Getting on the bus from Dublin to Galway with GoBus.ie. Only 10 Euros. Exciting times. Recording video log now too:) There is an air of excitement coursing through my veins, but that is slightly retarded by my lack of sleep. Myself and Stuart King were filming until midnight last night for the "Time Wasters" movie in Dublin City centre. I think it went well. Cant get over this GObus.ie service. Well I'm thinking I might use this service all the time.
Why you might say? Im sitting on the bus travelling at 60mph in comfort, while writing this, saving on gas money, saving on stress, not worrying about parking, and not missing mobility because I know Galway is a nucleated, navigable by foot city. Good Times
So the plan today is to get to NUIG University. It will be a short walk. Drop my bag, Attend a few classes and get my timetable. Get to the University Gym, buy a membership and thus have my gym and washing facilities sorted for this little adventure. (that i hope you will join me on.) Then head of to a few locations I have researched on Google maps and see can I set up my home (tent) there. Ideally, I will find a place that is not within view of passing people and that I can leave it set up while I go to college. I will always carry my valuables with me, but I can leave my clothes and bedding there all the time if I find a secluded enough place. A hard thing to do in a city....but I am guessing it is possible, hence this project. Will edit a video later tonight, that will be available on Youtube on the 'GLOWPUNK' channel ASAP.
So, Yes this is a video so hardly worth writing about it. Although I should say it was painful to make and worked out well in the end as far as I can tell :) Hopefully some people and online news/sharing sites will pic it up and run with it. I can see an improvement in my artistic shots, since I started making videos. Also , I learned about the importance of sound. The interviews are poor due to a bad microphone set up, and a lot of wind.
My brother and I got off the ferry and set up our tents quickly. We picked up a guy Sean Smithers at the site and made him an honarary member of the crew. Then we legged it of to Pol na Peist to see could we jump in.
If you liked that please share it around, by posting the video on your Facebook page.
When we got there there was a lot of security, so there was no chance of jumping. I was ready to go mentally, but I guess I cant claim I would have done it... Maybe I would have bottled it. Anyway, the weather was terrible. We went home and back in to Joe Watty's Pub, which was just across the road from the tents. In there the divers were having a pint. There was a nice atmosphere.
This for me is the best still from the video. It just looks epic. Think that is Jorge up there. He had struggled ith some mental demons in the warm up dives and it took real guts to get back up there and try again.
We stayed in the back garden of a B&B. It was arranged by Donal. He is the coach of Shamrock Diver's club, Dublin. They train in the National Aquatic Centre.
Right that is all i want to write today... See you all soon. :)
My 7th and 8th Open Mic. 'Comfort through Discomfort'
What a great day on the video and stand up comedy front. Well 'Epic,' by my standards.
I think it may have been in the preparation. I Slept well last night, was in bed before 10pm and got a great breakfast and lunch. Had breakfast in the hostel (USA HOSTELS) and then headed down to China town for lunch.
I've been sharing a room with a good French lad, but we were on different timings so I wasn't sleeping that well. But, yesterday he left, so I had the room completely to myself. Awesome.
So all morning I edited a video for the 'Glowpunk' youtube channel that I shot on Sunday for the Pride Parade in San Francisco. I'm straight but it was probably one of the coolest parties I have ever been to, and a learning and mind opening experience as well. Hopefully you will like the video. Here is the link.
So after editing all morning I walked the 45 minutes across town to the 'Amnesia' bar open mic, that my friend Chris Duncan was hosting for a friend in his absence. I was up 13th, and decided en route that I was going to try and freestyle and create tension in the room as much as possible. The room was giving little or no feedback as the room was mainly full of comics and poets. So instead of writing this off as a waste of time, I realized that no matter what I did I was going to bomb (fail). So i decided to just mess about and even went behind the curtain and put on some silly voices and mentioned some subject matters that I would never want to make part of my act. I also called out some one who was not listening and pointed out that "it was funny that creating tension was funny" and that got a laugh.
Also that "people cared as little about the comedy as the bar owner did about the decor" and that got a laugh. And, that it seemed "that the reaction of the audiance would be the same to the comedy that I made up on the spot as to the comedy I practiced en route" and that got a laugh. I also mentioned that to top it off there was "an alcoholic man dressed in a clown suit staring at me who was there to highlight the sadness of the situation."(it was another performer dressed as a clown -Dr. Dream( he is great)) And that got a laugh. So a few easy laughs and proof to me that highly personalized comedy is the way forward.
