The weekend standard shows.

Had Winston's Friday, decent crowd considering Christmas Eve. There was 15 or so comics. We started a little later than usual so everyone got to performed for at least a small crowd. My set went pretty ok. I actually went longer than I wanted which is something I never do. It's not a big deal, it's a cool thing. I used to struggle to stay on stage, but now I want to keep going. I have some new jokes that I enjoy and rotating that with the old ones is keeping things fun. The headliner was brought in by the dude that's leaving. He was nice and all but the fact he is a touring comedian surprises me. It goes to show it's so important to be friendly to people, cause you never know who will make it big. He is touring with a guy that's been on comedy central and has some big credits. I was under the impression we weren't paying him, as it was a small show and I didn't want to do the show for free. Well I get a call from the dude asking where the headliners money was. I didn't call him back nor was I gonna deal with that. I guess he had a text war with the guy I run the show with who was in D.C. with his family on XMas eve noless. I guess they had words and in the end the dude deleted the other from facebook. Ohhhh so badass. I guess the guy I run the show with called the headliner and agreed to pay him. Think it's kind of stupid but whatever, it was only $100.

Did the comedy store on sunday. There was a decent amount of people there, but it had the winston's vibe as they were mostly all there for one person. I got up there told a few jokes that were meh. I then told a newer joke that hit then heard people chatting. I engaged with them a bit, then before I even peaked up the light was on. I rambled out a final joke, and then the light was basically flashing. I got off, somewhat surprised how quickly 3 minutes goes by. After that we headed over to the Blarney Stone. There was a good amount of people. I went up 4th or so. Had a good combo of jokes and chatting, think it went decent. Had a guy come talk to me after saying how he enjoys watching me, and I'm somewhat a "Blarney Stone Legend." It was cool and weird, but always feels good to get recognized for doing well.

Poker you'll be the death of me. Finally had a good day. Woke up at 2 am on Xmas and started playing some tournaments, won 2 of them, and cashed in another for a $1200 profit. Well I found a way to donate all the money back last night playing cash games. I've come to the realization that I gamble too much online with cash games, and I will always a losing player. I don't trust the sites, and get so unlucky that I make calls more than I would live as I can't imagine it's happening to me again. Last night I got pretty screwed in a few huge pots, but I possibly may have overplayed my hands. But I did lose with aa to kk at least 3 times, and lost with aces a lot. I'm just going to play tournaments until I lose this final $500 and won't play again until March.

God damn poker

So rediculous how bad I'm running lately. It's so insane. I get coolered nonstop, and whenever I actually have anything no one else does. Played tourney's during the day, lost about $100. Couldn't sleep so player about 1200 hands in 3 hours only to lose another $400. I officially can not trust that site. I won 1 of 4 flips, and the only one I won was for a small pot. I'm down probably $3000 in the past couple months. I've never gone through a downswing like this. I have the next 5 days off, and have $400 more dollars to lose. Once that's gone I can't play until March. It's so depressing it sucks the life out of me. I didn't drink last night for the first time in a long time. I didn't sleep at all. Went to sleep maybe at 4:30 but woke up every ten minutes before my alarm went off at 5:30. I did sleep basically all day the last couple of days. One I was off, the other I called out cause I got too wasted the night before.

Shows have been somewhat slow. Did a few open mics on Sunday. First the Comedy Store was the most packed I've ever seen for the open mic. That crowd is so easy. I Well as long as the person was funny. There were a few people that bombed, one bombed worse than anyone I've seen in awhile. A very weird older man that tried to buy carpet from me at Home Depot who is also a comic was there. He has called the store a few times asking for me. He even asked me to pick him up to take me to dinner. I gave him a fake number. I somewhat feel bad but I panicked. He was there SUnday performing. My heart stopped and I definately didn't want him to see me. I told the host to bring me up as a different name but luckily he left before I went on stage.

After that I headed to the Blarney. Kinda sucks they made the energy boozes illegal. One of those was the perfect mix to get me comfortable on stage and give me a slight boost. Sunday I tried drinking some rum and 7 up and it made me a little too drunk. Blarney is the only place I really drink at, but I take it as my fun show, relaxing end of the week. I heckled a few people, nothing too bad just friendly jabs. One of the comics sent me a message that he'd prefer I never heckle again. Understood. I enjoy a good heckle now and again. My set was eh, nothing great. Just chatting with the crowd but no real big laughs.

Wednesday ws a bar show. I was slightly hesitant to do it, as the last time was the worst show I've done. This time they got rid of the pool table in the middle of the stage and there were actual audience members. Who knows if he can keep it up every week, but it was fun. I drank a little bit before we left. And we got 2 drink tickets, which turned into 6 as some nondrinking comics gave me there's. Me, no responsiblity, and free jager is not a good thing. I drank about 6 drinks in 30 minutes and wandered outside. I went over to my buddies house for about 5 minutes. Weird experience. Bought some fritos, and headed back to the show. I messed around with my roomies friend a bit. I woke up the next morning in my clothes with a slight headache. I rarely get hungover, but the fact I didn't drink enough water the night before and mixed a lot of alcohols, meant going to work was unlikely. I was still up at 7, but I didn't really want to face the people. Just layed in bed and played some poker. God I hope things turn around this week. Winston's tonight, well see how it goes. Not expecting much.

It's been awhile

So depression is in full force. Never been through a losing streak so long. Been playing pretty well, but the unluckiness is making me ill. I can't trust the sites and even live is torture. Went to Vegas, it was miserable. Saw the gal I dated for a little bit. She is a full blown alcoholic, smokes, loves her dogs, and isn't affectionate at all. I have no idea why I like her. She is one of the few girls I've had a connection with since the gf. She has let herself get rather big and I really not physically or mentally attracted to her but I like her for some reason. She took off one night which led me to stay up and play poker for 24 hours straight. I almost made all my money back and found a way to give it all back. I need to quit as depression is setting in hardcore. I keep saying I'm gonna quit drinking for this or that and it never happens. I'm in such a rutt, it's pathetic.

Anyways comedy has been good. Took a week off when I went to Vegas. It was weird getting back into it. Had a show in a small town south of L.A. It was a small crowd but they laughed at just about everything. It was a table of family members and a few other scattered people. Funny thing is it was mostly a few SD comic buds booked by an L.A. comic. He's a good dude. When we get there he says order whatever food or drink you want. After about one round the waitress says "You guys have maxed out your tab." The booker is like what, this never happens... Ok it's cool. He says order whatever he'll pick up the tab. I stop drinking, but the others continue to order. It ends up being $60 or so, which they pay back the $30 he paid us. I didn't throw in as I drove and it was close to $30 in gas money. My set went pretty ok. Been trying some new jokes, most went ok. It was a fun show, but wouldn't say I'd do it again.

Before I went up I had a phone call with one of my former "friends" in comedy. I've talked about how he guilted me off his show. I talked to him about it. He's such a robot, he just kept saying things to squash all the beef. I don't even care about getting on shows, just want to be asked. He's all business and could careless about a friendship and thinking about others. Sucks I won't be able to do the show while my parents are here, but that's their choice.

Wednesday I was suppose to do a small bar show, but I never heard back from the booker, and wanted to play poker. Bad idea, just ran like shit. The bad luck is so depressing. Anyways, last night I was at the Comedy Store. I should have tried harder to promote. There ended up being 80 or so people. I had 3 for me. Pretty sad how I can bring so few people. I'm usually funny everytime, and often do different jokes, but people just don't want to see me. I followed a newer dude we put on the show to help promote. He bombed pretty hard. I had a set in mind, but knew I had to start off strong. I did my rap joke, which killed. I then tried some smarter jokes that got some awwww's but no true laughs. I closed with the bit with my roommate. It went really well.

Tonight was Winston's. It was a small crowd but they were listening and laughing. I tried some newer jokes which mostly hit. Some of the awww jokes from last night got solid laughs. I really had fun at the show tonight, and found myself laughing more than usual. A lot of us hung out after the show. I enjoy the comradery that comes with OBC. There is one dude that is a pain in the butt that I can't wait til he leaves. Every week there's something new he wants. Tonight he whined to go up later. Other weeks he's whinned to go up earlier. Can't wait til he leaves, it will make the show even better

Two open mics with jokes

Did a few small shows. First Comedy Store. Was one of the smaller crowds I've seen there in awhile. There was a wide array of zanny comics on. One guy yelled at everyone, another guy danced with his feet, and one girl brought most of the crowd but displayed the worst 3 minutes I've ever watched. She covered her face in a beard, wore a jock strap, talked about hacky stuff. It was truly a train wreck. I don't get why everyone wants to try a gimmick and think comedy is easy. Anyways I got up there tried a few jokes that went subpar. Ended with announcing an upcoming show I have which was probably the only thing that hit. I tried chatting with the crowd with no response. Funny cause I went to the gym and came back, and the guy I tried to chat with said nothing to me, but must have had some booze in him cause he was chatting it up later in the show. Before I left I tried to chat it up with one of the dudes that guilted me off his show. As I'm approaching, I hear him inviting another lunatic comic. Ok then. I'm really thinking my comments on facebook has really affected me getting on shows. Comics are pathetic.

Next up was Blarney. I was pretty tired as I didn't get much sleep the night before, and worked all day. I was feeling a slight throat problem, but have been putting away the water, and think it's going away slowly. I usually have an engergy booze before I go to the show, but as they've been banned in S.D. I tried something else that did nothing. There was very few people. Maybe 10 noncomedians, with only 5 sitting in the front. There were a few comics that sat right in the front. Not sure why they'd do that. Most don't laugh and are just playing with their phones. I followed the dude I tried to talk to earlier. He went into this crazy character that he does on occasion thats just a rip off of someone else's joke. He even admits it. He went onto tell some jokes, then made a comment about me being bitter or something. Completely unwarranted and got zero laughs. My set was pretty low energy, but I stuck with my plan of doing jokes. Some went well, it's tough to gauge from such a small sample size, but I think some are solid. I was happy I did the jokes. I need to keep doing that.

