How to be a funny man 3 (take 2)

Third Comedy Open Mic

Tough crowd, bad show, I bombed but Great host Mike runs a good ship

Monday night at the Brainwash, it was a mixed open night, three rappers/poets before me and then I got up and tried to deliver dry material. The room was completely quiet. I nearly left with my tail between my legs after my 3min30sec set but by chance stayed on and watched a guy kill. He was great.

   The room was still silent for him too, and that made me think wow, it really is partly the crowd and the room. He was touring and everything and still played to silence... He did brilliantly though and kept his pauses and timings... I imagine we may hear about this fella in the future, i think he may have just given me the best lesson about sticking to your guns and be fearless with your material... The room tried to destroy him and he just slowed it down and destroyed the room. Awesome to watch a comedian kill in complete silence.

I did how ever make a few school boy errors...



1 Signed up after a rapper.
2. Tried new material without preparing and committing properly.
3. Showed signs of fear.
4. I wasn't amped up or focused, too casual.
5. Openly cared to much about the audience's reaction.


I "bombed"... and if that is as bad as it gets I should be ok from here on in....maybe... hmmm

Walked back through the Tenderloin and Mission Street area which is a tough part of town and arrived home in one piece, Laptop intact... It seems the lads on the streets there only want to sell drugs and not mug. Actually have met a few cool cats on my little walks. Sad to see so many people in turmoil though.

New goals, commit to my material and pause and hold as the material dictates, be less reliant on the audiences responses while still being present.. It is a fine balance and hard to put down in text but I know what i mean and i guess some people who have been in my position will.

The key is to get up tomorrow and try and kill.....

C'mon ego stay strong! You can fucking do it!


Glowpunk

How to be a funny man 3

My Third Comedy Open Mic
     
      Third gig was a disaster, queued from 6pm signed up at 6.25pm. waited around 'til 10.45pm only to be told there was no time left for us to get up. I guess this is part of paying your dues. The host being as nice as he could, offered to let me and Tom up first next week. So that will be a nice day of not waiting... Tom headed off, so i guess it is time to hit the comedy open mikes on my own..
Going to take Friday Sat and Sunday off to try and write some good bits, feel like i have nothing funny to say so will try that for the next few days and hopefully on monday try it out and see how it goes down.

2 down, 3rd time might be better

Glowpunk

How to be a funny man 2

My Second Comedy Open Mic

           So, Second time up tonight, it was across town at 'Dirty Trix'  408 Clement Avenue. The room was kinda cool, about 20 people there so much quieter then the brainwash. It was a nice atmosphere to try stand up in, it had an attentive crowd, some of whom were just there to have a beer and listen. Again there were some people who were great and some who were terrible.

          I feel like i might have done just about enough not to be associated with the terrible.  Felt stronger on stage. I wasn't as nervous getting up and the pulse rate was not at the high level it was at the night in the Brainwash Cafe. The host was a nice fella and they had little music intros, the lighting was cool and it had a kinda cool red curtain behind the performers which gave that nice atmosphere.

Again we signed up at about 7 and went got up at about 9.30. I had walked 2 hours for some meetings that morning, so I was super tired, but had a Redbull to get the head in order. To get there I walked and got a lift on my friends push bike. Took about an hour. Again got up and did about 2 mins 30 secs and felt like it went great compared to the first night... Even handled a few heckles, all be them pretty chilled. I think i may have been to aware of the room and gone a little fast, but that was ok for me... Me and Tom met a nice guy called Chris Duncan who is a 5 year vet and is awesome on stage and he kind of gave us some light pointers. Basically get up again and enjoy it..

           So yep a lot less nerves and a better delivery all be it pretty bad. Still havn't told a dick joke or used too much bad language. It seems to be easier if you go blue, but I just don't want to go that route...

          Tom is heading off on holidays so hopefully I will still get up on stage when he is gone, I guess we'll see, Thursday night is the next one, back in the Brainwash. Hopefully it will go ok, but I have heard that you need to be prepared to play to complete silence and to bomb when you are starting out. Hasn't happened yet but I think it could happen soon...

Two down, number three coming up... gotta keep getting up and face the fear... that terribly seductive adrenaline. Right now I feel like my material is hacky and weak, looking forward to cracking and writing some good bits.

How to be a funny man 1

     
   
My First Comedy Open Mic


        Just back from doing my first open mike stand up comedy thingy ever. I did it in the brainwash comedy club on Folsom, San Francisco. It went well. Me and my cousin Tom signed up for 5 minutes but did far less. The goal was to get up, say a few things get some laughs and sit down. We succeeded at that. Although, it was hard to tell what was charity laughs and what we induced. Either way a milestone.

I've religiously texted emailed and kept little notes of funny thoughts i've had for a few months now. It doesn't amount to much and a lot of it is nonsense and far from funny, but I pulled a few bits of that out and used those bits to make up 2mins 30 seconds of short concise jokes. Im too new to go into long stories, I guess I would forget and mess up in the panic

While signing up on the registry sheet there was some excessive fumbling over the pen, all adrenaline induced i guess and funny to see how amped we were. The place was noisy and exactly the wrong atmosphere for any a good performer, which in a funny way made it the perfect place to begin. Every one in the room was a comic and those who weren't sat down the back talking. The standard for the most part was pretty low, so that took the pressure off us. there was even a few people who just got up and talked crazy. I think they might have been off their medication

We got the customary "A LOT OF LOVE " welcome from the crowd which the host Tony Stark rallied (gentleman) and then got straight into it. It was over before we knew it and then  we walked outside and talked about how we were glad it was over, and how surprisingly it was worth the 4 hour wait for about 3 minutes of material.  My first joke was "Two Irish guys walk into a bar but it wasn't a bar that sold alcohol it was a metal bar, and it went straight through the first guys chest and out through the other guys head"

I liked it, and I guess some people did too cause it got a reasonable response.

There is a chance to get up every night of the week in San Francisco and do 5 mins, so i guess it is a good place to go for wannabe comedians like me. I decided to stay in town instead of traveling across the country as previously planned to see what can be accomplished in the comedy world in a month, getting up about 4 times a week.

So in closing I would say that everyone should go and look at a few shows first then write down some buts and get up there and let people know it is your first time. They will be supportive.

We recorded it on video but I think I will keep it to myself for a while, incase it is the last one I ever do.


My cousin Dex came along for the laugh and to see how it all worked and thinks he might give it a go next time. He spent the itme in the car writing lyrics for some music he is making.

Right, now to see if we will get up again.

Glowpunk

Step 1 TRY!
Step 2 Don't get in your own way!
Step 3 Be suprised how far you get!

Girls

So many flowers, which one should I pick.
The pressure to choose makes me feel a bit sick.
You pick one and your ruined, on an island marooned.
You choose two and you loose and wind up confused.
Best bubble and meander in the direction you flow.
And, never pretend to think that you know.
blah blah blah

by
Glowpunk

Happy verus Sad

          Sitting in the airport in Dublin, Ireland listening to the people who work here talk about the negative and the people who are going on holidays talk about the positive. The predictability of it all is slightly tiresome. C'mon people dare to be different.

            Feel's nice to be able to see it and expect it. Then I remember that I am probably the same when I am in a fixed environment for an extended period of time. Actually, truth be told if I find myself moaning I know it is time to move on and make a few changes in my life, instead of blaming exterior influences.

               I think people who have a lot change in their lives are happier, or at least moan lesss. Those who feel trapped by their job or their possessions seem to moan a bit more, possibly because they feel that is all they can do since they feel 'stuck.' Change it up wonderful people of the world. Stay foot loose and fancy free and risk the crap out of life you will be dead soon. :)