Is honesty always for the best?

So I was a judge at the Palace last night and as expected there was maybe 15 people there. Luckily the people there were attentive and ready to laugh. They all sat in the front rows, and stayed for the whole show. They were a tad on the drunk side, but not rude and ready to have fun.

It was a little weird being a judge with such a small audience as my vote held more weight than usual. I think for the most part the top 3 were set, but the 4th person I imagine was close. I didn't look at the other judge's vote but I imagine his top 3 was close to mine. It ended up being 3 L.A. based comedians, and 1 dude who's been doing comedy awhile and does shows in L.A., advancing to the next round. I'm not one of those people who think L.A. people shouldn't be able to compete in S.D.'s funniest person contest, but it would be nice if they didn't put them all on the same show. It's crazy how one week there's a 100 person audience then 15 the next. I still don't understand why there's only 6 people in each second round with 4 advancing, but I guess it doesn't matter.

A comedian that did not advance asked me if he could say it was ironic I didn't advance from the first round, but was worthly of judging. I could care less about not advancing, or whether he said it. I knew what would be the outcome if he said it, and of course it came true. He opened with it, and it pretty much made the audience groan and wonder why it was necessary to say. It wasn't funny, as it's not a roast, nor do any of the audience members have a clue who I am. It is very important to be likeable on stage, and this put him in a whole from the start. I think after that he did have a good set, but like I said the top 3 were established and that 4th spot was so close. Whether that comment affected the crowd's voting or not will never be known, but I know it didn't help.

My set went pretty good. I had planned to do jokes, but I started into my joke and just went with the flow. I had a dude sit on my lap, had a dude admit he calls his wife mom in bed, a crowd member said she gave her bf road head while forgetting his friend was in the back seat, to which her bf said it was only awkward cuz the backseat dude was still talking. It was an interesting set. I did probably 11 or so minutes and told half of one joke. Ahh the roller coaster that is comedy.

After I got off stage one of the more established, funny comics (one of the few I respect and has been supportive) told me I'd never win a contest. He was like "Jeff, guys like us will never win contests. You are very funny, but you can't bring a big audience." He brought up how I went first a few times. He was nice, and it was good to see maybe I'm not crazy, I am just an unlucky soul. He has a lot of good jokes, and has done comedy shows and performed in Iraq. He is also what I worry I may become. He is tired of telling jokes, contemplates quitting, and wants to find that spark again. He's been doing it years longer than me, and probably doesn't have the same smarts as me, but I think I have the same negative bitter attitude as him. Just gotta stay positive.

So you've read 5 paragraphs and are probably wondering what the titles all about. Well I've spoke before abotu a "friend" I had in comedy who I felt changed and we drifted apart. Well the past month or so I've noticed a change for the better in him. Last night he didn't advance and was talking about how he rarely gets on shows, and was getting frustrated with the politics that is comedy. Well I felt this a good time to tell him my toughts on his approach to comedy. Maybe not the best timing to tell him I felt he was fake and was using people, but oh well. I did it with good intentions, whether he took it that way can only be seen in the coming weeks. I didn't tell him everything, but told him a good amount of things that probably won't sit well. I'm hoping it will make him more self aware of his actions, and help him enjoy comedy. I am genuine in most of my actions, and it may be a fault but I'd rather be honest than be fake. He called me after and thanked me. Hopefully our friendship can be mended. I did bring up the fact I pitched him the idea of a monthly show, which he had no recollection. At this point I'm over it, and am going to focus on enjoying my place in the San Diego comic scene.