Goodish shows

Did a few shows the past couple days. First was a somewhat pop in at the Comedy Store. One of the booker's told me he'd put me up the night before. I was somewhat worried when I got there as he wasn't there. Luckily they were running ahead of schedule which is extremely rare, like never happens. There was probably 100 or so people there, which is a good amount for a non promoted night. I wish Winston's could bring in 1/3 of that. Anyways I went up slightly nervous I think. That place is the only place I feel any nerves. I started off a little shakey, stumbled over a few words. I eventually got into my grove, started with some people. I even jumbled my final joke. It was a combo of not doing the joke often, chatting with the crowd, and my brain working ahead of itself. I felt pretty good after getting off stage. It would be so swell if I could do that 3 nights a week. I wouldn't feel pressured to crush everytime and could work on developing other/ newer jokes.

Last night was actually better than expected. There was maybe 12 audience members on top of the comics. One of the features brought zero people. Didn't thank me for the time, and just left. He won't be invited back. Anyways, the crowd was silent but unlike other shows they actually laughed and most of them came to the front. I tried a lot of newer jokes and felt comfortable up there. I did nearly 25 minutes which is cool as there was a lot of jokes I didn't do. I wrote out about half my jokes on a piece of paper and did maybe half of those ones. So thinking I can entertain for at least an hour at this point is pretty cool. The set was a combo of jokes and slight crowd banter. I think those in attendance enjoyed themselves, and got a few compliments. One from a gal who was amazingly beautiful, obv. there with her bf. My friend came. She usually only makes it to miserable shows. Luckily this wasn't terrible, not a great show by any means, but not embarassingly bad. Her friend and a dude were there seeing me for the first time. Not sure they had much fun as they left right after, oh well.

"You were the dirtiest one."

So after much thought I've decided to make the blog private. Few reasons, mostly because I'm tired of not getting on shows. Last night there was a show helped put on by two guys I brought to Maine. There was 15 comics on the show, it was a show that didn't need to be promoted, and they didn't ask me. I also asked them to be on their once a month show when my parents come to visit. At first they agreed, this week they called and basically pressured me into not doing the show. They booked me on a another show, which is self promoting. I understand the move to an extent, but I gave them an option to make up for my lack of promoting capabilities. They have now been removed from my show's email list. I probably should not be so petty but I'm so tired of being passed up for shows.

I joke a lot on facebook, asking for time etc. Completely kidding, but I've got asked to be on shows and also told I should stop doing it. 95% of San Diego comics have no sense of reality and are not funny people. They are not pleasurable to talk to in person and are all around jackasses. I joke around most of the time, in person and on facebook. Yes some of my comments can be considered mean or rude, but if you know me I'm totally kidding. I'm done dealing with lame comics who arn't funny and arn't going to do anything to help me. I posted on someone's wall, who wasn't even the show booker if I could get 7 minutes. A few days later I get a snide message from the booker saying I could get 7 minutes. Could he get 7 minutes on a show he knew he couldn't. Douchebag move, but I originally accepted. Then I decided I'd show support for my friend who was doing a show in L.A. I sent him a message saying I didn't feel comfortable taking time I wasn't asked to have. Instead of saying, ok cool. He went around to tell other people. Who in turn told my "friend." Pretty sad this kid is suppose to be one of my best friend's in comedy and he couldn't tell me who said it. He then lectured me for the first 30 minutes of the drive how I need to be nicer and stop writing rude comments on people's facebook walls. This really bothered me. It's like I can't trust anyone to just be relaxed and have fun. There's maybe 3 or 4 comics that are actually funny people. The rest are uptight lunnies. So embarassing the gossip that surrounds this town. I know L.A. is going to be the same thing, probably worse, but at least I'll be prepared to not trust anyone.

L.A. was somewhat cool. We had to pay $15 to get into the show. My "friend" said he'd talk to the booker about getting me time or at least get in free. He did neither. That also bothered me. He acts like I'm some monster in the scene, but I've helped him immensely. I truly don't do things for favors. But I've been doing Winston's for over a year now and I'd say I've gotten very few shows from it. Who knows why I don't get on shows. I finally feel like I'm making some headway at the Comedy Store. Plan is to keep hanging around in hopes of getting regular spots. I am respectful to all the guys there. Let's see if it pays off, or I'll feel screwed again. Last night as I was leaving I told the booker I'd be back tomorrow. He said if there's time at the end of the show he'd put me up. That's cool. We'll see.

So anyhow enough whining, I had a show last night. I didn't really know what to expect. I get there and it's basically a little bit larger than Blarney. I'd say this is a venue I excel in. Somewhat intimate with most of the crowd listening. I went up 3rd. I spoke to the crowd a little bit, after the initial, "Mclovin" yell. It's been awhile since I've heard that. I pretty much ignored it and continued. It was mostly older, dirty jokes with some crowd chatter. I had a coworker there with a date, were a lot alike, and somewhat feel we'd make a good couple. But then I see the guy she's on a date with and realize I'm probably not her type. Also the gal I spoke with after the show Saturday was also there, with another dude? She texted me this week, not really sure why. It's weird, pretty girls are fans of my comedy just not of me. Who knows. She texted me after the show saying I did well. Maybe I should still chat with her, as she did bring 5 or so people. I have to network somehow. Anyways my set went pretty solid. Didn't have the strong ending I had hoped but did about 15 minutes. A few people said I did well after, and the show promoter said a lot of people said I was their favorite one. That's cool. A guy after the show said you were good, "you were the dirtiest one." That came somewhat as a shock to me. I realize I talk about sex and whatnot, but I definately don't want to be labeled a dirty comic. I chatted with an older female comic, who I'm pretty sure is interested in more than my comedy. I can pull in the ones I'm not interested in for some reason. She said I did well but need to clean up my act if I really want to make it. Oh how my comedy's changed.

Winston's empty and full...

Well didn't have any weekday shows for the first time in awhile. Winston's was the most dead I've ever seen it. It was a polar opposite of last week. There was no one there, but they were all listening. It would have been nice if they all sat together in the front. That way I could at least hear or see laughs. I voiced out some new jokes, some eh, some are good ideas but no real joke in it. We hung out for a little bit after and went home, as I started work at 4 frickin AM that day.

Last night was a special Winston's show. I wasn't sure how the turn out would be. When I got there it was pretty dead. I was expecting it to stay that way. But by the time the show started there was over 100 people. I brought a date, first date, who claimed she rarely laughs. Great idea Jeff.... Even on the meal before she didn't laugh much. I don't laugh often so I can't really complain. But it's weird, I always make girls laugh. That's all I have.. She left after my set, so who knows what that means. But can I really date someone that doesn't laugh?

Anyways, the set was eh. Went up second. Started off good. Then seemed a bunch of people walked in and were talking. Not sure if it was cause the jokes were subpar or they were saying their hello's. After a slight lull I got into my "dirty" jokes and ended pretty strong. I had the roomie do the protegie thing. It was probably a bad idea to try as they were a bar crowd, and it went over most of their heads.

I felt decent about the set. It's tough to gauge at Winston's as it's not made for comedy. The laughs don't resinate to the stage. I knew I had to go dirty, but wanted to win them over with some smart stuff. I just need to realize that bar crowds want dick jokes. My job is to be funny in every environment, gotta swallow the pride and do it. I wasn't expecting much when I got offstage but I got at least 10 people to say I did well. One black guy said I was a natural, and had a look for comedy.. Even some gals, which is cool. I went to the standard let me add you on facebook. She was pretty, but a little stuck up. Not sure if it was the sauce, but she was fiesty. I'll add her, see if anything comes from it. No reason to not pursue all angles.

I chatted with one of the gals on the show. She is dang pretty. She's on the radio and has the ability to bring a good amount of people. She was pretty drunk which was amusing, but she had some nice words.

Weekend filled with jokes, and ends with :(

Had shows Thursday, Friday, and two last night. They were varying styles, audience members, and jokes. I'd say they all were somewhat successful. Thursday I did a bar show in OB. Before I swung by the Comedy Store to watch Rod Piper but we had to leave before he went on stage. The dude before him ran the light by at least ten minutes. At first I thought he was really funny, but after awhile it got a little redundant. He did a lot of jokes about being a kid. And while they were funny, and delivered with a lot of energy, I kind of got tired of hearing it. He definately was funny and the crowd loved him, just as a comic I was like "Wow this is the same joke." I guess when you have 45 minutes you need to stretch at times, but this was too much. Rod did buy like 15 pizzas for the crowd which was pretty cool, sadly my tubby body didn't get to have any.

Anyways we headed over to the OB show. There was about a crowd of maybe 10 scattered people. We were told a 930 start so we rushed, but when we arrived they were starting at 10. No biggie, just wish I would have known so I could have seen Mr. Piper. We did get a couple drink tickets so that was nice. I got up there and basically toyed around with the audience and the stage and whatnot. I'm not sure if I should be using these opportunities to voice out jokes and gauge other comics reactions. I used to do that at Brick by Brick, and that helped me develope material quickly. I just can it in so often that I never get to try out these countless new jokes I've been working on. I think I did well and got a good amount of laughs considering.

Friday was Winston's. I hosted. The headliner was originally from OB but lives in Boston now. He brought a majority of the crowd, which ended up being pretty large. Sadly they didn't really give anyone a chance other than him. That happens so much at Winston's lately. It's frustrating, but scattered laugh is better than none. I tried some jokes, but nothing seemed to work. Did have a couple audience members aknowledge the tough environment and thought I did well, considering. I had to ask the bouncer to throw someone out for the first time since I took over, and basically only the 2 or 3rd time I've seen someone thrown out of a show I did. I tried to ask the guy to stop and he just yelled, "Screw you, I'm just having fun. I'm part of the show" Ummm ok. He just kept yelling random crap. I guess he used to donate some tricked out scateboard to the show. I remember them. They did look cool, but no one ever bought tickets anyways. People are weird.

