How It Feels To Finish 1st

Tags: The Stand-Up Diaries

Yes, you read right.  This is not a typo.  You are not on drugs, nor are you hungover.  Somehow, on Sunday night as part of the “Win Dez Reed’s Money” comedy competition, in the smallest venue we’ve performed in for the week, at Manchesters, with several people in the crowd, a couple staff members, and a couple friends of mine, I managed to kill it.  Yes, I finished first on the judges and audiences ballots.  I finished ahead of the top 2 finishers every night.  Usually I’m last this week, and I have no problem with that, because it’s about growing within myself as a performer.  I mean seriously, if I try to gauge my performance against the others, I’d be a mess by now.

Let me preface this by saying a couple things before I get into the meat and potatoes of the Sunday night.  I have had a strong response to my blog so far, and for that I thank each one of you for reading it.  I’m sure there are many of you who read this that I’m not aware of, and to have over 1,200 views in 2 months is humbling to say the least.  However, some of my blog posts have talked about the down times in my young stand-up career where I didn’t get laughs (Tuesday night @ Specklebelly’s), then I decided not to go to Outlaws because I feared the worst and wasn’t wanting to deal with that shit again after the day I had.

So when people read about the bad, I am sure they’d want to hear about the successes along the way too, which is why I am posting this.  Plus, this isn’t about my rubbing it in or showing off.  If anything, this takes a big step forward in my legitimacy as a stand-up comic in Saskatoon.  Not that I’m on par with the experienced performers, but I’m not as bad as I used to be.  I just remembered, there was this drunk native lady that I put in her place when she opened her mouth tonight also!

To be honest, it was the same material I did Friday night, with one new joke, and a song at the end.  The difference was that tonight I had the energy from the drunk performance that I had tonight when I was stone sober.  I think that’s because the new material I did tonight was a rant about something, and when it draws the passion from you, it makes it an easier sell to the audience.  Plus, the husband of a good friend of mine told me something that helped.  He said I lost some points on Friday night because people saw I went to my set list to see what was next, and tonight I went off the top of my head, much easier to sell it when you know it, right?

As for the song, it shouldn’t have been done, or maybe it was okay, just shorten it a bit.

When Dez looked at me and said he was gonna give me first if it wasn’t for the song at the end, I chose not to believe it.  I didn’t need that thought to enter my head, even if it was true (although I wasn’t sure at the time he was being honest).  He then went with the crowd reaction and they put me over the top.  I’d tell you more about the routine, but you get the jest of it.  The same routine minus the song, I will be doing in the finals Monday night.

Well, you all know my thoughts on what it feels like to bomb and be heckled.  So what about the other end of the spectrum?  What is it like to be on top, better than the others even if it’s only for one night?

To be honest, it hasn’t really sunk in yet.  Maybe I don’t see it as that big of a deal because of the constant struggles it took me to get to this place, thus keeping me grounded.  Maybe it’s because it was a very small crowd so it was easy to get laughs, I don’t know.  It’s nice, I’m sure my family won’t ask, it just feels good to be getting better.  My friends who came out were more happy for me than I was I think.  They have seen when I get no laughs at all except from them.  They tell me I did well, but I can’t imagine what it’s like for them to be a part of that when I’m not doing well.

Anyhow, thanks for the support I’ve received from everyone so far.  This same act will be part of the finals tomorrow, and it’s exciting that I’m now tied for third and ready to take this energy to the stage!

See you Monday night.  As always, you can comment on this blog by leaving a comment by clicking on the comment option right below the title of this blog.