Good, Better, and Best

I took a couple pictures before last night's shenanigans started, and the sky was really pretty. I couldn't help but think something was going to be magical about last night when I saw the sky like that. I'll have to post that part later. The service doesn't seem to be accepting pictures right now.

Last night was a funny night. A couple of things happened. Being a Thursday night, I was scheduled to do a set at the Comedy Connection. When I got there I found out my usual 7-8 minutes had been cut down to 5 minutes. I'm assuming it's because my previous set I was supposed to do 7 minutes I went 9 and a half minutes. I was bummed, because I hadn't had to try and squeeze a set into five minutes for awhile, so my set was hurried. It was a GOOD set, but I know I'm capable of better. I was thrown off to be honest with you. I was on fourth, so I was done by 9:30 so I headed over to Slainte'.

There were only about 5 more comics left by the time I got there, so I put my name in as well. The room had only about 20 people left in it by the time I hit the "stage" area, so I made everyone come gather around in what I called a "Comedy Campfire". I did a set of all brand new material, some I hadn't written out yet, but went with the flow. The new stuff was a hit for the most part, and I think I definitely had a BETTER set than before, I dare say a great set.

set, while everyone was sitting around me still, Timmy mentioned that the show was done, unless there were more comics. That's when the idea hit me to tag team some jokes with Dustin like we were going to try the week before. He came up, we did a few back and forth, then other comics joined in too. We tossed the mic back and forth until it hit the ground, and then called it a night. It was the BEST set of the night because it was impromptu and special. I'm sure it's something most people that were still there can say was pretty sweet.

Next 2 shows are next Tuesday and Thursday at the Comedy Connection. Hopefully I'll have more time than 5 minutes, but I'll plan to be on probation all the same next week. I have enough material building up at this point I'll be able to roll with the punches if it goes long or short. I believe Luke Hanberry said he also was doing Tuesday night, so if you want to see me or Portland's Funniest of 2006, swing by and check it out.

A Fun Night!

I had a rough start to my set. The PA was all messed up and giving tons of reverb, but once Timmy B fixed it, I was good. I tried out a good amount of new material, and most of it worked. I had a cannibal bit I thought was going to be really funny, but I'll have to flush that one out if I really want it. Lots of great comics last night, there were at least 17 on the bill.

There were no run ins with transvestites last night, just a great time. I left at about 10:20 and there were still tons more people that needed to go on. I had to get some sleep though. I also found out about another room run by Dennis Fogg in Gorham at Sierra which is the third Tuesday of every month. He told me to swing by and do a set, so I might give that a go next month as I don't have anything booked that day. My next show coming up is next week Thursday at the Connection. I won't be able to make it back to Slainte' until August, but I'll probably try out Sierra just to try a new room.

I got a picture of me and Dustin from last night. He was dressed so pimpin, how could I resist? He claims the tie is Wal-Mart for $8, I think it was Michael Korrs for hundreds and he doesn't want us to know how deep he rolls.

I blew it off.

Just in case anybody's still reading this. I decided not to do time at Acoustic Coffee last night. No biggie, I just didn't feel like it. I suppose I wanted to save all my juice for tonight. I'm pretty excited about tonight at Slainte'. Dustin and I are planning on doing something new, and a lot of the comics are very jazzed about this room, and for good reason, it's fun as hell. I promise to remain standing up, or at least not lay down on the couch. I won't be able to make it back to Slainte' for awhile after tonight, because I'm booked Thursdays for awhile at the Comedy Connection. It won't be until August I'll be back, so I've sent out a bulletin on myspace to try and garner as much attention for this show as I can. If you know of someone that wants to laugh, tell 'em about it. It's free and it should rip tonight.

Also no update for the goofy Mike picture. It's just not fair right now. But who knows, maybe tomorrow you'll see something new. I don't feel right posting a goofy picture if I didn't do a set.

Another Lovely Evening

I feel a little bad, because I ran an almost identical set to the last time i was at the Connection, but I didn't have a chance to run new stuff at any open mics. I did mix it up with the stuff I did, so it wasn't too bad. It was a great crowd. I'm glad I went up early, because as the night went on the crowd was a little less responsive.