Last night I had a show at UCSD. A comic kind of asked me to do it when I did a show with him last week or so. He kind of played it off like it wasn't a big thing. He said I could do 5 minutes or so early in the show. The place was called Porter's Pub. Going in I wasn't expecting much. Plus I drove around the campus for about 20 minutes and was getting a little frustrated. Finally I called the guy and located the spot. I walk in and it looked like the college bar show we did in NH. Kinda crazy they paid us money for that show. I talked to one of the comics and he said the show was in the other room. It ended up having a big stage and seats and whatnot. They even charged people to get in. I would have set up the room a little better but they was a pretty good turnout. The ceilings were pretty high so the laughs to resinate that much on the stage but I got some solid laughs. Did mostly pre Winston's headline, but I did 10 plus minutes with no set list. I could do at least 20 at this point with no set list so I guess that's growth.

The final show was at Blarney. There was a good amount of people there. They weren't really paying much attention to the comics and just talking and drinking. The gal I used to date was there. What I thought was luckily ended up being sad that she left before I went up. I ended up doing all crowd work, but think it went really well. Only 2 or 3 of the things I said didn't get big laughs. Kinda funny that there is starting to be some regular audience members. There's one dude thats been there 3 straight weeks and he's always complimenting me. Somewhat feels like a fan. I still haven't been noticed off stage but I imagine it'll happen. I did get somewhat pressured to give another headlining spot to a comic I don't care much for personally. I guess I have to be a professional and be a team player. I just didn't like his attitude after the last show. Also giving a guy like that a headlining spot does absolutely nothing for the show or me. May sound selfish, but why book a show if I'm not going to get anything from it.

Life stuff. Grandpa died today. Luckily I have no shows this week. I was at work and saw I had a missed call from my Dad. I think I spoke about it before, but one thing about getting older is that anytime I get a call from my Dad it's more than likely going to be bad news. I called him back and of course grandpa passed away. I didn't know how to react or what to say. I just said I'd call him back. I told my friend at work and let my boss know I was going to head home. I know I almost flip out on customers on a normal day, no sence being there dealing with the crap. I remember when my dad called me to tell me my aunt died. I don't know how to deal with serious things. Am I suppose to cry, yell. I joke around 99% of the time, I'm simply not good at being serious. I don't think I'm going home for the funeral. I haven't seen my grandpa in around 3 years, and even then was very brief. I don't really need my last memory to see him dead. I realize everyone dies, but I'd prefer not seeing it. I don't want my family to be upset I don't go. But that's not really a good reason to fly across the country. I wasn't really that close to him. He used to crack jokes and be the funny grandpa but after my grandma died he changed a lot. Somewhat negative and not a real treat to be around. I'll probably regret not going someday, but right now I have to do what's best for me.

Logical questioning

Had a couple shows at the Palace the last 2 nights. First was the open mic. It's kind of a cluster f word. Lotta a random lonely comics. It's kinda a free for all. They have a regular list, then an alternates list. I normally don't even bother signing up for the regular list as the host lets me and many others just pop in. This week I was on the regular list towards the bottom. I checked in with the host who was just filling in. He said, "you want to go up sooner." Sure. Can't complain with getting special treatment, but can't say I totally agree with it. I gave the guy that makes the list some suggestions on how to improve the show. Didn't seem like he was going to implement them. Can't really blame him, he does all this work for the Palace and gets little in return. My set went ok. I worked for 45 minutes on one 3 minute joke at the gym before heading over there. I tried it out and it went ok. I got booed for one horse joke I made. That's kinda funny, that she was offended by a joke.

Last night I was at the Palace again for a show that called itself Uncensored comedy. They brought in a comic from L.A. is quite blue and perverted. I watched a video he had from the Montreal Comedy Festival. Not my style of comedy. I guess I don't understand why a groin makes for a good joke. I can go up there and talk about banging midgets and putting my balls on babies heads. Is that really comedy. My set was somewhat dreadful. Had some friends there. They were sat right in the front row and weren't happy about it. I told them it would be fine if they move. The door guy made them go back to the front!? They were also charged 3.75 for a water. My first joke was questioned as some guys said they wouldnt turn their friends in for $1 million. SO rediculous for people to honestly say that. Even my solid jokes weren't recieved that well.

The crowd loved dumb jokes about boobs, being asian, black, and having std's. Shows like that make me question if I'll ever make it in comedy. I don't want to yell, jump around, and talk about the struggle of being white. These 2 guys at the palace do the same god damn hacky minority jokes every time they get on stage and crowds eat the shit up. It's so depressing. Oh you like boobs, who the fuck doesn't. Oh you shouldn't say the n word around your black friend, no shit. Audience wake up, you could write that joke. Awful.

Also this week the Rockstar comedy competition concluded. And while I believe once again the funniest person won I don't trust the results. In the finals last time, I think the funniest guy won, but he didn't have the greatest set that night and he didn't bring that many audience members. I wasn't at this last one but I know the guy that came in second brought a lot of people and had a good set. The guy that won had maybe 7 people in the audience. The results are suppose to be 75% crowd and 25% judges vote. I know in the last one neither judge voted for me. And I finished 5th. I didn't have my best set but I did have 25 plus people there. I really question this result. With first place votes being 6 points, and one guy bringing probably half the crowd I don't know how mathmatically he doesn't win. Maybe his friends didn't vote him first, but honestly, how does a guy with 7 people win. I realize the winner really gets nothing, other than the title, and $1000 but it is a cool title. These contests are cheap ploys to make the club money on what would normally be an off night, but this result just makes me wonder.

Am I jealous?

Had a few somewhat pressure filled shows the last couple days. Friday at Winston's I had a cute co worker there. The show was running long. The host let one of the comics do at least 12 minutes, 4 minutes more than he was suppose to. Also, the first 10 people or so did a minute more than I had alloted them. Even though I wasn't hosting nor should I really care, when the show isn't running on time it stresses me out. The guy that did 12 plus minutes is a real pain, and is suppose to leave S.D. next month and that will be more than awesome. I'm not sure what is exactly wrong with him, but he has no social graces. He made some comment on the OBC wall about me being a rising star with one of the oldest comics we have. He also commented on the hosts page about how great he did and how he should do it every week. Hmmmm I wonder if that's because he let you do more time than the headliners and other people that help promote the show. I understand he was doing ok, but at the same time he bombs often should we cut him short then? He'll still do 8 minutes whether people are walking out or laughing.

Anyways my set went ok. Nothing great. Did slight crowd work, but mostly jokes. Some hit, some not so much. It's tough to be funny when I'm thinking about the show running long and impressing people that had never seen me before. I've been trying to work on the new jokes I've been writing but never seem to get them out, oh well.

Last night I had a couple shows. One was downtown. I was going in thinking it was gonna be pretty awful, as I normally do. I got there and was somewhat surprised as there were people. Comedy followed music which is never an easy transition. I went up 3rd. I opened with some jokes I haven't done in awhile. Clean for the most part. I've been doing different jokes since Thursday. I planned to just do jokes, I was purposely looking over the audience to not make eye contact and want to interact. Then a gal said something, and it was go time. Last half was a mixture of jokes and chatting. One gal kept chiming in and actually ruined a few of my jokes. I couldn't finish them. It's tough playing off rambling and inaudiable barking. I tried to shut her up, but she kept talking. I did a few jokes, got the light, and got off. I headed out the back after my set, as I hate having to immediately walk through the crowd after I get off stage. It's just weird to walk through people somewhat hoping they'll say something but knowing normally they won't. I waited upstairs for about 10 minutes then walked through to one good joke from another comic. Oh well...

After that I headed over to the Blarney Stone. I wasn't sure how it was going to be as there was a meeting at Home Depot until 10. People know I am there, but I don't really advertise people to come. A few people came, mostly people I don't speak to. Most of them left before I went on stage, but 2 stayed. Both my immediate supervisors, and female. I would have preferred them to have left and even made up some story to try to get them to leave. I got up there and told some jokes and talked to some people. It was subpar, nothing great. Would have liked them to see me for the first time at an actual show or basically anywhere but there. Oh well. I did kind of flirt with a gal on stage, and wrote down my info on a piece of paper and called it my "card." I got a text quickly after, which ended up being her friend telling me off. I assumed she was kidding. Later I got a text from the gal. Ended up with her saying she just wants friends, blah blah. Least I tried.

Well the headline. There is a comic that is sweeping the S.D. scene. Every comic is raving about him and putting him on all the shows. He'll more than likely when the competition tonight. He's a nice guy, and I was drawn to him from the start. Mostly because he told off another comic via email, and I can always respect honesty. Well I feel like all of his jokes are just everyday thoughts yelled via a joke. One of his jokes I thought would make a sketch many months ago. He is basically just yelling white stereotypes. Maybe that is what comedy is all about. Audiences love asian and black comics because of their high energy. Maybe I need to ignore the words and work more on physical movements. Who knows? I hope I'm questioning his success because of the quality of his jokes, not because he has moved past me.

It's 6:45 why am I awake?

So like I've talked about I've cut down on drinking, mostly just elimatinated my nightly intake of vodka. One of the main reasons I drink is I can't sleep otherwise. I wake up every 30 minutes and wake up very early. My mind is very active and always thinking. I also have a lot of dreams. Many times I dream about my ex. Yes I realize it's been 4 years and she's married to another dude, they may even have a kid I hear. So messed up that I can't move on. Even gals I've dated in S.D. only one or two I hung out with I didn't get drunk every meeting we had. I don't know why it's so hard to find someone I like. I don't persue women, or dress nice, but you'd figure I'd get lucky and meet someone by now. It's tough to meet women as all I do is comedy, most of my friends are comedians, and most of them are single, whatever.

