Last night turned into a pretty good show. It started off really slow, as it normally does. I somewhat feel bad for the open mic people, but at the end of the day they can promote the show if they wanted an audience.
There was a gal that's kind of new that brought a few people. She opened with complaining that I put her up earlier this week than last. Not a great idea to complain and insult the person booking the show. She was awkward for a couple minutes not even making the friends she brought laugh and got off stage. I then brought up a man in a wheelchair, who swore and complained a lot. Not sure where the jokes were but oh well. After he got off stage, I said, "Ok were gonna keep the show rolling." Not planned, just awkwardly said it. He yelled a little bit, and I apologized. Definately not my intention. I was going to say it takes a lot of courage to come up here and be bald, but bailed on that idea.
Well I wasn't really looking forward to my set, as I'm not real happy with a lot of my jokes. I told my friend to write my set list for me, maybe give me some motivation. I think it worked out well. The set was a combo of jokes and crowd work as it't been the last few times. I really like doing it, but feel it may be affecting my joke writing. Who knows, I can only be funny each time and hope to improve.
Well the title. I started the blog mostly to keep my family in the loop, and I think it will be cool to look back at one day. I figured I'd always be honest and just give the run down of the politics and extra crap that comes with comedy. I recently lost a show because of it. And conflict avoided but it felt I could have lost a friend over it. I don't want things like that to happen, but also don't want to censor the blog. The blog is simply a way to open people's eyes to the crap of comedy. I think it would make a good book someday. I think it's silly I losta show over it, but could understand someone being bothered by my comments. Sucks as I know what he did was not intentional. and he's one of the best people in comedy. I think we smoothed things over. I guess in the future I should at least wait a day or two to think about my comments. Or at least not be so harsh. Who knows....
Hick bar show tonight, hoping to not get punched.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Alcohol is tasty
So have been living the last couple of days like I was on vacation. I have a friend from Maine visiting and we have been living it up. Had a show last night at 8, and I had started drinking at 3. I wasn't pounding drinks and took a break after awhile. I wouldn't say I was drunk, but I wasn't in perfect form. I went up at 930, but only had 2 beers since 6 so I was in pretty decent shape. I was scheduled to do 15 minutes, I'm not sure I did that long as it felt like it went fast. I did a combination of jokes and crowd work. I was actaully pretty happy about my set, I stumbled a few times, but think the flow was good overall. Maybe the booze made the laughs seem louder who knows. I spoke to my buddy after and he was like, "Eh it wasn't your best set. You had some of the crowd but others were lost." He seemed to back track a bit after. But seemed genuine that I didn't do that great. Who knows, up there I felt good. Maybe I shouldn't have spent the day drinking, but I need to let loose and be happy occeasionally.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Bad mood + poor expectations= Bad set
Well I had a pretty crappy set at the Blarney for the first time in awhile. It sucked as there was a good amount of people there. I told my friend to put my name down and kept faith he'd take care of it. He ended up not showing up on time, and I had to text the booker and I ended up going up 40 minutes after I should have. At the end of the day it is my job to be funny no matter the time I go up. But by the time I got up no one was listening. The dude that went before me had a decent amount of people there to see him, but it was probably his first maybe second time on stage and was awful. What made him so bad is that he wasn't speaking into the mic. This is so important at a bar, because if the person with the mic isn't loud enough the group feels it's there job to fill the silence. I got on stage and planned to do jokes, but was quickly blown off as I started with a simple who's drinking to which I got no response. So at this time I tried crowd work but as I had gone to a coworkers b day party I had about 5 shots of tequilla in about in hour. And this was counterbalanced with 2 16 oz. Rockstars. All this led to not being able to think of anything to respond nor did I really have a chance. At this point the crowd was lost. Another time which makes me wonder how Seinfeld would respond to such a room. If funny is funny, why wasn't I funny?
In the future I will not count on others to take care of things. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter it's just another show. But I did have a friend there, and it's always nice to do well when you have friends in the audience. Plus there was a good amount of people that if I could have done well who knows if I could have recruited them for other shows. Bombing is never fun, but I have bombed with my last 2 big, hostile crowds. Both in some way not my fault, but I have the mic, it's my job. Can't go around blamming others when the words are coming out of my mouth. The audience reaction, or lack there of, is in my hands.
