HOW SMOKERS ACT WHEN THEY GIVE UP

My first video working with my cousin Dex. Hope you enjoy. I thought it was rather amusing.

DANA CARVEY - FUNSTER Ep. 3

Here is our latest creation. Dana Carvey - Funster 3 

DANA CARVEY - I'M A FUNSTER Ep. 2

Hope you like this guys... I have a little cameo, filmed it, edited it and helped direct it :)
Good fun to work with the lads

'SHIT CRIBS' COMPETITION Win 5000 Euros worth of prizes

The Boys - Selling The Caravan (Episode 1)

My First Time Again...#4

Wednesday, Week 2:

San Francisco, California.

Venue: 'The Flying Pig' Cafe

        

       It's my second week of getting into stand up comedy so everything is still RUSSELL BRAND new. Today's open mic was at a cafe called 'The Flying Pig.' It's a strange little place to do comedy, but as valid an experience and exercise as any other open mic in the city and 100% worth a visit.  

        As a cafe it is great, with great service and great food, but as a place to hold an open mic it is tough for the comic. This is why it's good for developing! I believe all environments help a comic grow and learn the craft, and I will of course return, but it was not an easy place to illicit laughter...in my case at least. 

       The room is long and the tables are spread out. Thus, the compressed energy and intimacy which help spawn & draw out laughter were not readily available. I like to be able to see the whites of the audience's eyes, but in this instance I couldn't. That said plenty of comics did better than I did, and I am thankful for the opportunity to get on stage once again. 

      I went up feeling loose and I didn't do a single 'joke' for the first 3 minutes. It was jarring and hard to do...since instinctively I wanted to jump to the safety of my 'jokes' as the awkwardness grew. I tried to just 'riff and play' with the tension in the room and challenge the dexterity (or lack there of) of my mind. It worked to a certain extent...but it failed to a greater extent. 

       I tried out a riff about "stabbing the audience if they laughed,"  That seemed to work nicely and it is perhaps worthy of further investigation and extrapolation in the future. When I got down from the stage I could tell that some comics and clients thought it was a wasted exercise haha! But for me it was a box ticked and an interesting way to overcome a fear that I saw in myself and some other comics. The fear of not being able to go outside the lines of your writing or freestyle. Maybe I'm naive but I gave it a go despite the pain.

       I may have done terribly comedically, but as a comedic strength and brain building exercise I think it might have been a good idea. It's a long road to comedic success, so better to experiment now while it's low stakes rather than later. Also,to paraphrase Tom Watson "If you wish to increase your success, you have to double your rate of failure." I'm taking this advice to the limit and trying to quadruple it. So I'm succeeding at this at least :)

Join me on all social networks your on @GLOWPUNK

Frank

(GLOWPUNK)

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My First Time ...Again #3

Thursday, Week 1:

The Brainwash Cafe

      

      "One must work out ones comedy muscle."  A world famous comedian shared that gem with me in a green room a while back. I am like a super retentive sponge when it comes to that type of elucidating comment. It seems logical and obvious once you hear it or read it, but until someone draws your attention to it, it might not pop into ones consciousness. I now have a new muscle to work out. My comedy muscle!

      In essence, the comment suggests that the more you practice the comedy craft and art of verbal ninjary, the better you become. This results in less extraneous cognitive load on your brain when you are performing. Thus, leaving your mind more free to improve your performance rather than waste energy on the basics. It has only been 2 days of slacking, but in this stand up comedy world, especially at this early stage, it's like hoping to be a competitive athlete and skipping daily training sessions. 

       Once again I found myself being brought to the famous 'Brainwash Cafe' by Chris and Tom. It was another wholesome experience. I truly cant get over how relaxed I feel on stage. It is a cafe/laundromat with some really cute waitresses. The crowd was as ethnically, economically and ideologically mixed as they come and most of the room were comics tonight. Of course the non-comics is where I aimed my set delivery. No point in flirting with a married woman, so to speak. Comics have analytical minds, and are usually thinking of their own set or analyzing the delivery of your material. So you can be as funny as hell and still not illicit the slightest grin. Knowing that...can keep you sane! 

        Tonight I found that how I held the mic in regard to its distance from my mouth etc. was completely automatic. When you first start getting on stage it is strange to hear your own voice and you can find yourself worrying about volume etc. With that small part of comedy on autopilot I stepped outside my bits/jokes again tonight as much as I could. 

        I have decided that every month I will try and do one perfect showcase set and then archive my material and start fresh. If I do that I may learn quicker by forcing myself to grow or die on stage.  It shouldn't be as difficult as it would've been last year when I would have lived and died by every set and clung to my material like glue. Fear stifles progression! 

        This new found 'fearlessness' (for want of a better word) is kind of awesome and empowering. I think it comes from living in that tent for a year and my other ridiculous adventures. I'm so comfortable with what I am and what I am not that other people's judgement of me is so irrelevant it is nutritive. My diverse and perverse myriad of life experiences to date have given me a personal sense of value that public humiliation cannot take away. 

         I do of course have to care to succeed, but only in respect to my joke delivery, humor and audience reading. NOT to what they think of me as an individual. This sounds obvious but I have seen comics struggle with esteem issues. Perhaps the fact that I can see a clear separation between my jokes and I is the real important thing here. Note to comics YOU ARE NOT YOUR MATERIAL OR A REFLECTION OF THE RESPONSE YOU GET!  But what do I know? I'm new here. I really hope this fearlessness feeling lasts! 

This @GLOWPUNK blog is sponsored by www.brightworks.ie

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