Comedy was busy this week. Did a show Monday at the Lestat's open mic. It's a weird show as it's mostly music and the crowd isn't really pro comedy. First off all the musicians get 10 minutes, and comics only get 5. It's also a clean show. And although I wouldn't consider myself a clean comic, I do drop some swear words and discuss adult relations on occasion. I struggled through the set, got heckled by a 13 year old, and worked out some new jokes. It wasn't good by any means, but it makes me stronger.

Next up was a hosting gig Wednesday at the Palace. Kind of a weird spot as I asked to get on the show. I was half kidding, half saying "Why wasn't I asked to be on this show." The promoter asked if I wanted to host and figured why not. Kinda funny as I was later asked if I wanted to be on the back end of the show. Random as it was the first time I'd been asked in like 3 months. Dang my luck. Anyways the crowd was pretty wild. They didn't want to think and wanted to be apart of the show. I imagine most of them had never been to a comeedy show and just wanted to laugh at fart and dick jokes. Some of the comics did well, others struggled. As a host I got few laughs but I did manage to get some. I wanted to try some jokes but it wasn't a good night for that. We paid a few bucks in tips and that's cool.

Now onto last night. Rowdy crowd. I got on at the Comedy Store on part of a show where the comics bring a party bus. Good on the service but many of the people never have been to a comedy show. I was outside talking with a couple guys and they said they were just hanging out at the bar the bus was leaving from and thought, "Sure well go." They had never been to a comedy show nor really had a clue where it was going. So when I went up there was a lot of talking. Well first the guy before me tried to bring back the host who was too busy hugging babies and shooting a rap video and never returned. Plus the mic stand was broken. So then comics start yelling, "Just bring Jeff up." Sweet easy transition. So I get up there and all I can hear is people talking. I feel like I'm yelling. I was a little stressed before the show because I wanted to do a somewhat clean set because I was recording it. I am in talks with my college to try to do a show next semester. I would feel much better giving them a tape that didn't just talk about sex and whatnot. This crowd would not be receptive to that so I had to essentially be a monkey, let the crowd pull my string, and tell the jokes, clapping my hands and dying inside. I would say I brought the crowd around and by the end heard little to no chatter, but can't say I was happy about it. Basically all the jokes I did I wrote last year, most of them I performed in the half hour I headlined last year. That's pretty deflating. I mess around so much on stage now that I don't work on my jokes like I used to. I'm not comfortable telling a lot of my jokes as some of them I've only told a few times. And with my stumbling problem, I need to stick to jokes I know I can deliver freely. Oh well. I got laughs in a tough environment, whether or not it's a good thing who knows.

Why are you doing comedy?

So I've been off work the last 4 days, and I'm not playing poker so that leaves me a lot of time to do nothing. I have no real hobbies, so my days off include searching the internet, mostly facebook and my email. Most of my time is spent on facebook looking at people's pages thinking, "Why the f am I looking at this person's page?" Why am I even "friend's" with this person? I often leave sarcastic comments on people's pages. But I look around at some of these crazies posts. Either just insane, sad, or why are you putting this for the public to see? This may sound cocky, but I just have no clue why some people do comedy. Really why are you wasting everyone's time? So annoying. I want to sleep in a hole when I have a bad set. I can't imagine doing it night in and night out. The worst is seeing comics do the same jokes over and over again that never work. I've done so many jokes just once. Some I'm not even sure if they are good or not, cause I tried them at a shaddy open mic. I've recently retried some jokes, and some went over well. I have so many jokes, but always seem to stay with the same 20 or so minutes. Enough about me, let's stick to the point. Comedy is filled with crazy people.

I did a couple open mics last night. First was comedy store. I spent the afternoon watching football and drinking beer. I took a nap and headed over to the store. There was a good amount of people in the crowd but they weren't a big laughing crowd persay. I worked on some new jokes, and did so so. Nothing great. I did notice I saw the light go on which seemed pretty early, then go off, and then got lit again. My roomie claimed other comics thought I got more time. I doubt I got much more than 3 minutes but who knows.

After that I headed to the Blarney Stone. There was also a good amount of people there. Never an easy crowd. The first few people struggled but I think I did ok for Blarney anways. I recognized the people from last week that said I did good while I was up there. He said something like "I enjoy watching you up there." That was cool. I did a combo of jokes and crowd stuff again. I was actually somewhat enjoying myself and made it to the light.

Hey guys I'm trying to be funny

So did a show near L.A. on Friday. Was fun other than the part where I had to tell jokes. Went up with some friends and hung out before the show. There was a lot of adult beverages at the place. I didn't want to drink much before as it was a late start, 10 PM. Plus I was going up second to last meaning I won't be going up until 11 or so. I didn't want to be drunk or tired so I had a beer or two.

The show was kind of weird because for the most part the audeince were people coming from the party. Most of them were rich kids, too cool to laugh. Mostly a stuck up crowd, not the usual comedy crowd. A lot of them were friends with one of the comics and didn't really even laugh that much for him. They were just plain disrespectful to be honest. There was a bar, but the spot where the comedy was going off was a closed off room. But the people still stayed in the comedy area and talked. I realize not everyone understands how a comedy show works but honestly just go in the other room.

I had to go up after an unplanned intermission. Right before I was about to be brought up the dj goes "hey I gotta change the tape, give me 5 minutes." Ahhh ok. So I tell the crowd to use the restroom and return. Intermissions are never easy, and with this crowd I knew it would be terrible. The guy that brought me up tried to shhh the crowd with no luck. Then another guy came up and attempted to silence them. It worked somewhat but throughout my set I just heard talking and little laughter. I didn't feel miserable, but definately not a great set. Fart and sex jokes would do great on a crowd like that. For a crowd made up of a lot of teachers they didn't care much for intellectual jokes.

The headliner did pretty well. Hes high energy and does a lot of body movements. I've seen him a few times and didn't think he was anything amazing. But I think he did pretty well that night. He is a little older and think he may just be getting back into comedy. He might have been a little rusty. I spoke to him after about comedy and whatnot. He was pretty nice and supportive of me. He said like I've been hearing lately "What are you doing here?" L.A. and New York is where to be. I'm thinking a lot now that New York is an option for next summer. Definately need to quit drinking soon or at least curb it and start really putting my efforts into making comedy into something more than a hobby.

I'm always tired....

So I did a couple shows this week. One was a pop in at the Comedy Palace open mic. There was a decent amount of people in the crowd for a random Tuesday. They were listening and laughing with the good jokes. I have been writing a lot of new jokes lately. I'd imagine it has to do with the elimination of vodka in my diet. But with little drinking means very little sleep. I have been having a few beers or whatever but I still wake up around 7 or 8 AM and can't fall back asleep. It's no fun.

Tuesday I tried all new jokes. Still struggling through making them funny and comfortable. It's weird when I first started I'd write and write a new joke. One joke to turn into 3 or 4. I haven't done much of that style lately. Mostly I just think of an idea and work it out on stage. I have a lot of shows coming up in the near future and want to try to polish these. For the most part I'm only going to be doing 10 minutes at the most but I'd like to be comfortable to do 30 without the aid of a set list.

And then there's Wednesday's show. I am always happy when anyone asks me to do a show. In this case I should have said thanks but no thanks. The good I did get 3 free drinks and $5. It's not much, but it's nice to get a little something for my time. Anyways I get there and see it's a tiny stage, ok, but there's a pool table right out front of the stage. There are no chairs, just a few stools to the right and left. Most of the people were sitting in the back where the bar was and had no interest in standing to watch comics they've never heard of. I came into the show somewhat bitter and took full advantage of the free drinks and got a couple of the biggest beers they offered. I was suppose to go 3rd but got bumped all the way down to second to last. Ok, but with the combination of having an angry buzz and a crowd of 0.0 people that weren't comics I wasn't pleased to struggle through a set. I mumbled a bit, tried a set up, got no response, complained a bit, did one joke, and got off. I felt kind of like a douchey comic but honestly I'm tired of all these comics trying to do their own rooms and thinking it's easy. You can't just show up and have a comedy show. Everyone wants more stage time but really what is happening is the scene is getting flooded with crappy rooms, that there are few good spots.

I want to create a comics convention where we meet and try to get some kind of control. We are the ones that are providing a service to these bars and getting nothing out of it. It's so competitive in the scene that it makes it impossible to make it. I find myself struggling to continue to make Winston's a success as there just are so many random shows out there. I ask one person to be on, and they have a show somehwere else. None of these places can sustained business without a crowd. I'd imagine the bar Wednesday lost money as the booker gave 2 drink tickets to every one of the 8 or so comics, plus paid us $5 each. No one was at the bar to see the show. They basically gave away money. More power to the comics, but honestly what's the point. They should say watch a comedy show, free drink for every comic you watch.

Death one card at a time....

So it's official I need to quit poker or I will certainly die young. I can honestly say either those sites are rigged or I am the unluckiest human on earth. Yesterday I played very well and made a decent amount of money. Today I played moderately well, and lost over and over and over again with the second best full house. It's pretty scary to be honest. So depressing. Just stare at the screen thinking, "Why me?" I could understand if I played bad or was drunk, but at this point that's not the case. I simply am an unlucky person. As I've spoke about I'm not a spiritual person, maybe this is what I get. But at the same time this has to be it. I need to come to the realization that no matter how much poker knowledge I have, no matter how many times I can get it in with the best hand, I will lose. It's demoralizing to think I am doomed to be miserable if I continue to play poker. I must stop, it will be my downfall if I continue. I wish I never learned how to play poker. Maybe like blackjack I've hit the wall. Maybe I can not win again. Someone is trying to tell me to stop. Hello L.A., as much as I hate you looks like I'll be seeing you soon.

Did the block party show on Saturday. It was raining in the morning and I was worried it would continue. Fortunately the rain went away. We headed over there and it looked pretty interesting. I checked in to see when I'll be performing. Seemed no one really knew. I was told I may go up sooner. I was open as I knew it was going to be brutal either way. I drank some beer and chatted it up with my friends, listened to the rappers. My friend was also suppose to go up but he backed out. He has funny jokes, but doesn't really interact with the crowd much and often gets nervous. I understand, I just like doing random gigs and testing myself. I ended up going after some rappers. I'd say I did ok. Just basically chatted with people, and then some old guy came walking by and he was interesting.