I had to hit a variety store intown because I didn't feel well before the show. I was cramping in my stomach real bad and was either going to have the shits or my period, so I made my way to some Pepto. After one "incident" at Flatbread Pizza, my positraction was no longer slipping. I still felt a little off for the rest of the night, but at least the threat of me dropping deuce in my drawers was quelled until after my set.

I had a brief run-in with a heckler last night. He was right up front, and for some reason had a problem with my Rue McClannighan comment. Long story short, I laid into him pretty well, and the crowd was having fun at his expence. I usualy just ignore people like that. It could've been my cranky bung, or it could've been that he was directly in front of me, but I was a little more confrontational than I usually would be.

All in all, it was a blast. This week coming up, I have Acoustic Coffee on Wednesday (possibly, I know I said I thought I was done, be we still have kids together and he can be sweet. You don't know him!) and Thursday at Slainte'. I'll be running some more new stuff, so we'll see how it flies. Stimulater!

P.S. I've included one of my personal favorite goofy pictures of Mike. Straight up gangsta!

A Few Blocks Makes A Difference

It's amazing what a difference makes in venue. Last week Sunday I had a great set at Comedy Connection, and the video on myspace shows the crowd was into my set. Then two days ago I felt my confidence beaten down at Acoustic Coffee. Then last night I'm top of the world again. What an incredible crowd last night, they were there to laugh.

I used some of my newer stuff last night and it went over well. There's a couple of jokes in my arsenal that I've gotten real comfortable doing most every set, at least one of them, and I didn't use them. It felt good to get new stuff to fly for a responsive audience. Another thing I didn't do last night was use a "closer". Every set that I'd done yet has a callback joke as a closer. I just wanted to try something different last night. It was good. It didn't tie the set up in a neat bow, but I think it made my last joke less predictable and more of a surprise for the audience. I can't say enough good things, great show.

And of course, I've included a goofy picture of Mike because nobody's sending me a goofy picture of themselves. But then again, Mike and Amanda are the only folks I know reading this. So Amanda if you'd like to save him from the embarrassment, send in a goofy picture will you?

Really can't tell what happened.

The crowd was very quiet tonight. It was mostly comics again, so who knows if anything went over well or not. I believe that puts me dead even at 2 and 2 for good night and bad nights at Acoustic Coffee. I don't even know if I bombed. Oh well, the nice thing is if it was as bad as I felt it was, there really wasn't anyone there that'll care. It was like telling jokes at a sleep clinic, and it wasn't just me. Tomorrow's back at the Connection though, so I'll be back where I prefer.

Not really sure why I put a picture of my girlfriend and I up today. It just made me feel nice. I promise something foolish of my friend Mike for the next post if nobody sends me a goofy picture. Here's a small sample. It's him crying as well as laughing, because he knows the juice picture isn't far off.

Watch Your Mouth!

I honestly don't know what happened, but for some reason the show went pretty raunchy last night. I was a little more free with my language, and cussed more than usual, but it worked out. Dustin Beckleman, Joe Ricchio, and Rich Pickford were all on the bill, so you know it had to get nasty at some point. What a fun show. Probably a little more than 3/4 full, and the crowd was into it from the start. Even my newer material was working well. I had a blast, and hope this is a sign that the summer months will bring in more folks.

I've also updated myspace to a comedian page and have an ongoing calendar of upcoming shows which is a bit easier to read. Check it out at http://www.myspace.com/robscomedy. Next show coming up is Wednesday at Acoustic Coffee and then the next day back at the Comedy Connection. Hope to see some folks there.

P.S. Photos seem to be working for now, so here's the reference picture I was going to post before of Wesley Snipes. Doesn't seem as relative right now, but Mike's infamous juice picture gets a stay of execution.

Another Great Time At Slainte'

This was my second show there, and just as fun for me as the first. Another great crowd, the new set-up was nice, hell I got to do my set lying on a couch. The crowd wasn't as big as last time, but it was a much more focused group so it was pretty supportive. There wasn't an issue of people talking over the comics like it was before. Really a great night, I can't say enough positive things about the room, comics, and the job Timmy B has done getting this off the ground.

