Maybe Next Time

I had a really fun weekend, that ended up not having anything to do with comedy. My girlfriend and I went to Providence on Saturday and caught Water Fire, which is where the city had fires that they light up along the canals. They had gondolas and fire swinging people, all while they play music. It was interesting.

We went to Pawtucket the next day to see the Paw Sox and Keith Foulke was supposed to pitch, but I guess he tweaked something in his back or something. It was hotter than hell, and we left just as the 9th inning was getting underway.

I was supposed to perform with Running With Scissors last night at the Connection, but one more person said they couldn't make it, so they cancelled. I was pretty excited to do it, but there will be a next time. I'm on Wednesday night with Dennis Hunt from the group at the Connection, so we'll talk about it then.

Playing With Scissors

Yesterday I hung out with Tuck Tucker and Dennis Hunt of Running with scissors. They ran me through a few exercises for improv comedy, and I have to admit it was more fun than I thought it'd be. It's humor on a more organic level. It's a different way than I'm used to about approaching comedy, but I can see myself learning from it. It was also cool to work independantly with those guys, as they're a couple of the comics I've grown to look up to in the area.

I must have done okay, they asked me to do a show with them on Sunday. I told them I'd do my best to be there, but had to leave it open a little. I'm going to be in Providence and Pawtucket this weekend, and my return time will be cutting it pretty close. I explained it all in great detail so that they didn't think I was trying to be a jerk. They needed extra warm bodies due to Rachel being out of town. I won't go into detail about why, that's her business, but my heart goes out to her, I've been there myself.

I didn't do Acoustic last night, but I came pretty close to doing a set at the Connection. Karen Morgan showed up as we were finishing, and I half talked and half joked myself into a set because someone cancelled. I let Tuck take the set though. I'm still riding high from a good set a couple night ago, and the length of time it took me to have that good set, I didn't want to blow one so soon.

So next stand-up show for me is next Wednesday at the Connection, and my debut with Running With Scissors is this Sunday. Unless of course I get stuck in traffic or something crazy like that.

Stand-up Comedy Is A Lot Like Golf

It really is. You can have a run of nothing but terrible swings in golf, and want to give up. But you have 1 great shot and it keeps you coming back. Last night was a great swing.

The crowd was small last night. 24 to be exact, I counted while I was waiting for my set. I started my set with a quick quip asking them to perform cellular mitosis in order to double the size of the crowd. That kind of fell flat, I'm not sure if that reference was a little to esoteric to start the show with, but I'll call that a mulligan. From that point on I had them. All of my jokes were doing well, and a couple seemed to make folks laugh as if the room was full. It felt great to command the room again. I even ran a brand new joke that the setup didn't get the laughs I thought it would, but the payoff line got the room. I'm fairly certain it was the pentameter of how I set it up, and I can do that one better next time. It was a brand new joke that I hadn't worked through yet, but I definitely have something cool to work with.

Luke Hanberry, Kevin Neales, and Mark DeCosta were there last night, as well as about 6 or 7 other comics. I'd say I had either the top 1 or 2 best set of the night. When you have guys that turn the room out like those guys there, to come out near or at the top is a great feeling.

My next show is next Wednesday Aug. 2nd at the Connection. There's a slim possibility I may do Acoustic Coffee tonight (I know what I've said in the past, don't make me eat my words). I also have an audition tonight with the improvisational group Running With Scissors, and I'm waiting on a contact from a guy called Topper Carew about auditioning for a "face dancing" DVD thing. I'm not really sure what that one's about, but he seemed pretty jazzed to have me try out. He's the creator of the Martin show from back in the early 90's. Wuzzup?

Not on Top, But Back In The Game

I had a pretty fun set last night at the Connection. I had a much better set than I've been having, but I'm not back on the top of my game quite yet. It was a fairly quiet crowd, but I ran a lot of material, and only 1 joke didn't go over. It was an awkward joke that I'd run in the past and gotten laughs on, but it is a little confusing, so I may just ditch it. But the way I handled it saved the moment. Basically I told folks that there's be a burial service for that joke after the show if they'd like to stop by and say a few kind words. It just felt good to get back up there and do well again.