Last night I went to Blarney. There was a good amount of people there but most of them were not interested in hearing comics speak. I chatted with the crowd. Still not sure if that's ok to do at the show, but even when I tried to do jokes I got nothing out of it. Someone who I did talk to throughout the show said I was funny, so that's a plus. I brought a guy on stage and he spoke a bit, that's always entertaining.

Am I cocky?

cocky1
adj cockier, cockiest
excessively proud of oneself

cock·y (kk)
adj. cock·i·er, cock·i·est
Overly self-assertive or self-confident.

Seems I'm titling a lot of my blogs with questions. So a comic I often joke with asked me if I'm serious when I say, "You think you're better than me." The answer like the question is tough. Do I think I'm more talented than many comics, yes. Do I walk around, ignoring people, thinking I'm "better than you," I'd hope I don't. Since I was 14 years old I wanted to be a comic. I had no idea what that meant, but I knew I wanted to entertain, and be in movies, etc. I don't do comedy for fun, I do it to one day make it my life. If I didn't think I was better than many of the people, I wouldn't waste my time. You have to think your the best otherwise what's the point. When I play poker I always think I'm the best at the table. I guess by the definitions of cocky above I wouldn't say I'm cocky. I'm certainly not proud of myself, nor am I overly self-assertive. I would say I am self-confident, but if you're not, you'll never make it as a comic. You have to get on stage and make strangers laugh. Many people say they like to laugh but most rarely do. Laughter is somewhat a sign of weakness. Your words are more entertaining then their own thoughts. I don't think I'm better than anyone, and give many opportunities to new comedians. But I do think if one is to take comedy or anything seriously for that matter you have to at least want to be the best.

I can't say I completely love doing comedy. I enjoy it, but I am very competitive and it's one of the few things in life no matter how hard I work the results are out of my hands. I can craft a joke for hours, even days, but if a crowd doesn't laugh it's probably not funny. I could kill every night, but there is very little chance that comedy central's going to be calling me at the end of the week. Comedy takes time. A comic asked me to do a show this week, I of course said yes. He then something to the affect of we'll be happy to have you there telling jokes, being miserable. He wasn't being mean, but it was just funny that I give off a miserable vibe.

Winston's was Winston's. One person brought most of the crowd, and they were a tough sell. I did a mixture of old jokes and some brand new stuff. The new stuff went pretty ok. One joke is long, and a work in progress. It's tough to work out jokes at Winston's as the response is so scattered. I got a little feedback from some comics, mostly positive, so that's a plus. After the show I hung out with some of the comics. The thing about comics is most of the time all we talk about is comedy. I get annoyed, but for the most part it's all we have in common. One reason I don't enjoy talking about it is as for the most part it's talking poorly behind people's backs. I realize that's a part of life, but against popular belief I'm not a mean person. I'll make jokes about other comics, but really have nothing against anyone. I don't like how many people act or carry themselves but can't control everyone.

Long set, fun times

So it had been awhile since I did a long set at a comedy club. It was fun. I did a mixture of old and new jokes. I refered back to my set list a few times, but feel comfortable I could have done 15 without it. I have a couple new jokes that I wanted to do but was somewhat afraid to do them as I was doing pretty well. There were a few jokes that didn't hit but overall I liked how it went. The laughs sounded louder on stage than they sounded on the camera, but I've noticed that before.

I finally heard back about the block party show and it's this weekend. I'm looking forward to it, but I hear it might rain which would blow. I asked one of my comedy buds, and instead of being excited he kind of wants to back out. I'd like to ask one more person but I really don't know who to ask. i have a few people in mind but it's going to take a special kind of comic to do this show as I imagine it won't be easy. I somewhat asked one guy and he turned it down. I have a few other people in mind but I'm so jaded about comedy at this point I don't even want to offer anyone else opportunities. I'll think about it.

Life stuff. I had an interview for a job today. But after a half hour of chatting with her I realized it was a little too involved than I wanted. I told her I don't think it was going to work and headed north to play a poker tournament. I liked the way I play and of course got screwed to get knocked out after 3 hours of solid play. I'm really hoping this downswing ends soon as it's taking a toll out of me.

The poker girl returned my email saying she didn't think I was excited enough and wasn't doing enough. She said she'll send my $50 but is swamped at the moment. Ya sending a check takes so long. Whatever.

Here's the video from the other night.

Did I peak in San Diego?

Had a few shows, nothing huge worth noting. Friday at Winston's was somewhat busy. Had a dude that is nowhere ready to be up late promote the show. I think he brought a decent amount of people, but I wasn't even sure he was gonna make it. It was around 755 when he finally got there, saying "Did I miss it?" In retrospect I should have said yes as he got up there paced like a manaic and even made reference to the fact the only reason I put him up late is because he can bring people. I wish I had that luxury. There was a dude that went up earlier in the night that once again made a comment about me. Something to the affect of, "Give it up for your host Jeff, let him know, cause let's be honest Winston's is the only thing he has." I know he's attempting to joke, but it's just so out of left field. I mess with people a lot, and hope I don't come off so douchey. I just wonder what causes him to say things like that other than insecurities, but if he wants to dig himself a hole be my guest.

Had a couple guys come down from L.A. I'm trying to make connections up there as I'd like to make it up there eventually. Both of them said they'd send me some contact lists, neither came through. 2 of the 3 did thank me the next day for the time, but thank you's arn't helping me get anywhere. Chatted it up with one of the dudes who seems to get up almost every day. It appears comedy is his only gig, claiming most gigs pay him a little money, 20-40$. It would be nice to make some money here and there. Even $10.

My set was eh. I've actually been writing a lot and had a few new jokes I tried out. Both eh, but one I think can be reworked to be pretty good. I wrote it out last night and may try it tonight crowd dependant. I had a friend in town checking out the show and seeing me for the first time. It was a standard Winston's crowd, talkative and random laughing but all I can hear is the talking. A lot of times I was just watching his face and reactions. He's pretty political now so my little ha ha's arn't much for his intellectual mind. He actual loved an older comic that talks about Bin Laden and hating America, go figure.

Last night I did a couple open mics. Started my set by saying, "I'm Jeff Bilodeau and I'm here to save the show." It was playful and went over well. I wanted to try the new jokes, but the crowd was pretty tight and unresponsive so I didn't want to try it and see it fail. So I did some older jokes, and even they did hit huge but there was maybe 15 people there. When I was walking to my car after I saw a guy looking at me a few times, then he said "good set man." Like I've said before those things mean a lot. But the way I watched his body language he almost felt intimidated to say anything. That's really cool. I don't know what to do in those situations. I just said thanks man and kept walking. Should I shake his hand, hug him, kiss his girlfriend, who knows?

Next I returned to the Blarney Stone. Haven't been there in a few weeks, since the situation with the host. I'm pretty sure it's done, but the vibe seemed a little different there now. Not quite the fun, unpredicable spot it was before. Seemed more structured which is good and bad. I liked how before it felt like anything could happen, it was a good release after a stressful week of life and comedy. I felt a little weird, not sure if I can talk to people or not. Of course the stage Jeff showed up and right off the bat spoke to people. It was playful and nothing crazy. I did a 50/50 of jokes and crowd stuff. Mostly old jokes, didn't really take any chances. It was eh. I may have left a little before the light, but I got to the peak and got off. Thanked the host for the time, and asked him back to Winston's. I think he is a great guy, and solid comic so I'm hoping the misunderstanding is in the past. Ahhh, my quick judgement can cause problems.

Reason for the subject line. When I first started I felt I was getting put on a lot more shows. Maybe because a lot of my friends were the one's promoting but it seems like I've fell outside the loop of the promotional crowd. Whether it be I'm banned, or people have caught up to the fact I'm just not a great promoter. Maybe people don't think I'm funny, or think I truly am a dick. Who knows. There is a comic I see a lot of the same characteristics as myself. He's gotten pretty funny pretty quickly. He's getting on all the shows, even though he rarely plays kiss ass. I can't hate him for it. Maybe I need to reevaluate how I approach people. Not a fan of asking to be on shows, but whatever I'm doing now isn't working.

Well life stuff. Haven't played poker but did get fired from the poker show.... Kinda came out of nowhere as last week I felt too much pressure to bring excitement to the show now they want me off. No warning, just you're done. She called me the night before but I was at a show and couldn't answer. I texted her saying I had 5 minutes so said that would work. I called she didn't answer. I said the anticipation was killing me. She replied haha. Next day I get a cheerful call saying she decided I wasn't doing enough to be apart of the crew, but still wanted to be friends. I didn't question just said ok. She said she'd refund the $50 I PAID to be apart of the show. I texted her my address and asked her to not use me in any of the promos they used to send to potential sponsors. Not an unreasonable request I'd imagine. She said I was being unprofessional, and she'll keep the $50 for editing? Ok then pyscho. I emailed her later that night to ask for my money, no response. It's no real sweat as the show was terrible, but the principle of it all is not sitting well.

Lost money= lost liver

So I had one of the worst stretches in poker I've had in awhile. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I lost. Saturday I rebought which I usually never do but I lost kings to aces my 3rd hand and that's pretty crappy. I then got unlucky over and over again. I wanted to stab someone. Sunday I played online. I actually made all the money back that I lost, then went on crazy monkety tilt and found a way to lose all of that. It was really depressing. Everything had been going good, and then I have a nightmare couple days and question it all. I had a few days off mostly because I'm contemplating quitting the dept and poker was going so good why work there when I hate everyday going in and the customers make me question human nature. I proceeded to spend Monday just drinking like an animal. Monday mostly. I never wake up and drink but I just wanted to forget everything about the past weekend. Doubt it helped but it passed the time.

