Thursday, April 27, 2006

Another One Of "Those" Experiences


Last night was fun. Not traditionally, but it was one of those nights that every comic that's been around awhile will tell you about. To say the crowd was small would've been an understatement. There were so few people in the crowd, all the comics had to come in and pretend to be normal audience members so that the room would seem fuller. But it ended up being fun.

It was a little nerve wracking, because most of them had heard my stuff before, so I had to try and put a spin on most of the stuff. But I did pretty well. Luke said I owned my set, but I know there's more I could do. I added on to some already existing jokes, and for my closer I actually used punchlines from one of Luke's jokes and one of Dustin's jokes. It's not so much a lift, because I don't plan on that becoming part of my act, but more or less an homage to the night. I figured we all have to sit through each others stuff, we should at least feel connected at some point and that felt like the right way to do it. Joe Ricchio was there last night, and there's something real cool about when he does a set that you can't help but be drawn in. It was a great night for local comedy, I'm proud to be a part of it even if people didn't show up in droves to see it.

Upcoming shows: Sunday April 30th. I only have 1 show next month on Sunday the 21st, but June I have 4 shows which I'll have to look up the dates later on. All of these shows are at the Portland Comedy Connection.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Eric's Hope

Last night was the 2 shows in Sanford for the fireman named Eric and his medical condition. It was a short bill, myself hosting, Chuck Sanborn and Kevin Knox. I hadn't seen Knox before, but to say he's a ball of energy is an understatement and that's not just his stage persona. I was MC for the evening which I hadn't done before, but I really enjoyed it. There were 2 shows at 7:00 and 9:00 and I'll handle them separately.

7:00- The crowd had a lot of elderly people in the audience, and what kept ringing through my head was Tim telling me I should avoid my darker material, especially my Vagisil joke. It made sense, so I went with my safer stuff to open up. The crowd laughed, but it was a constant and steady laugh, which for a packed house I wanted to go for the throat, but I resisted. But when Knox got up there, he eased into it a little bit and then went full bore. There was no holding him back once he got rolling. His brand of energy is what sold the audience. He did a great job, and Chuck had a great set for himself. I think the demographic of the audience was working in his favor for the first set.

9:00- We had an awesome surprise, Eric's (the guy the benefit was for) niece came up to me between shows and asked if she could do a set. Of course I couldn't deny her, she was just this little thing and very excited. She was 12 years old I understand, and shorter than me. I warmed up the crowd and introduced her and the crowd went nuts. She had a good 4 minute bit about the first ever baseball game, and it was good. Then I did my first half of my material. I started slow, like I saw Knox do, then I got a little more risque. I ended up using the Vagisil joke and it did great. I had much better crowd response than the first set, probably because I could get into those jokes more. I played a little more with the crowd, and it was a great night. Chuck came up and did his thing, and Knox blew the place out a second time.

I almost called Tim to cancel out of last night's show during the day. I'd come down with a really rough cold and had pretty much lost my voice for 2 days straight. I didn't think I'd be able to perform, but I'm really glad I could. Eric seemed like a real stand up guy, and just they way he took it all in, I myself was inspired and honored to do the show and help raise money for him. I also took the money they paid me for the set (not much) and gave it to the group to give to Eric. Knox also was inspiring, he was diagnosed with cancer 18 months ago, but you'd never know it. He's into eating healthy and as he says "kicking cancer's ass", and I have to be honest, he seemed like one of the healthiest people I'd ever met.

Last night meant a lot to me. It was a night I didn't care how my jokes fell, or how the crowd reacted. It just felt good to get out there and do something for a good cause. And when Eric shook my hand at the end of the night and thanked me for everything I did, I was blown away. He deserved it as far as I know, and he probably deserves a whole lot more.

Upcoming shows: Next Wednesday the 26th in Portland, and the Sunday after that on the 30th in Portland. Both are at the Comedy Connection.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Not Good, Not Bad

Last night's set was tepid at best. Here's the deal. I had some funy stuff going on, but I tried to force too much new material in there that I hadn't done and I wasn't selling it very well. I hadn't written out my jokes, so some of them went on too long. I've also come down with a cold and really wasn't up to performing. If you were there last night, I apologize for my involvement. I was actually losing my voice last night, so I was making a concious effort to keep my energy level low. I realize my energy lends a bit to my act.

Hopefully I can shake this cold by Saturday as I have those 2 shows in Sanford. Last night was frustrating, and I probably should have just stayed home, but I still learned something about my stuff last night, so it's okay. Other comics last night had good sets, and Running With Scissors came by and did a great job. There seemed to be a number of people there for that, so I was glad for them.

Other shows coming up this month are the two Saturday shows the 22nd in Sanford, the 26th at the Comedy Connection, and the 30th at the Comedy Connection.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Them's The Breaks


Last night's round of semi finals for Portland's Funniest was a great set for me, but I didn't advance to the next round. I'm not entirely sure what happened or where I went wrong, because I feel pretty strongly I had one of the best sets last night. Of the three criteria that we got judged on, I can only think it was stage presence, because I was pretty nervous and it must've shown. I'm very upset with myself that I let it bother me as much as it has.

I was excited to go on to round two, and as I posted before, and just wanted a chance to play in front of a full house and have a good set. That's exactly what I got. But at some point my competitive juices got flowing and I started to care how I finished. When the night was over I was disappointed, and I hardly slept last night. Certainly not taking anything away from the comics that won because they earned it, but I feel a little cheated. Comedy is subjective and I have to expect not to do great every time, except the crowd was roaring last night. I tore it up, so I don't know what fully happened.

I'm very thankful that people came out and supported me. It was probably the most folks that have made it to see one of my shows yet. If you're reading this and you were there to see me, thanks a million. If you've been there to see me in the past, I really appreciate that too. Comedy is an emotional roller coaster, with it's peaks and valleys. Last night was a peak, and I have to stop letting it eat me up. I'll just go back out and give it my best and keep plugging away. Upcoming shows are for Portland Comedy Connection: April 19th, 26th, and 30th. And Sanford Spectator's April 22nd at 7 and 9:00.

On a side note, I got to go to see the beloved Red Sox on Wednesday, and although David Wells blew it, I got to meet the man Jerry Remy. So it can't be all bad.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

New Kicks!




No real comedy updates today, but kind of an offshoot. I never mentioned my other comedy project previously on this blog (not that I’m ashamed, I just wanted to keep the 2 separate), but this is too cool not to mention. For those of you not in the know, I’m Beanz of the acoustic comedy band Pork & Beanz. It’s a Tenacious D type of project and we’ve been featured on WBLM a number of times, Baystock, and other charity shows. But here’s the kicker. I got some custom sneakers through Nike.com and just wanted to put up a couple pictures to share my glee. Anybody that knows me personally knows I’m a fiend for sneakers. These were my custom designed kicks and I’d like to share them with you through the art of digital photography. You’ll probably see me wearing them from time to time onstage, and now you’ll know what the backs stand for. I guess I’ll pinch this post for now, but be sure to come out next Thursday April 13th to the Portland Comedy Connection for Round 2 of Portland’s Funniest.