Walking Away From A Trainwreck Unscathed

I had a great set last night. All of my jokes worked great except for one which just kind of worked, and that was a brand new one. I'll be able to rework that one later on. And although I had a great set, it feels like it was by the skin of my teeth. For some others, last night was more like a bit of a train wreck.

I almost felt as if the crowd from Old Orchard Beach had become lost and came to my favorite comedy club. From jump, these people didn't want to have anything to do with the show and there were noisy drunk hecklers. Our host even had a hard time getting anything out of them. I was scheduled 8th out of 12 comics, and I sat and watched as normally talented and respected comics got chewed up and spit out onstage. It was grizzly to watch. And then the #7 comic happened which I'm fairly certain saved me.

The comic was Bill Picard, and he was a wheelchair bound comic. He used a keyboard to speak, just like Stephen Hawking. (On a side note, this is where I decided to scratch my joke that referred to Stephen Hawking for the night). His jokes were funny, but went over even harder I believe because he was handicapped. I have to say though, that it was inspiring. When he got up I was brought right up onstage. I did something at this point I felt guilty about later.I was so impressed by what Bill had done, instead of asking the crowd to give it up again for the host, I asked them to give it up to Bill. Then I played back and forth with Bill and referenced one of his jokes. I could tell Bill liked being called back into the next set, and I felt good making him feel good. But after my set I realized I was kind of stealing his thunder and projecting him onto myself by interracial with him. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it was an advantage I created over other comics for the night.Last night was a rough crowd, but I made it through with flying colors. Very few comics had a good night last night, but I was one of the more solid sets of the night. It felt good. I cannot tell a lie.

My next show is next Wednesday the 16th. I was also added to the All-Star Weekend and that's the 19th at 9:45. One other comic I know that's working that show is Dustin Beckleman, and it's always fun working with him. That one will be special for me, because it's a Saturday night show, and my first one at the Connection. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for great things.