Trucking along

Sunday at the Store I worked and performed. I ended up going up second. The first guy that went up did pretty well, but he also brought a lot of the crowd, not that he's not funny, but that does help. He does a lot of weed one liners which seemed to work pretty well. I guess he has been doing comedy for over 6 years, but is just starting to perform in San Diego. His name is Bombo, which I'm not sure is a real name, or a stage name. Either way, I think I wouldn't use it on stage. I think it is somewhat a character name, and if you're not going to be a whacky, Ala Carrot Top, figure you should just stick to a "normal" name. It's weird because one of the best comics in San Diego goes by Zoltan, but that is his real name. Zoltan works much better than Bombo, as if a comic doesn't do well they never "Zolt," they "Bomb." Who knows maybe I'm diving too deep into it. At first I thought a name mattered, but as I begin to trek along I realize it's less and less important. Anyways my set was meh. I realized as the show went on the crowd was somewhat tough, and it's never easy to follow someone who brought a good amount of the crowd.

Monday I was back working at the Store for the open mic. The crowd was dead, like 2 people to start the show dead. As the show people started trickling in, but 10 people maybe total. There weren't that many comics either, 15, maybe 20, when there is usually upwards of 35. I went up pretty lax, and tried some new stuff I've been thinking of. Most of it went pretty ok. I think I have a decent gem, that's stupid, but relatable and funny. I got some comics to laugh which is always a good sign.

Wednesday I had the contest. It was dead, although there was 7 or 8 humans, and the door guy once again only charged one person. I want to complain, but it seems almost pointless. One of the contestants brought his parents, and said on stage, "I thought this was going to be a bigger deal, that's why I brought my parents." Well if you can convince your parents, you might as well try to get some friends to come, genius. I performed some of the newer jokes as part of the open mic beforehand, and got a decent response from who was there. It feels much better to get a laugh from a new joke then an old joke, esp. when you're unsure you'll even get a laugh. The highs and lows of thinking you're not gonna get a laugh and getting one, to thinking you'll get a laugh and not getting one is astounding.

After Winston's, I had a drink at home, and headed to Bar Eleven. Jesse and I went on stage together this week and it once again went pretty solid. We did a few more jokes this week, but also played with the crowd. We play really well off each other, and it was a lot of fun. He wants to try to do it on a bigger show, but I'm not sure how it would work out front of an actual audience that isn't a majority of comics. I think we need to try it out a few more times, and see how it goes.

Thursday was work/ perform at the Store. I was on 2nd to last. There was a promoted show so there was a decent amount of people there. By the time I got on, about half the crowd, and they were rowdy and chatty. I made the mistake of asking the crowd a question, and from that point forward it was somewhat of a battle. There was a girl that was chatting really loud just to her table. I made a comment to the effect that "I'm the only doorman, so there's no one to keep her quiet." To which another comic rudely, with intent of being an asshole, yelled, "Well you didn't do shit to shut her up when I was up here!" Well if you replay the situation you tried to engage in conversation with said patron, and unfortunately you don't have the ability to converse with them in a comical way. Right before he started talking to her I was literally walking over to ask her to be quiet. Don't be a dick to everyone, because you have rage issues about not being as funny as you think you are. It sucks because this guy helped me out with OBC and whatnot, but he's just become such a lunatic. He is burning all his bridges before he leaves. I have over and over again tried to defend him but when yell at me while I'm on stage, and also flip out on me for putting marque letters under your crappy tee shirts, ties are cut. Oh and my set went decent, didn't close great, but had a solid middle. A girl, who was pretty drunk, said I was her favorite. She could have been drunk, or being nice, either way it's always nice to hear.

