And A Fun Time Was Had By All...

First of all, let me put this out there, I made my payback goal for comedy last night. I had promised myself that I'd make back the money that I put into the workshop class, and now I have and with one more paying gig lined up, I'll actually turn a profit. 18 months or so later that is.

I have to say thanks to Luke. He wasn't feeling well and suggested me for the show last night. I gladly did it, and had a good time doing it. I told a few jokes throughout the night, but mostly kept it to playing with the audience and reading the trivia questions. You could get the impression that people wanted to get through the contest, but I did tell a few jokes in between. All in all it was a blast to do. The trivia topics covered 80's TV, music, movies, and George W Bush. For instance, were you aware that Vinnie Vincent from KISS was a music writer for Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi? Not many people do.

Now comes the sad part of this post. If you are a friend of mine from myspace, I've already sent a bulletin about this, but if you aren't here's the rub. I'm getting out of stand-up and hanging up my seltzer bottle. I'm going to finish out my dates and then do Portland's Funniest Professional Contest, and then that will be it. I'm not saying that if the urge strikes me, I won't pop up in a random open mic, but chances are, this will be the last couple of shows I'll do. It's been a blast, and being onstage has helped relieve some stress and take me away from my normal life while things have been heavy the past couple of years. With my mother passing away, and my father being diagnosed with cancer, it was a little place I could go and feel in control even if just for 5 to 20 minutes at a time. But I've made it through the worst of that for now, and don't have a clear goal of what I'd like from stand-up.

Here's some things I know I got out of stand-up. A tougher skin. I've always had very low self esteem, but being onstage and bombing a few times tends to toughen you up. Friends. I've met some amazing and funny people along the way. I'm not going to name them all, because I'd be afraid to miss someone. But if you were there with me onstage at Gemini, Acoustic Coffee, Slainte', Comedy Connection Portland/Boston, Binga's Wingas, Mr Goodbar, Spectator's, Maine Indoor Karting, or any of the other myriad of places where I've stood and bared my soul, you know I appreciate each and every one of you. Confidence. Stand-up is very honest. You can go out there with material that you've seen do really well, and bomb for your entire set. A couple nights later you can use the same material and kill, there's nothing like a retribution show. Dreams fulfilled. I never want to lose fact that the reason I wanted to do stan-up was because I love the art. I remember going to the Portland Comedy Connection several years ago to see Mike Birbiglia, and only about 7 people showed up. I sat right up front. I might have been the only person "getting him" that night and I laughed hysterically. He may have thought I was a psycho, but sometimes someone will say something that strikes you funny, and you'll never look at something the same way again. That's pretty powerful. Now I've worked those same stages, and had some of those same awkward moments with some audience members. I hope that if someone hears the phrase "You say tom-aye-to, I say Tom-ah-to" they'' finish it with "You say fajita and I'll say vagina". Then I know someone "got me".

It's not over yet though kids. There's 3 more scheduled dates, and obviously Portland's Funniest. Next show is next Wednesday in Bangor with 2 more Portland shows coming up next month on the Feb 1st and the 11th.