I'm also trying to take hold of my drinking. I have curbed it a lot in the past 3 days. You might say didn't you just have 5 shots in an hour, yes but my tolerance at this point is rediculous. I don't drink for comfort I simply drink to sleep. The last couple nights, I basically sleep 3 hours, then wake up every 10 minutes. I dream nonstop about rediculous things and many have to deal with things 4 to 5 years ago. I'm not sure whether it's because my brain can't find happiness in the past 4 years, or if alcohol have erased my memory of the recent past.
I look at the unluckiness of my life. The luckiest day of my life, was when I won the $12500, when I got 1st in the online poker tournament. And today I'm pondering things, and it was around that date when my ex got engaged. Now I mentally can't even enjoy that day. Last week I lost $1300 in 5 hours playing poker. I was stone cold stober, played great for the most part, just getting unlucky over and over again. It's pathetic.
And now thinking about comedy. Last week I tried to judge at the Palace and there was probably 100 crowd members, I wasn't able to do it. This week if there is 20 audience members I will be shocked. There is 3 guys coming from L.A., two local guys that don't promote, and someone I've never heard before. It's so crazy how polar opposites one of my best comedy friends and I are. He's happy with life and everything seems to fall into his lap. I'm not jealous, I'm happy for the guy. I think slightly about the comedy contest. After helping count the ballots last week I realize you get 6 points for 1st. And while 4 of my friends couldn't get in due to not having their id's plus the 6 ballots that had to be tossed who knows where I'd been with 60 more points. At the end I was happy my friend won, but when will I catch a break. I finally meet a gal I'm attracted to and bond well with and she sends more mixed signals that a dislexic third base coach. Why am I bunting again, there's no one on base. Whatever I'm just going to try to get my life back on track, and maybe I'll catch a break.
In the future I will not count on others to take care of things. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter it's just another show. But I did have a friend there, and it's always nice to do well when you have friends in the audience. Plus there was a good amount of people that if I could have done well who knows if I could have recruited them for other shows. Bombing is never fun, but I have bombed with my last 2 big, hostile crowds. Both in some way not my fault, but I have the mic, it's my job. Can't go around blamming others when the words are coming out of my mouth. The audience reaction, or lack there of, is in my hands.
I'm also trying to take hold of my drinking. I have curbed it a lot in the past 3 days. You might say didn't you just have 5 shots in an hour, yes but my tolerance at this point is rediculous. I don't drink for comfort I simply drink to sleep. The last couple nights, I basically sleep 3 hours, then wake up every 10 minutes. I dream nonstop about rediculous things and many have to deal with things 4 to 5 years ago. I'm not sure whether it's because my brain can't find happiness in the past 4 years, or if alcohol have erased my memory of the recent past.
I look at the unluckiness of my life. The luckiest day of my life, was when I won the $12500, when I got 1st in the online poker tournament. And today I'm pondering things, and it was around that date when my ex got engaged. Now I mentally can't even enjoy that day. Last week I lost $1300 in 5 hours playing poker. I was stone cold stober, played great for the most part, just getting unlucky over and over again. It's pathetic.
And now thinking about comedy. Last week I tried to judge at the Palace and there was probably 100 crowd members, I wasn't able to do it. This week if there is 20 audience members I will be shocked. There is 3 guys coming from L.A., two local guys that don't promote, and someone I've never heard before. It's so crazy how polar opposites one of my best comedy friends and I are. He's happy with life and everything seems to fall into his lap. I'm not jealous, I'm happy for the guy. I think slightly about the comedy contest. After helping count the ballots last week I realize you get 6 points for 1st. And while 4 of my friends couldn't get in due to not having their id's plus the 6 ballots that had to be tossed who knows where I'd been with 60 more points. At the end I was happy my friend won, but when will I catch a break. I finally meet a gal I'm attracted to and bond well with and she sends more mixed signals that a dislexic third base coach. Why am I bunting again, there's no one on base. Whatever I'm just going to try to get my life back on track, and maybe I'll catch a break.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Very slow show at Winston's
So we had the smallest turnout for Winston's since I took over 10 months or so ago. Neither of the headliners brought anyone, by this I mean zero. I knew the feature wasn't going to bring many, but he puts me on enough shows, I just hooked him up as a favor. Every week I have a newer person help promote in exchange for a better spot and more time. Well for the 2nd week in a row that person brought no one. Kinda crazy considering, he used to bring a few people when he first started and was getting 3 minutes. I don't understand some people's logic.
