My Debut @ The Comedy Club — Minus The Drama!

Tags: amateur comedians, Saskatoon, stand-up comedy, The Stand-Up Diaries, trevor dean

Well, by now most of you probably know about the craziness that went on during the show.  What you may not know is what happened if we take my loud “friend” out of the equation.

First, a friend of mine (we’ll call her C for now —- most of you know who that is), her husband and another guy helped Dez to paint the entire club in 2 hours the night before.  It looks great.

Now, a few nights before my set it was like 4 a.m., kinda the same time as it is right now, and I couldn’t sleep, so I started to write and jotted down about 40  pieces of material in a five minute span to use for Friday night.  So when I went up onstage, I learned a couple valuable lessons.  The first one was, with the interruptions I had, it was hard to keep on task for my set and towards the end I forgot some of the new stuff I should have used to close out my set.  Not that I did all old material, as there was a mix of new and old, but it would have helped for me to make a set list and take it up with me, and take a drink up with me.  That way when I go to take a drink, when I look down to get the drink, I can also take a quick glance at my set list and at least be able to do the next two pieces of material from memory, before I would need another “drink”.  I’ve seen a few comics do this, it’s something I should get in the habit of doing every time.  It’s easy to not need a set list when you are just flipping through random material you have done before off the top of your head, but to mix the new bits in, I should be better prepared and do a set list.

Still on this topic, I am blessed to have wrote some of my new material that was catered to the audience that night.  The majority of them were around my age, so they got the references to the late 80s that I used.  Now, I’d tell you what those were, but that would defeat the whole purpose of coming to watch now, wouldn’t it?

The crowd was small when Dez started the show, just my half dozen friends and me, that was it.  But as he got into his opening set, more people showed up so there were 20 to 30.  Most sat near the front which made it easier for a couple reasons.  First, I could see their reactions which made it more comfortable for me to do some crowd work.  Secondly they were sitting closer together and not so spread out, meaning I could get a truer reaction from the audience.  I even had Dez walk by the stage as I was up there and he said “that was funny”.  I can’t remember what bit it was, but I think it was new material he was commenting on.  I realized that when he says that, it’s not only because it was funny, but it’s funny because the timing was there to help make it funny.  That made me feel good.

Okay, the other thing I learned from that night is that I need to fasten up my belt before I go onstage.  Yep, you read that right.

I was at mom’s having my birthday supper, eating everything she put my way.  I had to undo my belt because I was so full after dinner and I forgot to fasten it back up.  So, fast forward to my set.  One of my old bits involves me rubbing my crotch, and when I did that I thought it felt kinda strange.  So I lift up my shirt and pretty much show everyone there that I forgot to do up my belt.  Yep, that will only happen to Trevor.

I did get laughs, more so than a regular night at Beilys.  I have done sets at Beilys, Lydias, Gabbos (Regina), Specklebellys, The Adobe Inn (Martensville), Manchester’s and at the Comedy Club.  I have had a good audience reaction from except Gabbos and Specklebellys.  The other places (with the exception of Beilys) I was successful at, in my opinion, because they were smaller venues.  Oh shit, I almost forgot to add Crackers to that mix.  Crackers was a hit-and-miss performance, unsure how to rate that one.  Needless to say though, a smaller venue I am more comfortable performing in.  Maybe that is because I have sang karaoke for so many years in smaller places that it’s more comfortable for me.

Having said that, it isn’t entirely accurate to conclude that performing at Beilys where I am seen the most thus far (about 75 – 80% of the time) is the truest barometer of how I really do onstage.  Sure, it’s a business to put asses in seats, and I get that.  However, I think I have fared well enough in the smaller venues to warrant more opportunity in them.  I will get that chance in the comedy festival, although as of this writing I am unsure as to the date, location and comics who I will share the stage with.  On the one hand I feel like I am being pigeonholed to a certain extent, then again every other comic who takes to the Beilys stage has success, so why can’t I?  Well, after Friday night’s performance, I think I’ve figured out what I need to do at Beilys.

I even got comments from a couple people who have seen me before, that I showed improvement that hadn’t been there for a couple months.  I can’t begin to describe how it felt to do new material Friday night that connected with the audience.  It was delivered with passion and sincerity, and even made the other comics laugh.  That makes me proud.  Sure, I have been at this for seven months now, and yeah maybe some can make the argument that I should have been improving like this a long time ago, but you know what?  I keep coming back.  Unlike one comic who quit comedy (for who knows how long) because he couldn’t take being teased onstage (yeah, real funny when you make fun of me, but when it’s deserved to be turned around on you, ya go home and sulk?  Really?  Why don’t you grow a pair?!?!), I have never, ever gone onstage after someone has made fun of me to stick out my chest and prove how tough I am to take shots at that person.  Really?  Seriously, let’s grow the fuck up.  This sure as hell ain’t high school!  If you get up on stage to take a big leap of faith to attempt comedy, you can be confident, but don’t be so self-absorbed and delusional to think that you won’t have some heat come your way.  With me, it goes in one ear and out the other.

So, where was I?  Um….holy shit!  It’s 5:17 a.m. and I need to get to bed for my 9:00 a.m. shift where I work.  Well, time to wrap this up then.  What was I talking about again?  Fuck, I hate when this happens…….let’s see here……just scanning through the last paragraph to find where I left off………oh yeah.  About me coming back for more…..

Some may think that based solely on my performances at Beily’s that I don’t deserve chances at the comedy club or other venues for that matter.  But I say to those people, that you need to take in the total sum of my performances to see the growth.  Some of my best sets to date, some of the best moments, have come from the smaller venues.  The one night I beat Saskatoon’s best (as far as newer comics go) was at Manchesters in front of like a dozen people.

Now the groundwork has been laid.  It has taken a bit longer than it should have, but you know what?  I remember what I was like the first couple months I started, compared to now.  It hasn’t come as easily to me as it has others, where they can get onstage in their first few times and have success, but I have spent years having society, my family and karaoke judge me against others.  At the end of the day, the only person I can compare myself to is myself.

So, a final word of advice.  If you haven’t seen my performance in some time, and you see the new Trevor Dean, please don’t just come up to me and say “well, thanks for inviting me but I gotta run!”  Take the time to tell me not only how it was better, but why it was better.  Lots of you that I know of just say goodbye at the end and split.  This is my time of breakthrough now, and if you come out to Beily’s where it is huge, if you don’t sit where I can see your reactions in the lights, tell me what you liked and why.  It takes a lot of preparation time, writing, editing and more editing to mold my material into something I can share with you.  The least you can do is give me feedback.  After all, I do this to make you laugh.

Thanks again for over 1,900 views of this blog in just five months, spanning Hungary, Jamaica, USA, Canada and Great Britain.  Feel free to post comments to any of my blog entries, as there is a link you can click on right below the titles usually.  I reply to most comments.

It is my honour to share my experiences in the world of stand-up comedy with you.  It gives me great pride to see the support from those who attend the shows, and from those who are unable to, but follow the comedy through my Trevor Dean comedy page on Facebook.  Yes, things are only going to get better.

I’m ready!  Bring on Dez Reed’s 11th Annual Great Plains Comedy Festival!