Friday was Winston's. There was a decent amount of people from start to finish. Most of them were there for one girl who used to live in San Diego, and was in town from New York. I gave her extra time before the headliners. This made it tough for the two headliners. I don't feel bad for them, as they knew in advance they were performing, and could have brought people. One of them whined and got off early. Sorry you're used to cookie cutter laughs, and you had to work, not my problem. There are so many shitty comics in this town that get on sold out, great shows, and have no real perception on how unfunny they really are. Some of the funniest comics in San Diego don't get on quality shows because they can't bring a crowd. It's just a screwed up thing. I worked hard, nearly the past 3 years, doing crappy shows all over San Diego. And while I might not be the greatest comedian, I'm not whining about it, seeking sympathy for every show I bombed on. Just move on to the next show. Bombing does suck, but blaming the club is silly. If there was no one there you would not have been paid, suck it up, and move on.

Saturday I worked at the Comedy Store, and the first night I hated it. The first show was pretty much sold out. One of the waitresses who doubles as the manager, is a little bit of a control freak, minus the little bit. That place is so annoying sometimes. Basically every employee relays every damn message to me, and they are all basically different. She set up the chairs like a maniac in her section, which made it almost impossible to sit people easily. Every table had odd number of chairs. Ya, that's smart, as if date night is going to be filled with a bunch of 3rd wheeled hauling couples. Just made no sense. And when I tried to seat 2 people at one of her tables, she says in front of the customers, "this would be better for a 5 top." To which I replied there all 5 tops. It gets annoying because people show up with the idea they can sit and do whatever they want. I sat a table to which they instantly got up and said this was good enough and just moved to wherever they wanted to go. Not only do I have to deal with that, I have to deal with more than one person telling me where to seat people. It seems easy enough, but it does get a little complicated. We have to pack these people in to spaces that doesn't seem appropriate to stick them in. I feel less awkward, but I don't think it will ever be simple. I just hate being talked to rudely by someone who has really no clue what they're doing.

Once the show kicked off it got even more annoying. The first lady was somewhat funny, but she did a lot of racist, hacky crowd work. The next guy did songs and he was not good. The worst I've seen a weekend person do yet. He played songs which encouraged talking. I thought we were suppose to keep people quiet, so I awkwardly told someone to keep it down. To which the grown adult basically mocked me, sweet. After I checked with the doorman, he pretty much told me to let it go. I then picked up glasses. This even was a problem when I grabbed an empty drink, to which another full grown adult, says "Umm, ok I wasn't even finished." Ok, be a human and say, excuse me I'm still eating my ice. Great, awesome. Well had to listen to the guy play more crappy songs while the crowd talked. A few tables spoke about how bad he was after the show, and one table, who I believe were swingers, as all the guys slapped all the gals butts, and the guy asked the waitress for coke, said "that was the worst comedian I ever seen." He even opened the show by saying "if you saw me last time, I hope your into nostalgia, because I'm doing all the same jokes." Wow, just pathetic. Just so annoying to be working hard, almost every night, to see something like that be doing 30 minutes, and after 10 saying he ran out of material so he needs help....The headliner did all crowd work, 45 minutes plus of crowd work. He did very well with it. He basically just goes around the room asking the crowd what they do. Both shows were different, he had maybe 5 minutes of preplanned jokes, but other than that it seemed pretty off the cuff. Most of it wasn't real, hacky or racist either. Crowds do tend to laugh at this much more as they have an appreciation for how it is different. I do think that 45 minutes of it gets really long, and going around the room asking basically every single person what they do is a stretch. I have a much greater appreciation for it, but don't think it's anything amazing. I know I could do that with a little practice, not saying I'm amazing, just saying what he was doing isn't that difficult for any smart, funny comedian. He was only 30, which is young for a headliner, and I heard he's been doing it for over 10 years. I even saw a video from him headlining 2 years ago, so he broke in pretty young. Also the joke he ended with in the first show, is the same he ended with 2 years ago. I think I do need to work on my timing and getting together a tight ten minutes, but I want to keep working on new jokes. I think I want to half the time do the "set" and the other half work on new stuff. I have the ability to write jokes, but can fall back on crowd work if need be.