I hosted because the other dude was feeling ill. I tried a joke, which I cleared with a few minorities before. I figured it was ok. I tried it twice, as the people that were there earlier had since left and it was a new "crowd." Anyways the first time it went well, and the second time got awkward head shakes. Not sure I'll keep the joke. Who knows.
There is a new crop of weirdo comics. There was a mexican that said the n word about 20 times. Another dude that was awful but for some reason he thought he crushed. I'd be shocked if there was 1 funny comic to every 10 lunatics in the SD comedy scene.
My set was basically me talking to the 12 people that were there. I went from funny, to mean, to lame, all the above. I was happy overall with how it went. I ended kinda blah, but I couldn't have expected to bring down the roof.
Well I talked to the OBC dude about my disappointment about not being on the show. He basically told me what I already knew that he needed people that could promote. He said if I could bring 20 people he'd put me on. Well no crap. I'd put on 3/4 the comics in SD if they could bring 20 people. I realize his choices, but still feel I should have at least been asked. Esp. the amount of shows I've helped him get on, and never once really asked him to promote.
I hosted because the other dude was feeling ill. I tried a joke, which I cleared with a few minorities before. I figured it was ok. I tried it twice, as the people that were there earlier had since left and it was a new "crowd." Anyways the first time it went well, and the second time got awkward head shakes. Not sure I'll keep the joke. Who knows.
There is a new crop of weirdo comics. There was a mexican that said the n word about 20 times. Another dude that was awful but for some reason he thought he crushed. I'd be shocked if there was 1 funny comic to every 10 lunatics in the SD comedy scene.
My set was basically me talking to the 12 people that were there. I went from funny, to mean, to lame, all the above. I was happy overall with how it went. I ended kinda blah, but I couldn't have expected to bring down the roof.
Well I talked to the OBC dude about my disappointment about not being on the show. He basically told me what I already knew that he needed people that could promote. He said if I could bring 20 people he'd put me on. Well no crap. I'd put on 3/4 the comics in SD if they could bring 20 people. I realize his choices, but still feel I should have at least been asked. Esp. the amount of shows I've helped him get on, and never once really asked him to promote.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
A few days after growing I'm mad again
Holy cow. It just happened, so might as well write what I'm feeling before thinking about it. So the dude I took over OBC for and the one I run the show with are putting on a show at the Comedy Store. And.... they didn't even ask me to be on. Honestly, I've put the one dude on so many of my palace shows. I'm at a lost for words right now. The only justification is that I'm doing a show the week before. But honestly, there's absolutely no excuse to not ask me. I can't trust anyone anymore. Like seriously. How many people can use me. I'm at a lost for words. Fucked up considering I asked the dude to host my show a week before. What is wrong with humanity.
Was suppose to have a show tonight but it got cancelled due to the Chargers game. Got a text 40 minutes before the show. How do you not know until then. Luckily I didn't drive there. I think it was going to be a rough show, but was kinda looking forward to the challenge. He said he'll put me on a show in the future.
Last night I could have been on a show, but pulled my name out. I had put the promoter on a few shows on the palace. Some before he changed his style. And looking back I told the gal I co promoted with I won't promote if he was on as his act was all about rape and creepy stuff. I didn't feel comfortable having people see me for the first time with him on. Anyways, I made a snide comment about how I put him on shows, thanks for repaying me. He asked me via facebook comment if I wanted to go on. I didn't respond. My buddy was on the show, and told me I could do time. So I called the dude and he said he'll put me on. Well I find out later, it's basically a music comedy show. I said I'd take the time. I show up and there was maybe 20 audience members. I don 't care about that but there was an entire band set up on stage. I planned on singing Chris Issac's wicked games, but didn't really have the space. I had to work at 6 Am today, so just bailed.
