The Retirement Is In A Circle Pattern

I just got back from round 1 or Portland's Funniest Professional, which many people said they couldn't make it to, and they'd catch me in the second round. Well, the bad news is, I didn't make the second round. The good news is, I shot right to the semi-finals. My next show will be on May 2nd, so if you're one of those people, you have plenty of time to plan if you really want to go.

The reason I shot right to the semi-finals, was because I came in first place tonight. Apparently I did good enough to win the heart of the judges tonight. The first place winners get a pass from round 2, and go right to the semi's. I have to be honest, I wasn't really stoked on my set. I thought it was fine, but definitely not my best. I thought other folks did a better job, but I am usually my own worst critic. I am pretty excited about the next round for me, I'll be going up against Tom Ryan. For those faithful readers of my blog, he was the assistant instructor when I was going through the class. He also helped me pop my first cherry outside of the class by doing that horrible show up in Lewiston at Confetti's. It'll be nice to do a show with him again, it's been awhile.

I thought the other comics did a great job tonight too. There were some folks I'd worked with up in Bangor before, Adam Hatch, Ryan Waning, and Sampson who seemed like they were well received my the Connection crowd. There was also the second place guy named Kevin who did a great job, I just didn't catch his last name. Also Paul Hunt came in third, but only gets to advance if myself or Kevin can't continue for some reason.

When they announced my name as the winner tonight, I stood up to to take a bow. The applause was so loud, and it felt so good. Tomorrow's my birthday, but today I got a gift. It's not something that you can package or sell, I felt good inside. For myself, with crippling low self esteem, it's hard to feel like that. All the while that I do stand up, I think about my mom and why I decided to do stand up. The applause was something I never thought I'd get. I knew I was funny and people would laugh and clap, but I never thought I'd get the applause that the last couple have shows have given me. If you were there for either of the last 2 shows and you were cheering, I just want to say thank you. It means a lot to me, more than you'll probably ever know.

That being said, there's a possibility of a couple more shows coming up next month. Timmy B was talking about a couple of paying gigs next month in the Portland area that he might put me on. I'd be crazy to pass up money for a 5 minute commute. So as I said, looks like the retirement is slightly delayed. But the May 2nd semi-finals is a go. Mark your calendars bitches.