Which “F” Word Should I Use This Time?

Tags: amateur comedians, comedy, comedy scene, determination, failure, open mic night, Saskatoon, Saskatoon comedians, The Stand-Up Diaries, Trevor Dean comedian, trevor dean saskatoon

You don’t have a blog garner the supposed following this one has without making a few mistakes along the way.  That’s the price you pay for progress.

When I first started to write, it was for the benefit of my friends, thinking they would appreciate the insight that I could bring from the comedian’s perspective.  I figured it would be cool to use names and actual situations. Bad idea.  I figured it would be good to maybe use names some of the time while talking about situations in a general sense.  Again, another bad idea.  

Then, a fellow comic had asked me to weigh in on the latest controversy that surrounded the local comedy scene for a brief time.  Good idea.  While I would like to, at the same time I have a responsibility to not piss off the comics that I share the stage with.  Smart idea.  Even if I talked in a general sense without naming names, I would still get raked over the coals to a degree for mentioning it.  I am going to take the high road and decline to comment.  Whatever I have to say in the matter will be spoken to the person(s) directly.  It won’t be done on here.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

The two big words of today are fortunate & failure.  I am fortunate to have the weekly opportunity now, to either succeed, fail, or neither when I do the open mics.  Without giving too much away, to take in an open mic is an experience in itself.  It’s the equivalent to basketball players staying in the gym after practice to work on their jump shots.

I am now back into the local comedy scene by attending the weekly open mics.  This time around I am a little bit wiser and know my place within the scene.

It’s been a few years since I have been on the local stage for open mics with the guys, so it will certainly take a while to regain credibility and to establish some momentum, if that’s possible to do at an open mic.  I need to have a true purpose when I get up on stage.  I can’t afford to screw around or not have anything to talk about. A game plan is needed.  It’s time to work to death the material that I created for my last pro comedy club gig and work that into a solid routine.

I have been doing this for over 3.5 years now, and I do not have a solid half hour that I can put together from start to finish.  I just don’t have it.  At least, not yet.  Once I get that solid 30 minutes under my belt, then it will make things easier.  Then again, Saskatoon isn’t like Los Angeles where you can find an open mic on any night of the week.  You need to be a bit more resourceful and creative to carve out those opportunities for yourself.

I deserve a chance to go to L.A. and perform at some of the biggest comedy clubs in the USA, but a personal matter that I am dealing with this fall is keeping me in the city, and scuttled my plans for a well deserved vacation for the girlfriend and I.  I feel angry, cheated and disappointed.  Now I just have to keep at it and work harder than the others just to get myself back on equal footing in the city’s comedy scene.  Nobody said it was ever going to be easy, then again I haven’t been one to shy away from a challenge either, and I sure as hell won’t throw in the towel and quit, considering the fact that I have invested many resources into this comedy journey so far.  I don’t do well with “what ifs”, and besides that, there are bookers who are waiting for me to turn things around so they can put me back on stage again.

One more thing……. coming up in the next few postings I will be changing up the way The Stand-Up Diaries will be presented to you, the reader.  I plan on approaching two professional comedians to write guest spots.  They will not have a content filter or restrictions on what they will talk about (the only parameter will be to include this blog or comment about my journey in their piece).  That doesn’t make it self serving, just relevant   🙂

I will also approach a couple of local comedians to pen guest spots as well.  They will not have a content filter or restrictions on what they choose to share.  At this time I will not make public the four comedians that I will approach, but what I can tell you is that three of them will either ignite controversy or lay the foundation for a spirited discussion on comedy.

Again, God Bless you all.  Until we meet again…….