Tuesday I did a comedy show in a little coffee shop, smart district spot. There was a good amount of people there. I was doing 15 minutes. It's been awhile since I did just my jokes for 15 minutes. When I stepped in at Winston's I had the heckler thing and my friend on the guitar. It's so crazy how much I hate telling old jokes. I wrote down all my jokes, and had to pick what I wanted to do. It's all crap. I just really want to focus on crowd work. I did some jokes, it went ok. I was sweating more than I ever have on stage. It's not really nerves at this point. I screwed up one of my older jokes, and tried to dig my way out of it. I wouldn't say I lost the crowd, but didn't perform well enough to get invited back or shake hands/ kiss babies. A gal did say I was funny after, which is always nice.
I just go back and forth with my love for comedy. Over a year later I still forget it's a roller coaster. Highs and lows. But like poker, I only dwell on the lows. I lost 1300$ in one day Tuesday. I can't stop thinking about that. I'm sad that Tuesday went so subpar. It was a good crowd, and I definately didn't capatalize on the opportunity. The main reason I tried to stop playing poker is how depressed it makes me. I hope I never want to quit comedy due to depression. I just see myself getting burnt out. There's no finish line. I always did well in school cuz I was rated. The better I did the better the grades. Plus I knew at the end I'd get a piece of paper that would help me land a job at home depot... But with comedy there's no finish line. At least with poker there are tournaments with a winner. I don't know... I just wanna be happy again.
Was suppose to have a show tonight but it got cancelled due to the Chargers game. Got a text 40 minutes before the show. How do you not know until then. Luckily I didn't drive there. I think it was going to be a rough show, but was kinda looking forward to the challenge. He said he'll put me on a show in the future.
Last night I could have been on a show, but pulled my name out. I had put the promoter on a few shows on the palace. Some before he changed his style. And looking back I told the gal I co promoted with I won't promote if he was on as his act was all about rape and creepy stuff. I didn't feel comfortable having people see me for the first time with him on. Anyways, I made a snide comment about how I put him on shows, thanks for repaying me. He asked me via facebook comment if I wanted to go on. I didn't respond. My buddy was on the show, and told me I could do time. So I called the dude and he said he'll put me on. Well I find out later, it's basically a music comedy show. I said I'd take the time. I show up and there was maybe 20 audience members. I don 't care about that but there was an entire band set up on stage. I planned on singing Chris Issac's wicked games, but didn't really have the space. I had to work at 6 Am today, so just bailed.
Tuesday I did a comedy show in a little coffee shop, smart district spot. There was a good amount of people there. I was doing 15 minutes. It's been awhile since I did just my jokes for 15 minutes. When I stepped in at Winston's I had the heckler thing and my friend on the guitar. It's so crazy how much I hate telling old jokes. I wrote down all my jokes, and had to pick what I wanted to do. It's all crap. I just really want to focus on crowd work. I did some jokes, it went ok. I was sweating more than I ever have on stage. It's not really nerves at this point. I screwed up one of my older jokes, and tried to dig my way out of it. I wouldn't say I lost the crowd, but didn't perform well enough to get invited back or shake hands/ kiss babies. A gal did say I was funny after, which is always nice.
I just go back and forth with my love for comedy. Over a year later I still forget it's a roller coaster. Highs and lows. But like poker, I only dwell on the lows. I lost 1300$ in one day Tuesday. I can't stop thinking about that. I'm sad that Tuesday went so subpar. It was a good crowd, and I definately didn't capatalize on the opportunity. The main reason I tried to stop playing poker is how depressed it makes me. I hope I never want to quit comedy due to depression. I just see myself getting burnt out. There's no finish line. I always did well in school cuz I was rated. The better I did the better the grades. Plus I knew at the end I'd get a piece of paper that would help me land a job at home depot... But with comedy there's no finish line. At least with poker there are tournaments with a winner. I don't know... I just wanna be happy again.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
New response
Final email from the dude simply states....
Your such a Dick!
Key word "your" I mean if you're going to be mean sir, at least be grammatically correct.
Your such a Dick!
Key word "your" I mean if you're going to be mean sir, at least be grammatically correct.
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