employment has made me look at my life, and I realize I had slipped further into suburbia than I thought.
 
So with these issues addressed, I am writing again, and hope to do 5 shows in the next 4 days. The new material deals with my trip back to Iowa. Deaths are generally great fodder for material, but this one was exceptional.
 

Apr 24 - One World Cafe

I had a good set. It went much better than I expected since I haven't been on stage for so long. The going back to Des Moines material worked, but needs a major rewrite. With some structure and some development, this could be a very funny routine.
 

Apr 25 - Java N More

I didn't get a chance to work on the material as I had hoped, so I used the same stream-of-consciousness(sp?) style and it worked OK. There were quite a few pedestrians in the crowd so I got some good reactions from them. The repo man gloves went over very well. The combination of the gloves and the red-neck attire and the dad hat created an interesting mix. Recently on I stage I have been trying to dress "nicer", but I think I've been genericising myself. This goes back to the suburbia theme. I need to express myself fashion wise. Or perhaps costume would be a better term.
 

Apr 25 - Java Source

Two shows in one night, I love it! I had a good set. Yes, my first good set at the Java Source! It was mostly the same as at Java N More. Hopefully I do the rework on the routine before Tuesday. I still think it could be much funnier.
 
Weird thing after the show. I was walking to my car, and I still had the costume on. I'm wearing a black t-shirt, blue plaid flannel shirt, axe-murder hunting vest, light blue dad-style rain hat, black fingerless biker gloves with chains, and red leather studded bracelet. It's a weird image to be sure. As I'm walking down the street nearly every male gives me the "oh you think YOUR tough" look. But I was so up from having a good set, I'm just walking along grinning like an idiot at everyone. They didn't know how to handle it.
 

Apr 28 - Luggage Store

I wish I knew what was happening. The computer geek in me fighting to take over. This routine about my Father-In-Law's death just flows so well. It writes itself. My problem is that I can't quantify what it is about this story that makes it so interesting to audiences. A few things I do know. I always do better when telling REAL stories. This is because it's easy for me to commit to the material. It's real to me. I can see all the details, and it's easier for me to make it real for the audience. Several of the scenes still need punchlines, but I'm working on that. The Daly city joke got a huge laugh.
 
The other thing is there is that so much happened on this trip, I don't have time to tell it all. Tonight I did nearly 9 minutes. Thanks to Tony for not pulling me off. I was on a roll.
 

Apr 28 - Would You Believe...Cocktails?

Didn't perform, but had to talk about it. A few comics into the show the mic broke. Now this tends to be a loud room anyway, so without a mic the comedians were drowned out even more. What was interesting was how the comedians handled it. So ran with it, making the lack of mic the focus of their sets. Others tried, and failed, doing their usual sets. And at least one just refused to even perform.
 
Before the show some of us were talking about "The Good Old Days" of comedy. And afterwards I realized that for me these are the good old days. The people I know and the clubs I'm playing will be remembered as where I grew up as a comedian. Iowa is where my comedy was born, but this is where I'm growing up.