Slainte' went the other way. Although some of my stuff was really winning the room over, there were 3 guys that were piss drunk yelling through my set and trying to get involved. They kept yelling about Thundercats for some reason, and no matter how much I bit back, they didn't shut up. Same thing happened to Luke after me, which was too bad because the room was real lively and fun until those guys started up and the wheels fell off. I left after that and hope the room righted itself, it'd be a shame if that's the direction the room went in at this point as it's been a real fun room to work. So that set wasn't great, but the situation was more than my jokes or the room, it was out of control hecklers with an agenda. But I did feel really good about how 2 of my new jokes went over, so they'll be in the rotation for a little while. And then when I was done, one of the hecklers pulled me aside to say he liked my stuff. Of course I was wondering why he just didn't shut up to hear it, but really who cared.

I was just happy to get out there and not suck the life out of the rooms last night.

Oh Sweet OOB!

I'd really like to say this was the show where I turned it all around, and sadly I can't. But this time it wasn't my fault. My set, in my opinion, was actually pretty decent. But getting laughs out of that crowd last night was like doing brain surgery with a mallet. I only stayed for about half of the show, but the most laughter coming from the crowd even for the host was a low rumbling. If I'm asked to do that location again, I'll have to acquiesce to decline. Honest to God, a train ran through just before my set blowing it's whistle not more than 20 feet from the stage. The crowd wasn't into me, wasn't into George Hamm, wasn't into anything other than mild sedatives. But it didn't effect me so much last night.

One thing this string of bad shows is doing for me is toughening my skin. It's making me think more realistically about how I expect a crowd will react, and it's giving me determination to put out some newer fresher material and come out with more vigor. I had to kill 10 minutes last night, so I had to use most of my "proven" material. It felt stale to me, maybe it's been feeling stale to the audiences. I'm going to put together some fresh material and come with it later this week. I've switched up my style before, I'll do it again. I'll go with maybe more edgy but less blue material. This is a moment where I have choice. I'd like to quit, because let's face it, I'm not getting paid for this, but where's the honor in that? I need to go back out there and prove once again that I'm funny. I know I am, I've had people tell me so and have video to prove it. This may be a fool's errand to keep moving on, but who knows, exploring this other style coming up may be the best thing I can do. At this point I have nothing to lose. I feel like this is a cliffhanger and Batman and Robin are about to get eaten by the Penguins man eating robot birds, and we won't find out what happens until next week. But you'll only have to wait until Friday morning.

Well...... That sucked!

I got to say, my shows at the Connection are trending towards foolish at this point. I actually don't feel too bad about my set from last night, even though it was one of my worst sets there ever. I know where I went wrong.

I pretty much went into in a negative mindset after my last set and self destructed right off the bat. I think I might be thrown because I've been keeping time and rushing after I got the previous drop in time. I've gone from 7-8 minutes, to 5, to 10, and back down to 6 last night. To start the show off I forgot to start my watch, and literally without thinking raised my watch above he mic and hit the timer which let out a loud "beep". I lost the crowd right there, and didn't even start to get them until halfway through my next joke. I did get them with some of my jokes, but a lot of my set was forced and I had to work way too hard at that point. I was stammering and hurrying. That's not really like me. I've decided that not only will I come with new material for the next show, I'm not going to time myself. I know it's wrong because I should be vigilant, but they're being inconsistent with the time they give me anyhow, so what do I care anyway?

I'm actually kind of glad I got that one out of the way. It's over, now I've sucked the life out of that room finally, and can go nowhere but up. Like I said, it won't always be pretty, it just hurts to do poorly in your favorite room. I'll be back to the Connection next Thursday, and I'm very excited to work that show because Kevin Knox will be the host. He's a great guy. In the meantime, I have a show Monday at Mr. Goodbar in Old Orchard Beach where I'm supposed to do 10 minutes, and I might try Sierra in Gorham on Wednesday. If all goes well though, I'll squeeze in Slainte' after my Connection show Thursday next week. I've got enough chances to get back on track, let's see if I can right this ship.

Dragging out the meh.....

There's the picture I was trying to upload since last week. Pretty huh? Last night was bittersweet. There were a couple of cancellations and I got to do 10 minutes. Here's the rub. I started the show, which usually means the reaction of the crowd hasn't really set itself yet. I had an okay set. It was about as warm as last Thursday. It was actually a good set, but I could've done better I think. There were 4 new comics last night, and it was a bringer show. I brought my fiance and that was it. Oh well.

As usual, if I don't kill the show, all I've been thinking about since I got off stage is "Am I a bad comic? Should I just give it up?". There's that great self esteem I have eating away at me like an ulcer. I'll do my best to put it behind me and try again on Thursday.

I'm not sure how much time I'll be doing as I've gone from 5 to 10 minutes in 1 week, but I'll plan for 7 for Thursday. Hopefully I'll have a great set, I can't handle doing mediocre.

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.