I was the first comic up and I was going to do a 50/50 mix of new and old material. I had about 6 or 7 minutes prepared. Seth (SBP!) Perry and Timmy convinced me to do more time. I'm not sure how much I did, but I'm certain it was over 10 minutes. I'm pretty sure my new stuff was working, some of it got better laughs than the jokes I'd been getting great feedback on. That was a nice feeling. There was a self deprecating gay joke I wasn't sure was too much or not, but apparently it hit the right chord. I had a great set, and lots of fun. Now onto why no picture of Mike's infamous bottle picture, and why Wesley Snipes is on my blog.

At some point after my set, I went outside to get some fresh air. I was chatting it up with S-B-P! and this little black woman came up to us. She'd clearly been drinking heavily and she was very friendly. She came up and leaned into our conversation and said, her man likes her to jiggle his balls. She was just about 5 feet tall and looked like a cross dressing version of Wesley Snipes (no shit!). We said "Oh really?". She went on to tell us that they like to drink, she was fond of Miller Lite, her man likes Maine beer, Shipyard. Seth tells her she's a beautiful woman. Incredulously I peep over at him and he's bolting from the conversation leaving me with Ms. Wesley Snipes all primed. I didn't want to bolt right away, thinking she might think I'm a racist. But then she leans into me and says "You should give me some sweet lovin'". "Excuse me" I said, "but you have a man that needs his balls jiggled and more beer to drink". She said "Yup, you need to give me sweet lovin'". I told her that wasn't a good idea and thanked her for the conversation and excused myself. But still, I'm hoping she doesn't think I'm a racist. I'll get you back for that S-B-P! You just wait ;)

(P.S. Looks like the photo feature of Blogspot is down right now. Pics will be added later on)

One Thing I Didn't Think I'd Ever Say....

I had a good time in Sanford. I realize that the first 2 times I played Sanford, it was probably less than stellar. But I'm warming up to them now. I'm now up 3 good shows to 2. I got to do about 13 minutes worth of stuff with and banter as well. I was hosting last night, and for me, that takes a lot of pressure off. It was another paying gig, but I kept the money this time. Hey, I gotta keep them honest.

Last night I worked with Jerry Caruso and Ace Aceto, both great guys. I'd actually worked with Jerry on my first show in Sanford, so it was nice to have someone that saw me sucking at first come back when I'm more confident and have more material. It reminds me of the Dave Attell joke about going back to the first person he ever made love to and singing... "Look who's not crying, like a big boy!"

There was some crazy woman with a wedding party that kept trying to heckle the comics, and I may have gotten her wound up. She seemed like she might be a problem, so I threatened to dirty dance and hump her. She shut up for me, but she tended to get going again once I was off the stage. Old drunk horny chicks in Sanford, what really can you say? It was "redneck charming".

I had promised a goofy picture of my friend Mike for my next update if nobody sent in a funny face, and nobody came through. Unfortunately, I have all the incriminating photos of him on my work PC, so his stay of execution is going to be held over for this post. But, be rest assured, I have a show at Slainte' this Thursday night starting at 9:00, and if I don't have a goofy photo by then, the infamous juice bottle picture will come out.

Additional date change info:

Just a couple things to update on. I know I had mentioned in my last post that I'd be doing a show in Sanford at Spectator's this Saturday, but I wanted to include a couple of other new dates to make sure I was being complete in my coverage of dates.

Due to the cancellation of the June 4th show it is being replaced by 3 shows: The aforementioned Sanford show, July 17th at Mr. Goodbar in Old Orchard Beach, and July 20th at the Comedy Conection in Portland.

Also, on weeks opposite of the Acoustic Coffee open mic nights, Slainte', across from Portland Public Market is hosting open mics on Thursdays. Upcoming shows you will likely see me at are:
6/8/06
6/22/06
8/3/06
and 8/17/06

The July dates conflict with shows scheduled at Comedy Connection, so I won't be there on those nights. The schedule is getting busier, come check out a show. It's good times for all, unless of course you hate laughing and good times. Then you would want to get a picture to take pictures of yourself making a sour puss. Feel free if you're reading this to send in a picture of yourself making your best sour puss, and I'll post one per update that I put on the page. You can send it to my email address under my profile. If I don't get any, I'll probably just end up posting pictures of my friend Mike making silly faces as he's often prone do doing so.

