The Second Appearance and The Moment I Realized I Might Be Good At This
Tags: The Stand-Up DiariesI ‘m not sure it was the smartest thing to do, but maybe it was? As word of my new career….okay, maybe it’s just a hobby I’m really passionate about, anyhow, as word started to spread there were a few people from my church who were interested and wanted to come see the show.
Yes….my church.
It was my second show, and I had this joke about God that I thought was good, and I rehearsed it enough that I thought I was going to use it on my stand-up debut, but I wasn’t sold on the fact I’d be able to sell it to the audience so I went with easier material for my debut. So, there were about the same number of people for the second show, the same few friends showed up again and so did the people from my church.
When I got on stage, I could see two of my good friends, they were straight in my field of view which meant that when I looked straight ahead this time the lights weren’t blinding in my eyes. Seeing them in the crowd gave me the feeling I think that seeing my mom and dad in the crowd would have given me. No wait, I take that back. My parents, God love them, but they really haven’t supported anything I have done outside of a working environment so I am not sure seeing them in the crowd would do any good. I’d wonder in fact why they gave up their nightly routine of doing the same things at the same times on the same days up for actually taking a chance and supporting their oldest son who actually has social skills and doesn’t think he’s a tough guy who the whole world has to agree with or else everyone else must be ****ed in the head. Oh, did I just say that out loud?
I remember that before I went on stage I was in sort of an owly mood; I think it had something to do with this girl I was trying to see. Yeah, we better not talk about my dating history because not only is it a farce from which I get much of my material from, but that blog would never end and be rather sarcastic and cruel. Of course, I’d only cut the person to the bone because they deserved it. What, you think I actually give a decent woman a reason to walk away? Nope. Know why? Because all the ones who walk away are neurotic, are over-confident to the point of being self-absorbed or lacking self-esteem in the first place. So, I went up there without really rehearsing the God joke and I could sense it would be a difficult night. For starters, I almost went over the 10 minutes I was allotted. I know this because the manager flashed his I Phone from the back, a clear sign from the host that you’re cutting your time awfully close so you need to end it now. I started ad-libbing a bit. Sure, it made for a funny set from what I heard, but it didn’t feel right for me to do that, and at that point I don’t think I really gave a half-hearted shit either. I didn’t finish in the top 2 for that night. The comics who went on to the finals that night were two guys who were a bit newer than me by a few months, but they didn’t have command of the mic, you know? I mean, there are some comics who do deadpan humour or do this act like they aren’t confident up there, and it works. But these guys, didn’t have it at all. I think if that couple from church hadn’t been there, it would have made for a better performance because I would have stuck to the script more, and made the top 2. So thanks, guys! LOL
My friends from church said that they were impressed that I was able to be funny without being vulgar or crude. I appreciated that. It further cemented my belief that I don’t embarrass myself on stage.
Then the last appearance at the comedy competition came, which meant I would have been on for 3 of the first 4 weeks of the preliminaries. That night there were only I think 5 of us. The top 2 that night deserved to go on because they did a good job. I finished a solid third (I believe). During that performance I did a joke that I wrote as part of my original material but never did before. When I did it, something happened that I didn’t expect.
people laughed…….in the middle of my joke
Oh shit, I never planned for this. What do I do? I think this is what Dez meant by comedic timing. I just froze and in my mind I thought “shit, don’t lose your spot. Do you remember what to say next?” I rehearsed my material enough that I wanted to get through all of it, not thinking that there might be a part in the middle where people laugh. I waited about 10 seconds before the laughter subsided and I could continue with the joke. Once I did, I got through the rest of the set alright. At the end of it, the established comics came up to me and told me that I did well. Management was very impressed and said I grew as a comic that night. I got this euphoric feeling, it’s something I’ve never felt before, and it’s certainly way different than nailing a song in karaoke league. I mean, anyone can sing the same song you do and the judges can either like one person over another and make them score higher in the league, but when it comes to stand-up comedy, nobody else writes the same jokes I do. It’s creativity on a whole different level that karaoke cannot begin to even touch. At that moment while I didn’t feel like I “had made it”, it was the first sign that I was getting the same types of feedback from the audience that the established comics were getting. Sure, the established ones get that laughter in the middle of a joke more than I do and that’s fine, but for me, it was unexpected but a welcome relief once I recognized it and navigated through it properly.
Stay tuned, as tomorrow my next entry will be about going to Regina and doing stand-up at Gabbos, and the difference between the Regina scene and our local comedy scene here.
Thanks for reading!