Now don't get me wrong, I kinda bombed, but I bombed on my terms and that was satisfying, a great lesson learned and a confidence builder. I remember Dave Chapelle mentioned that it was only when he got comfortable bombing that he became a better comedian, so I kind of tried it based on that. Strange to attempting to fail and winning. Fun times.
So after getting that set out of the way, I showed a stressed Chris Duncan his first appearance in a Glowpunk video I made and checked that he was cool about everything I showed in it. It was quite an honest take of him and he was 100% up for it. He is a clever fella, fearless and open to an admirable level, and as we have joked about on many occasions operating very close to a fatal mis interpretation. I expect great things for Chris Duncan as a result of his 'Highwire Act.' As I like to call it. Anyway, he approved his cameo and we edited the video a little in the car. Then we drove to the second Open Mic of the night. 'The Rock-it Room.'
We arrived at 'The Rock-it Room' and signed up . It was a super quiet night, so we went for a bite to eat across the road in the chinese take-away and then walked back over at our leisure. I smashed a can of red bull (which I have not done in years) and videoed a super high energy 5 min set that was terrible but again useful for my development. Also the wonderful asian guy running the room was a friend of mine and was nice and friendly and supportive. I guess someday I might let people see that video, but not 'til I feel I am better than that performance. To be honest, that shouldn't take too long.
Myself and Chris then hit a few bars (drank coke and water) and I sent a few rounds of water to some girls who were sitting across the bar from us, which surprisingly worked better than sending alcoholic drinks. haha! The power of originality and comedy I guess. That is the end of the blog for today... Feeling good and as you can see by the length of this entry, the red bull is still working.
I walked an hour from my hostel just above the part of the city known as the Tenderloin, all the way across town to a place called mutinyradio.org. A wonderful upbeat comic and radio presenter called Pam runs the show there. The show is broadcast live on the internet and released later as a podcast. So a lot of comics like to go there to here what they sound like. Of course most comics record there sets on their phones but there is something a little better about the sound when you do it at a proper radio station. The showcase act was by a great improv comedy called 'Moore Devine.' They are very funny and well practiced and I believe once they start making youtube videos will be an internet global sensation. I have mentioned it to them but I guess I am the out of towner who they don't know so i guess they don't give much weight or attention to my comments. Will be nice to see them hit the world stage as soon as they make a video.
So there were about 6 people in the room when i got up and hopefully a few listening in over the internet. I tried a piece about smoking weed for the first time and finding a San Francisco town within china town and then becoming a giant redwood that just wanted to die. There were 3 mics on stage and 2 of the 3 micrphones broke during my set, so that kind of messes up the flow, but i tried to work the mayhem into my set and I guess it was fine for the level I am at. I can feel myself caring less and less about bombing and caring more and more about having fun and being brave and risking material. It is amazing how quick you can improve at something when you are starting from a no skill level. Anyway i did my 5 minutes and then walked back across town, taking in a crack ally beside best buy on my way home. Managed to make it home with a 2000 dollar camera and 2000 dollar laptop intact. Even came up with some premises and ideas on the way home. I have noticed that walking in a new environment is very good for coming up with ideas, and in San Francisco being anonymous and down town with the 'crazys' in the tenderloin, no one looks at you when you are mumbling to yourself. Ended up at the 'purple onion'comedy club where some comics I met recently were performing. They both did great and the lads on the door kindly let me in free because I am a 'comic.' ONe of the perks of embarrassing yourself on stage regularly, i guess.
Strange but true: Saw the second person receiving a blow job in a car while walking through town. I think I must be walking through the bad parts of town . ha!
Spend the next night messing about trying to fill a comedy gig at 'Amnesia' standing outside the door messing with people and advertising the show. Basically getting my stage time off stage. Good fun, met a nice girl.
Tonight was a great night. I wrote a piece yesterday that I thought was well written and had confidence in. Today I performed it at an open mike called "Amnesia" on Valencia and delivered it with conviction, and no missed beats. Today I got a look into the future of my stand up comedy.