Like Hanging Out With Friends

That's what last night at Acoustic Coffee was like. Almost everyone there was a comic ecxept for about 3 people. It was fine though. I had a decent set, I'd almost say good, but I still have to watch the tape to be sure. I tried some new stuff that I think went over okay, but I did get distracted while onstage and just had fun as opposed to worrying about anything. Other comics came by after my set to say what a great job I did, but I missed something and didn't see it, but somehow I think I'm not understanding how to read a really quiet room. It wasn't just me, everyone was having a quiet night while I was there. It was still fun, and like the title says, it was just lke hanging out with some friends.

Next show is this Saturday at Spectator's in Sanford. I'll be hosting that show. Then I'll probably work Slainte' on Thursday.

Quick change to upcoming dates

Due to the Old Port Festival being on June 4th, that date is cancelled for the Comedy Connection. I'm hoping tomorrow to have a make-up date for this show. I'll post it once I know. On a positive note Thursday June 8th is the next open mic for Slainte', so I'll probably do that night to make up for the drop of the Connection.

What A Blast!

Last night I went in and did Slainte'. There were few of us there, myself, Joe Richio, Erin Cyr, Timmy B, Dustin Beckelman, and some very drunk guy that was going on last I believe, but I left before he hit the stage. It was fun. Not like your typical comedy show, you really had to work to keep the crowd into it. I went on first and had a great set. I was feeling very calm and not nervous at all last night which was cool. I didn't get to tape the show because there was no place to put my camera. There were just too many packed into such a small space to allow for it. Now when I say I think I had a great set, that was nothing compared to Joe's. He did about 20 minutes, and almost all of it was killing. Last night was his room, glad I went on before him. I felt bad for Erin who had a good set, but Joe took it all out of them. My set was the same I'd done for the past couple of shows, so I'll probably mix it up this next time. I've decided I'll probably swing out to Acoustic Coffee next Wednesday for more time. There was talk about doing the comedy night at Slainte' every other Thursday. If they'll let me, I'll definitely go back.

A Calm Night

I had a pretty good set last night. It felt good to be back at the Comedy Connection. I was more comfortable onstage than I had been for a while, which felt good. I ran my set that went about 8:45 in 7:30 last night. I was supposed to just have 7:00 but we'll see if there's any repercussions. There was some great comics on last night, Tom Ryan, Tuck, Ian Harvey, and plenty more. I just wish there were more people to see it. There were about 20 people that showed up. I'm looking forward to the summer when there's more folks out and about to watch the shows. I'm building up a good supply of material now, so I should be able to mix it up pretty well when the rooms start to get busier. I posted the performance on myspace (see previous blog entry for address), and got rid of the other. With any luck, the video will have come out much better on this one. I'm waiting for it to clear processing on their servers now. Basically it's the same stuff as before, but you couldn't see me in the last one because it was so dark. An update of sorts for shows coming up, I've been told that Slainte' is going to be having an open mic on Thursdays, so I'll probably end up there as well as the Acoustic Coffee. Till next time. And to the only two people that I know read this blog... Hi Mike!..... Hi Amanda!

Don't ever call me a liar, or an aardvark.

Okay, here are the updates for upcoming shows as promised. For the rest of this month, the only thing scheduled is this coming Sunday the 21st at Comedy Connection, but to get stage time I’ll probably end up at Acoustic Coffee’s open mic on the 31st.