Tuesday I had a show. It was a a little bar show but I still like being asked to be on shows. It seems to happen so rarely now. With days off means searching facebook. Seems like the same people are getting on all the shows. I don't know what it is about me. I realize I'm not a huge promoter but I give people weekly stage time, and am somewhat funny. Literally nothing will come of being bitter or saying anything but honestly it's rediculous. I saw one poster and was shocked to say the least I wasn't asked to be on. Maybe it's the blog or the fact I don't hang out and kiss ass, but it's crazy how some people get on shows.

Well Tuesday show. First the lady friend met me there. It was pouring rain and a bar show so I kinda told her it won't be worth it. I don't want to tell her not to come as she'd take it meanly. So we get there and there's no on there. I decided maybe I'll check out the comedy Palace and come back. Well she already seemed annoyed then stepped in a puddle and just went home. Oh well. I wanted to do the palace as I've been actually writing a lot of new jokes. Could be the limiting of booze, other than Monday, or the fact I'm living with a comic. Its kinda cool living with someone that's your friend. It's been awhile since I've had that, but I somewhat get excited to go home and chat. Before I'd just come home late, go in my room, pound vodka, and pass out. Now were in the living room just talking thinking of jokes etc.

Anyways the show Tuesday was somewhat dead and I went up late but I think I got something out of it. Got some laughs and voiced some jokes. I have a joke I'm pretty excited about. I haven't tried it, but am working on it. It's about bees and it's got a lot of depths. Hopefully I'll try it out on Sunday at the Comedy Store. Welp Winston's tomorow, I'm hoping for a decent turn out.

Am I too sarcastic?

So as I toss and turn in my bed for yet another night of restless sleep. Well last night I slept on someone's bean bag chair as I excepted on too many shots and didn't want to drive. I drove home after in the am. I open up facebook and comment on a few people's pages. I am rarely friendly or nice, I usually just make some wiseass remark. I'm starting to think maybe I am a little too harsh. Many people throughout college and beyond thought I was a dick just because of my sarcasm. I know a lot of comics arn't really that funny in person and are generally depressed, awkward folks. Somne things I do and say people be a little harsh for them to take.

Well I got to Winston's a little late as I played poker all after noon and got hosed so felt I needed a nap. I slept in my car for an hour before getting a little cardio work out in. I walked in to Winston's and there appeared to be a decent amount of people there for 7 PM. Well that seemed to be the cap as few people rolled in after that. The guys I put on a few times before because they can bring massive amounts of people didn't really pull through this time. The feature didn't really promote either. The two headliners brought in 5 or 6 each. So it was a spread out crowd of 25-30. I got up and did mostly jokes. Some older ones I worked back in last Monday and some newer ones. I also brought back some older solid jokes, both of which I screwed up. That was kind of weird. I wasn't drunk (at that time anyways) my mind just crammed in parts of the jokes. I need to start rotating older jokes back in. Whether they bring me no joy or not, I am writing new jokes which I'm happy about, but I can't just throw jokes away because I know they're solid.

I have also decided that my cocaine joke, which is personally one of my favorites does not work in a bar setting. Not sure if it's because I use the word slave, as it is a joke you need to listen to every word. So for now it will be taken out of the bar rotation. I was happy with the comfort and overall flow of my set. It wasn't easy by no means but I struggled through and think I did over 10 minutes. That is something to be proud of in that environment. Like I've said time and time again it's easy to kill at a comedy club, making a mostly comic, drunk crowd laugh is what true comedy is about.

Ugh insomonia

So I haven't been working at the depot much lately but I'm also trying to cut back on alcohol. I've been waking up at 7 and 8 am, no good esp when bed time is 1-3 am. I'm just awake and tired all the time. Yesterday I was at the poker table just exhausted. I remember letting one hand really bother me. I didn't play it that great. but the guy that won played so awful and got extremely lucky. I steamed off some money then pulled a semi bluff that worked to get me back to even. I then won a coin flip for a big pot and left up for probably the 8th or so time in a row.

I had a job interview the other day. It was interesting as I was basically alone at the depot trying to handle customers on the phone and in the store. I find myself getting more and more frustrated there. I don't know how much longer I can do it. I'm going to lose it on a customer pretty soon. Anyways a lady saw me dealing with the crap, complimented me, and said she was looking for someone like me to work at her office. I asked for her card, she didn't have one, so she wrote her info on a piece of paper. I called her later that day, with no answer. I waited until the next day and called her back. She thanked me for following up and we set up a meeting for the next day. The interview went well, and it seemed she wanted to hire me on the spot. She called me yesterday saying she needed a few more days to think about it. I said I understood. The gig would be Monday - Friday, 8-5, and would pay 3.45$ more an hour than the depot. I haven't completely decided if I'd take it, but I think it would be good for me. I'd still have time for all the shows, and poker at night.

So the poker show launched Wednesday. It was eh. There is a lot of pressure on me to carry the excitement of the show. The other people are very new to radio, and the host is trying a little too hard to force bubbily personality out of people who don't really have it. It is tough to be funny about poker. I have extensive knowledge of the game, and probably am a little more advance than the co hosts. The host who is extremely driven, and has all these ideas, has to realize that not everything can be funny. I kind of told her I was skeptical, and wasn't sure if it was going to work. She wants us to critque one another, which I told her I wouldn't do as I don't know the other hosts that well.

And now to the launch of the Thursday downtown show. First off was finding parking. God nothing boils my blood like wasting time looking for parking. It's so crazy how I can throw money around at the poker table but am too cheap to drop $5 on a parking spot. So I walk into the room and am amazed by the set up. It was really put together well. Sadly there was only 3 other comics there. People slowly funneled in. There was probably 23 or so comics, and maybe 20 audience members. I definately think the show has great potential, but getting a crowd is the key. The laughs resinate great on stage. The tough part is the owner needs to sell $400 at the bar in order to break even. What makes that more difficult is that it's cash only. I had a feeling it was going to be that way, but he never let me know. He was nice about not a huge crowd, but I could tell he was somewhat let down. Definately understandable. I had originally planned on doing a promoted show in two weeks, but need to guarentee I can get at least a crowd of 60. I know I'm useless when it comes to bringing people so need to recruit at least 5 or 6 people to help. I want to do at least one good show there, 2 weeks may be a stretch.

Two shows, lame sauce

So I worked a couple hours Sunday morning and headed home for a little more sleep. After I woke up headed out to meet some of my friends at a bar to watch football and drink adult beverages. It was fun talking comedy and drinking beers. I had a little issue due to the blog once again. The reason I never use people's names is I rarely think differently about people even though I discuss it on here. Confusing I know but I don't write the blog to gossip, I write it because I think there's a lot of crap in comedy. I've had discussions with people about how they felt insulted by things I wrote about them. I wrestle with whether I shuld just make it private. I don't want to censor it, but don't want to lose friendships or shows because of it either. Who knows.

After drinking all day we went to the comedy store. I worked on a character I had been developing called minority comic that does hackey stereotypical jokes. i think it's funny, and I think comics like it, but it probably won't ever really work in front of a crowd. People just don't get or respect a good smart joke. They just want to sit there, drunk their beer, and laugh.

Last night I had a show in Spring Valley. Driving there I'm thinking why the f do I do shows like this. I knew it was going to be rough, but it wasn't terrible. Just at a hick bar in the middle of no wear across from a liquor store and a mexican restaurant. They didn't accept credit cards and had random microwaved foods for $3. I took the opportunity to work on old jokes that I haven't done in awhile. I think I did as good as I could. Kinda weird the host, who I've never met put me up first. I have no problem going first as I wanted to get out of there. I had spoke to the guy once about doing his show in Oceanside. He said I could come up but he couldn't guarentee me anytime. I basically said I'm not going to drive all that way for no time. Doubt he remembers talking with me. The weird part about going first is that I was on the poster and suppose to be a feature. I'm not at all angry, but some people just have no clue how to run a show. We show up and he says we can 15-20. I took it as a challenge, and wanted to do at least 12. Well as I'm up there for a bit I see he lights me? After our initial conversation about 10 more "comics" showed up, so he was probably stretched for time. We were suppose to start at 9, and maybe started at 930. He lit me after 5 minutes... Not one to care, but really sir, 10-15 minutes less than you said. I should teach a "How to run a show 101" course. So many people are doing shows, and they are all so poorly run. Not claiming I run the greatest show, I'm always learning, but have some structure please people.

Ugh that sucked

So it was a pretty lame Winston's show. Typical big time comic headliner meaning little to no promoting on their end. The good thing about it was that they welcomed me back to me apart of their Comedy Store show next month. He's a pretty nice guy. He complimented me on my set at his previous show. Veery rarely does that happen. And with what was said by the dude the other night it meant a lot.

My set was basically just riffing and trying to vocalize some new jokes. It's tough to really gauge, but I stuck with it and that's a success in itself. Kinda weird a gal I used to date was there with her new flame. I'm totally over her so it wasn't anything but definately a weird thing.

Putting on a show as pathetic as that one, and just searching the facebook. There are already so many shows going on. I think I may be over my head thinking I can take on another show. There are so many comics, but honestly few to little audience members. Also there are a lot of comics but few can promote. And of those who can promote little to none actually have any talent. I don't want to put on a crappy show. Might as well try it out, but now that I'm thinking about it, it'll probably be a one time thing.

The dude I run Winston's with said he was offered a chance to perform overseas but couldn't. I think I'm gonna email the guy, no sense in not asking. I'll see what happens. Nothing else really to report. No drama on the show really.