I found that I could operate at a level I didn't think was possible for me yet. I got a few handshakes after getting down and one guy even got off his seat to say he enjoyed it. (that is my measure of success) It was a solid two minute story that required a lot of energy and memory. Now don't get me wrong, every comic worth his salt could do what I did, but for me it was a huge jump.
Before getting up, I had half a beer and a mouth full of coke. Then when the guy before me was going up I walked outside and walked round the corner and just raised my heart rate with a little swinging of the arms and some jogging on the spot. A minute of that and I walked around to the entrance again only to be met with Chris Duncan, who was hosting the open mike. His few words of advice were, enjoy the fact you know no one.
Before I knew it, Chris was onstage inviting me up to take the mike. I slagged him a little bit about the pitter patter of his shoes and explained to the audience that if they laughed I was a comedian and if they didn't I was just a guy telling a story.
I got to abstract quickly, which felt good and comfortable. The room was polite and attentive and laughed when expected. My final punch line could have been a little better but the little laughs throughout the story and the 100% attention of the audience made me feel like a winner.
Now the key is to be able to replicate this again, in many different ways and have strong 'bits' from start to finish. By no means do I think I am a good comedian, but by god today went well for me. I feel more comfortable committing to my material and longer stories instead of one liners, and all that came from today. A milestone for my development.
Hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg. Had to battle with my mind a little just to get on stage today, i think partly cause I felt last time I had very little to say and the rewards are so minimal in a room full of comics, but as expected you always get something out of getting up there... Gotta fight through the fear. I feel like I can actually think straight now on stage or at least the fog is lifting and clarity and control is seeping in, which is something that only four 5 minute sets ago I did not feel. A great rate of progression but lots more to achieve.
After 'Amnesia" me and Chris roamed the streets and Chris did a 10 minute set at the 'Rockit Room.'
Tomorrow going to a comedy central gig on some free tickets... i'll let you know how it goes.
Decided to hit up a place called 'Amnesia' on Valencia @ 19th in San Francisco, Signed up around 7 i think and they threw the names into a jar and I got up 2nd last but there was only like 15 of us so it wasn't too long. There was still maybe 15 people around. The stage was raised up about 4 feet and the room was long with most people way at the back of the room. Again the room consisted mainly of comics and some musical performers. There was a cool 50 year old guy dressed as a clown who played some psychedelic music and said some cool things, almost simulating a trip. Fun
(Not me in the photo, justa picture of the venue) So this time as i knew my chance was coming up I was still mellow, went out for a breath of fresh air and swung my arms round a bit to get the blood flowing to the brain.. walked up and got a little intro as a "newbie" walked up the steps and under the lights. Nerves were nothing compared to the first time on stage. On stage i'm thinking super fast but talking super slow. I can see everyone and hear everything and am hyper aware of the room but still to scared to interact with the room in depth. Some people were talking so I pulled them up on it and laughed it off and continued on . Got a few genuine laughs but know that i am no where near my potential. I am slow, immobile, slurring words and missing rythms and not word perfect yet. I would say weak, but optimistic. Still running that bombing the last time on stage over in my head, but conscious that this is the process. Glad I got up.... i feel like a lot of comics who start out might relate to this.... I am trying to get away from my bad performances with every further performance.... My brain is getting into gear . With the comics and on the street i hold my own and perhaps outshine some of the lads, but once on stage with a mike in my hand I am the slow one... It is psychological.. I know i will overcome it with a few hundred more shows and then i think i will see big steps..
Came to the conclusion with Chris Duncan ( a fellow comedian with 2years hard graft down) that there are many ways to bomb and that I am not bombing in the worst way. So that is good. I see good times ahead for Chris. His stage presence and 'likablity' are thorough the roof, just a few subtle nuances and some luck and he will hit where he wants. A talented young man who appears fearless. A good inspiration and good fella. If you are reading this Chris HI!!!!! Here is his facebook page. Tell him glowpunk sent ya ! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chris-Duncan-Comedy/194889017225824?ref=ts
Getting up 5 times next week, so hoping to see improvement by the end of the week... I guess that is why i feel like keeping a diary of this. Apart from maybe helping others there is an element of being able to look back and see real progress in mind and skill.