Comedy Connection dates in June:
Sunday 6/4
Sunday 6/11
Thursday 6/15
Sunday 6/25

Comedy Connection dates in July:
Thursday 7/6
Tuesday 7/11
Thursday 7/13
Tuesday 7/25

Comedy Connection dates in August:
Wednesday 8/2
Tuesday 8/8
Wednesday 8/16
Tuesday 8/22

Possible open mic nights coming up for Acoustic Coffee:
May 31
June 14 and 28
July 12 and 26
August 9 and 23

Also I;m in the process of sending over a video of the 5/17/06 performance from Acoustic Coffee to myspace. I have to be honest, it seems to be taking a little effort to get it there, but hopefully it’ll be up by tomorrow. The address for that is http://www.myspace.com/robscomedy , and if you’re on my friends list, I’ll send a message once it’s out there. If you’re reading this and you’re not on my friends list and also participate in myspace, go ahead and send me a request and we’ll throw you in there. That’s it for updates today. I’ll update next Monday after the Comedy Connection show. Come on out and catch it. There should be some heavy hitters there that night.

Much better this time.

I went for open mic at Acoustic Coffee last night. I had a pretty great set, which was a little surprising, because I ran A LOT of new material, and expected something to fall flat. But it didn't. Big kudos to Seth Bond Perry for putting that up. I also got to use my new video camera for the first time. It was fading in and out of focus, and I'm not sure why. It's my first time using it, so I'll have to mess with it. Perhaps I'll get the video and put it out on myspace. It was a small crowd full of comics. I didn't stick around too long after my set, I was pretty pooped. I have a lot of dates set up for the next three months and will make another post when I get to work on what those dates are, because that's where I wrote it down They're all at the Comedy Connection for the next 3 months, about 4 shows a month. But I have a funny feeling I'll try and squeeze in more time at Acoustic too if I can swing it. Open mic every other Wednesday. The next one is 5/31/06. Perhaps we'll see you there.

Not Sure How That Went

I went into Acoustic Coffee last night to get some time. It was an odd room. I had the crowd for about half my set, then I lost them. Not really sure where I lost them. I sat there for awhile before I went on which kind of was lame, because I showed up at 7:00 and didn't get on until 9:45. The crowd wasn't very reactionary to most of the comics, so I sat there watching people get shot down all night waiting for my chance. Like I said, I started off strong, and by the middle of my set I didn't feel like being there. I think it might have shown in my performance. I tried a new joke about buying a used computer, which sucked the life out of the room, that's probably where the night went south for me.

I know a lot of the comics like to go there to bounce new material, but I wasn't comfortable in the room. The "stage" was at the same level as the audience and the mics kept going in and out. I'm not sure I was so into the free form of the scheduling, the host actually kept saying, I don't f**king know who's coming up next.

Long story short, it was a discouraging night for me. I got some stage time, but don't think it was very beneficial for me. I have no idea if my set really went well or not. I'm not sure if I'll go out of my way to hit that room again. I'm sure it's a great room for some folks to work, but it wasn't my cup of tea (pun). I'm much more comfortable at the Connection. Next show is May 21st, Comedy Connection.

What A Night!

Last night's show was funny, and not necessarily for all the right reasons. First off I'll say that I had a great set. I'm getting more confidence and I have one of the better crowd reactions of the night.

The room wasn't really even a third full, and these people weren't necessarily there to laugh. It was by far the toughest room I'd seen, even Hammy was having a hard time getting them to laugh. But that just made me feel even better that I'd done as well as I did. I really had to work for it last night, and it paid off. Most of us last night, didn't have the best of luck.

It was hard to watch my comic peers up there last night struggling to get a laugh, but it really cool to see how they handled it. A couple of my favorite local comics couldn't get a laugh if their lives were depending on it, but they were funny last night. I won't normally blame a crowd, but last night it was completely the crowd. Without naming names of who had bad crowd reaction, I'd just say that the last set, I was about on the floor laughing. The last comic was having so much fun, at said comics own expense, you couldn't help but get caught up in the silliness. It was a moment of clarity for me, it said that even though we stress about how we're coming off onstage, it's just a comedy show in the end. We should just try and have fun.

The only upcoming show I have for this month is May 21st at the Portland Comedy Connection. I may try to supplement my addiction by trying out Acoustic Coffee. John Ader told me it's a great place to hit up for stage time on their open mic nights. They have a show this Wednesday and two weeks after that. If I do those, I'll update the post after and let you know how it went.

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.

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.