Don't insult a stranger

Had a couple rougher shows last night, but first want to speak about the Sunday incident. I wasn't going to say anything else about it, but I was told the host was "spitting the truth." Aka being a drunk douche and placing himself in the lunatic comic category. I guess he got on stage after we left, saying he was mad people don't take his show seriously, don't do jokes, and take advantage of the stage time he offers them. Might I mention he is angry people are not taking his show serious while A. Being drunk, B. Wearing a top hot and mayor's sash, and C. Generally giving people terrible intros. The show is suppose to start at 9:30, but normally begins at 10. He places the list down when he arrives, usually late, let's people do as much time as they want, let's people heckle and warns comics that people in the crowd may fight. Really you want a comic to take your show seriously? Put some effort into producing of the show, and maybe people will take it seriously. I did enjoy doing the room, but the last two weeks have been pretty terrible. I think changed my approach to comedy, and got more comfortable and free flowing on stage from doing the room. But if he wants comics to do jokes out front of 4 people and 16 comics he's crazy.

Well last night I performed at a show downtown to a crowd of people eating all you can eat crab. It was a fine establishment, with people dressed nice and many possibly on cocaine. My main focus was to just plow through the jokes unless provoked. No one said anything until the very end, so I did my jokes. I started off pretty good, but lost some steam towards the end. That is a problem I have still. If a joke doesn't go well my engergy and delivery kind of dies down. It's been awhile since that's happened but it's still something I need to work on. I had 10 minutes or so. And hit the wall around the 7 minute mark I'd guess. It felt like I was up there for awhile and had troubling remembering my jokes. I did some older jokes, but to think I have over an hour of jokes and couldn't think of 10 minutes worth that I want to do is sad. I'd say I did ok considering.

Next up I did a bar show in Pb. It was dead compared to the last time I did it. Maybe 15 or so people. Had no set planned but wanted to try some jokes and see what happened. I ended up bantering with some people and even had a dude buy me a shot while I was on stage. I also had some dude high five me and ask if I wanted to take a shot with them, which never happened but I didn't persue drinking with a table of dudes to heavily. I then sat around and watched the rest of the show. There was a couple black comics after me, one who got second in the comedy competition finals. Typical black comedy, ball shaving and tough being black etc. Next black comic same stuff. There was an established white comic from L.A. after that, I had no idea what he was talking about. I think he may have been on drugs as he just ran off stage when he was done. Last up was the headliner, black dude, who constantly acted like he was too good to be on the show. Didn't really hear him tell many jokes. When I walked over to say bye to the host he goes "Oh that's the comic, don't quit you day job." I said thanks, and says "See you at Best Buy." We left. Not sure what his point of doing this. I've talked about it before being a dick is never a way to win over the crowd. It did bother me a bit, as it was so out of left field. But in the end it means nothing, as I'll never see him or any of those people again.

5 shows and some fun

Well I had Thursday- Sunday off from the Depot. Thursday I had a meeting with a guy downtown about starting up a Thursday night show. I checked out the place and it is pretty huge. It is right across from the baseball stadium, and could filter some crowd members with the right people behind the promoting. It is basically a warehouse that they are converting into a concert spot. It is huge and could hold a lot of people. There are 3 seperate areas, and I deceided to take the smaller spot as it would work best for comedy. I booked it to have an open mic in a few weeks and will try a promoted show 2 weeks after that. I'm not real sure why I'm trying to take on another show, as I can barely fill Winston's or get people to come to my other shows. But I do think Thursday night would be a good addition to the San Diego comedy scene. Will see..

Thurday I met with the people I'll be doing the poker show with this week. I said a few whacky things and the older black woman on the show kind of rolled her eyes and looked at me like I was nuts. Some people doin't get sarcasm. The meeting went pretty good overall, and I look forward to the show. The girl who had the idea foor the show has all these lofty plans, none of which have panned out quite yet. I have to pay $50 a month now to do the show. Not exactly ideal, but I guess I don't spendmoney on anything so it'll be in the hobby fund. I won't do it forever but if the show could get off the ground it could make us some money. Who knows.

After that meeting I was on at the Comedy Store. I got on because I put a few people on Winston's this week and they returned the favor. It's very rare I get hooked up because of Winston's stage time. People take it for granted I guess. The show was hosted by a huge black dude, and most of the comics on the show were gansta. Then it was nerdy white guy me. I do pretty good with this as I can play the role, and know a lot about rap music etc. After I got off the host was like, "He's pretty funny, for a white guy..." Also when I got off stage some dude named "tiny pearl" I believe took name my name and said he'd call me to do my "skit" sometime. He hasn't called yet but who knows.

Friday I went and played poker during the day. I played one hand bad, gambled a bit much, but overall played pretty good. I've been pretty unlucky lately, as always, but I've just been really card dead lately. Haven't had many big spots and seem to lose all the big races/ pots. I ended up a little bit nothing crazy.

I then went over to Winston's. I've spoke about it before but the show at the Comedy Store I was bummbed about not being asked to be on was Wednesday. They ended up selling the show out and seemed they got on another show downtown out front on 600 plus people on Saturday. I'm so torn whether to be happy, bummed, or unfazed by it all. The dude is a really nice guy, so it's tough to be mad. But it's human nature to feel cheated. It's not going to affect me in the future but I am more aware of my surroundings and things I do.

The Winston's show started off pretty decent as an open mic er brought a good amount of people for her first performance. She pretty much just talked and thought her life stories were the funniest thing ever. For the most part stories that make your friends laugh rarely transition to stage. After she went on the crowd dwindled down. The people that were promoters on the show brought few people. My set was somewhat interesting. I was getting "heckled" by this 50 yr old drunk dude. It was happy heckling nothing mean or what not. I got off stage and he even came up and high fived me. I love how hecklers think they actually are helping. I don't mind it, but to think they are doing good is silly. It went so well, someone asked me if it was planned.

After that we hung out downtown and went over to my buddies house. HE gave me a bottle with some moonshine in it. Ugh that was a nightmare. I got drunk to the point I haven't been in awhile which isn't cool. I just left, got some pizza, and slept in my car. I woke up with a half eaten piece of pizza on my chest, finsihed the pizza, headed over to pick up my friend, and drove up to the casino. Played more poker all day. Still another slow day, got lucky in one spot where I made a call completely gambling and got lucky. I later got unlucky for a huge pot, so obviously my luck can't last more than one time.

I then had a show at a small pizza restaurant. It was somewhat interesting. There was a decent crowd but they were quite proper. Anytime I spoke about anything somewhat edgy they would freeze. I should have spoke with the crowd more instead of doing jokes. But I was able to do some jokes I haven't tried in awhile and they were hit or miss basically. I did get a new joke, and I think it worked well. I hung out for a little while but headed over to my friends house for a birthday party. It was fun, played beer pong for the first time in awhile. AFter most everyone left a couple of us walked around and got some food. We then headed back and slept there.

Next morning we wake up at 9, walk around awhile and settle at a breakfast buffet. I didn't get the buffet, just drank a couple bloody mary's, and snacked on some sushi. We then walked back, watched some football, drank some beer, and played some online poker. Ended up a little bit then took a nap.

Next up was the Comedy Store open mic. I was slightly buzzed so just played around with the crowd and tried a couple new jokes. It was fun. We ended the night and the long weekend at the Blarney Stone. It was a smaller than usual crowd. Normally there's at least one or two tables with people. There was none just some people playing darts in the back. Some lady was yelling "What's the point?" Some other guy yelling about the Chargers. Not to mention the host being overly mean for some reason. There was more tention and anger in the room than I'm used to. I just messed around for a bit than tried a gimmick I did with my friend that worked really well on Saturday. It was not a good idea to try it there as no one was paying attention, plus they were too dumb to even know what was going on.

Angered crowd work

So I've been a little slow on the blog updates as I've had to work the last few days. Sunday I had two shows. Got on the alternates list at the Comedy Store. I sent a text to the dude I took over OBC for that works at the store to hook me up. He got me up. Turned out I didn't need his help as a bunch of people didn't show up. I did a character on stage, and did ok. The crowd was kinda rough for a Comedy Store crowd. I did ok, but felt it could have been better. Two of the people I promoted that show with last week went up last and 2nd to last. I noticed both of them got extra time. I was pretty pissed. I found it weird, and thought I got screwed. I would have done an actual set if I got more time but whatever. I got a text later that night telling me the host gave them extra time cause they needed to fill it. Whatever.

Next up went to Blarney. It was a weird show. One comic brought a group of people. They were wasted and annoying. I got into it with one of the gals about her fake breasts and low self esteem. Her friend butted in and made fun of my act and looks. I started getting mean, and hate doing that. I wasn't mad, sad, or bothered but acted like it. I still couldn't think of anything that funny. I was a little bummed I didn't do well. I should have just told jokes. One of the more experienced comics, who normally always does crowd work, did his jokes and did well. I've had convo's with more experienced comics and they always say just do the set. I don't always agree with that, but I should have been smart enough to try to tell jokes.

Last night I was a judge at the comedy competition at the Palace. It was interesting as there was a decent amount of people in the crowd but they weren't really that receptive. There was only 5 total comics with 4 advancing. Adds a little pressure/ stress to me as my fault means a little more. Anyways, the comics went up and everyone did subpar. I went up not really sure what I was going to do. I spoke to the crowd, called a lady a dude, and rolled from there. I did some crowd work, and tried to transition to jokes without much luck. I chatted it up with a gal, it got somewhat sexual for a bit. She spoke to me after the show, asking if the sexual stuff was going to happen. Kinda weird.

Busy Winston's show

So we had upwards of 45 total comics on the bill for Friday. 10 were on the lightning round, 5 or so that didn't show up. A couple people on the regular list didn't show. There were a few people that I told to show up by 555 that were late. Luckily, we were ahead of schedule at the time so I put them up. Well turned out we i should have just skipped them I didn't end up having time to go up. A few people towards the end ran the light, and the lightning round went on way too long.

It's never easy for me to say no. I don't like having to bump people but I clearly state the people have to be there by 555 to get on. I realize the people that were late were due so because of work but they can still give me a heads up. One of the open mic guys brought a lot of people, and I believe the headliners each brought a decent amount of people. There was probably with comics and crowd nearly 100 people there. The problem when the numbers get so high is that the audience chatter gets louder and makes the comics work even harder. This type of crowd is made for high energy comics, with little to no thought put towards their jokes.

There was little controversy or drama to the show other than some people running the light, and a couple people just standing up there speaking nonsense. I really don't understand why some people do comedy. I realize it can be a hobby, but really are they a fan or torturing themselves and others. I chatted with one comic on the phone about the rivarly between female comics. I am friends with a lot of female comics and it seems like all of the have something to say about one another. I guess at the end of the day they are still females and they love gossip. Also, since there is a smaller amount of female comics there's usually only one, maybe two on each show. Also, due to numbers, it's easier to be labeled the best female San Diego comic, than the best male. I've spoke a lot previously who I thought was one of the best female comics. But sadly in the year I've seen her I don't think she's come up with any new jokes. She performs very rarely, and as I've spoke to her before she has become tired of her jokes and it can be seen in her delivery.

There was a comic that asked who people thought were the 5 best Sd comics. A few random people named me which is kind of cool to get the recognition. It seemed for the most part people named other comics they started with or who they've become friends with. Not really sure why he'd even post something like that other than to try to create drama, but more power to him. He also asked who people thought were the 5 worst, and for the most part just got silly answers. Anyone who would truthfully answered that clearly could care less about anything.

Compliments are awkward

So I did pretty well last night. Started off kinda awkward but crawled out nicely. Did a mixture of old and new jokes and was happy overall. It was one of the few sets where I wish I had more time. I did a slight amount of crowd work, but mostly jokes. The crowd was slightly older than I'm used to, but they were very receptive.

I got a lot of compliments from audience members and other comics. It's always weird when this happens. I feel I should say you too. But then it comes off like I'm just saying it cause they said it. But if I don't I feel like a dick. With the audience members I always try to say something to the tune of, "Good job laughing, or you were a great audience member." Goofy or whatnot. With comics, I usually just say thank you. Sometimes I'll mention if they did a new joke or whatnot. Last night one of the nicer comedy store regulars said I did well. He had to follow one of the better San Diego comics, who always does really well. After he complimented me, I said something to the tune of he had a tough time having to follow her. I hope he didn't take it the wrong way. I'm so bad at being serious and nice. For the most part I could care less if people think I'm a dick, but I'd hope to think nice/genuine people think I'm a good guy.

So although I'm happy with the jokes, I'm really disappointed with my promoting. I had 4 people show up. That's really terrible. I feel bad, as if we got a certain amount of people show up we'd get another spot on a later show. I could care less, but the gal I did the show with was looking forward to it. She brought the majority of the audience and deserved a better promoter to help her out. I'm not sure if I want to promote shows anymore. I don't have any scheduled next month, and I went turn it down but it's really frustrating to have no one show up. I took the job at Home Depot to help bring people to shows. And not one frigin person came. It's so rediculous. WTF is so important you can't see one show. My roommate I've been living with for 6 months finally came to a show last night. I could understand people not coming if I was bad or always did the same jokes. But I always mix it up and don't invite people to crappy shows.

Here's a video from a show I did awhile back. I felt I did better than the video shows, oh well.

Louie speaks to the comedy mind

While I try to use the blog to paint a picture of the mindset and inside of a comic, the show Louie brings it into light. Just watched the season finale. And while the show is somewhat funny it dives into a lot of the little things about comedy. One being that many are single and trapped in their own heads. While I seem to be able to get a lot of women, keeping them is a very different story. It has as much to do with seeking perfection as it does to do with the constant need to feel wanted. I have always needed that extra need to feel important. That is one of the main reasons my last relationship failed so miserably. I never truly felt she loved me, and the way it ended she probably never really did. With the last gal, everything was great when we were together but not once did she contact me first after the 2nd week or so. Then I get a call from her after a week asking me to set her up with one of my friends. I kind of gave her a hassle about it, and led to the end of that. She called me sensitive a few times, and while I am, no need to be a dick about it. The fact that so many women just want you to ignore them and make them feel unimportant is so strange to me. I do somewhat get it, as one of the main reasons I continuously said we were done is because I never felt she even liked me. So the constant, trying to impress her, and feel wanted was the "game." And that's what the ladies want.

Ok tangent over. Anyways back to comedy and Louie. There was a scene where Louie tries to go out with a few other comics to a nightclub. He was awkward and out of place. It's so crazy how I used to enjoy nightclubs, dancing, and just having fun with friends. Now I don't know what I enjoy about life. Even though I end up telling jokes somewhere most nights of the week, I can't say it's a barrel of joy. Comedy sucks the joy out of so many things in life. Although I'm trying to have fun, I constantly tired and just can't find fun in life anymore. The roller coaster that is comedy drains you. SOme nights you're funny, others you're not. I'm just on a constant cycle of trying to impress people. At times I wish, I could be one of those lunatic comics who thinks they're hilarious. Would make life so much easier. But instead I'm stuck miserable when I do bad, and feel nothing when I do well. For a business with laughter being the payment for the most part, it's a depressing business.

Well the jokes. I did a short set at the Comedy Store first. I had a monster energy as I was on 3 hours of sleep, and tried to take a nap but that didn't last long. I opened up chatting with the crowd a little bit, and tried a new joke. It went really well which I was happy about. I felt I was doing really well, and think I opened up the room for the comics that followed. There was maybe 8-12 people there when I went up but felt good. The manager was there and I noticed he popped in to watch one of the up and coming comics. I think the dude is funny, and is a lot like me as he's not into playing the politics. Just wants to tell his jokes, and get back to life. He's married so he has that to balance life. Anyways, while I was on stage, I could see the manager still in the back, wanting him to come in and watch me. He popped in for the comic after me as well. It could have just been by chance, but it would be weird if he came in only for 2 of the best open mic comics. I kind hung around, walking by him a few times, hoping maybe he's say something to me. Nope, maybe I should have said something to him, who knows.

Next up I went to the Blarney. It was pretty dead, until about 10 or so of my co workers showed up. You'd think it would be good, but many of them have never seen me before, so there was added pressure. I rarely stress, and to be honest I probably didn't care but if I said I didn't want to be funny I'd be lying. I started off with a little chatting with the crowd, tried a couple jokes, and had a little comedy banter with a chargers fan. I was quite happy overall. One of my strengths in comedy is ending on a high note. I never know how long I do at Blarney, but once I feel I hit a max laugh I end it. Had some audience members say I did well, but no one from work. They were all somewhat friends, but a lot of them feel they are a little too cool to come to a comedy show. They came cause we had a meeting at work across the street til ten and they swung by for some beers. Well see how the response will be from them in the next couple days.

I can see your oxygen tank maam

So I did a charity show at the Chula Vista Elk's Lodge the other night. I wasn't sure how the turn out was going to be but figured the crowd would be a little older. Well they were older. Right off the the bat I got heckled by a 60 plus year old and it was on from there. There was 70 plus year olds in the front row, one lady with an oxygen tank. What's weird about this is that the night before I had a dream that I was performing at Winston's and there was 4 older people in the front. I told a joke that sent one older dude to the ground clutching his heart. He ended up just faking it. It really bothered me in the dream and this was surely going through my head on stage. I basically just talked to the crowd and made random jokes. SOme worked others not so much. The show started a little later than I had hoped and I didn't make it in time to do a set at Winston's. I could have but I didn't have anything new and didn't feel like rushing down and getting on stage.

I did get there in time to watch the headliner I booked from L.A. and his feature. The feature was funny. Had typical I'm black jokes, but his had a little extra that was somewhat ok. He talked to me after about recently being booked for the stand up for diversity with another L.A. I've heard of but never performed with. He was asking to be booked at Winston's with the guy. I told him I usually stay away from L.A. people as we are a bar and have little walk in traffic. I told him to hit me up on facebook and we could work something out. As of now he hasn't, maybe he saw the money we pay and realized it's probably not worth his time. Like I told him, there's a lot of funny people, but even though you may be big, you're still not big enough to bring in people.

The headliner was very funny. He did some out there, funny characters, and lines. I really enjoyed it, but it's one of those things where it takes some thought and it's rare you see people like that make it. It's weird as his feature was the opposite, no much thought, so they balance each other off nicely. Anyways, he talked to me after and invited me up to do his Improv show at the end of next month. That was a nice gesture, and not really expected. It's good to see there are still some good people out there, that appreciate a favor.

Last night I got a call from one of my comic buds seeing if I wanted to get on the 11 o'clock show. I was planning to go to a house party but felt it too be dumb to turn down stage time. He wasn't sure I'd get on, but invited me down. I ended up not getting on, as a lot of the comics stuck around, I imagine after seeing there was a decent amount of people there. I didn't really mind, little bummed cause I had some people down from L.A. that were there, but I wasn't in the mood to stick around all night. I actually appreciated the fact he even called more than actually getting on stage. This was an intance where my lack of politics affected me. I'm standing around waiting to find out if I have a spot, while one of the regulars is writing out the list. I've never spoke to him, nor do I have an interest to. My buddy rolls in after the list is made and the show has started, and the booker asks him if he wants to get on.

I do a lot for my friends of comedy and people starting up. If anyone asks me for advice I send them all the open mics around town. When I get booked on certain random shows I usually ask to put a friend or two on. Well there's one friend that I think has used me for enough shows. He doesn't realize it, so I'm not mad nor will it affect the friendship. But he gets on a lot of random shows and not once has put me on. His excuse, "Well it's not my show." I've put him on enough, to at least mention my name. I'm not going to continue to hook him up if I'm not feeling anything in return. I don't do a lot of things to get anything back. I get nothing from telling another open mic er where all the spots are who can in turn take my spot. I also don't give time to get time. But it is a business, I can't feel like I'm not getting anything in return, ever. Sad part is, he's so clueless, he doesn't realize it. I do get my fair share of shows, but more is always better. To be honest, I don't really care about getting on stage, I just want to feel like I can.