Redemption Before The 7 Year Itch

Tags: comedians, comedy, Saskatoon, Saskatoon comedians, stand up comedy, stand-up diaries, The Stand-Up Diaries, trevor dean, Trevor Dean comedian, Trevor Dean Los Angeles, trevor dean saskatoon

In 2018 I will attempt to achieve a couple of things.

First of all, I will get back to The Laugh Shop stage for a final show there.  Secondly, I will be in attendance at all the open mics in the city.  Now that there are three a week, it will give me exposure and experience in front of different types of audiences.

I am in the process of putting together a promotional video with my team, in conjunction with my next appearance at The Laugh Shop.  I am starting to round into form some new material ideas, and incorporate a few new twists into some of the old material to keep it fresh.  I just need to remember to start with the tried and true at the beginning, new stuff in the middle and the tried and true in the end.  I have quite a bit of material that I have used only once or twice in a show that I can incorporate into my half-hour set to give it a new freshness.

The Comedy Lab is Sunday night, Bud’s On Broadway on Wednesday and a new show at Louie’s on Thursday nights on campus.  Three different venues.  Three different audiences, but one common goal remains.  Get the laughs.  Get them often.

I would like to try doing a bit more crowd work in the smaller shows, so if and when I go to a new venue or a larger audience, I will have that comfort level already established.  Right now, it’s hit and miss when I interact with the audience.  At least I am making more of an effort and it’s like the law of averages, right?  You try something enough and eventually, over time, the curve of the graph will smooth itself out.  No big dips that are high or low, just a smooth and steady curve upwards.  Three nights a week should help iron the wrinkles out.

Then, there is the elephant in the room called Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, due to my new job I won’t be able to hop on a plane and take off for a few days to L.A. to redeem myself in front of my comedy coach, and in Oakland at the competition.

I never watched the video from Flappers of my set.  I deleted it.  That’s how uncomfortable and awkward it was.  I know that I can do better, but instead of reminding myself that I was Trevor Dean, I told myself I was Trevor Dean, from Canada, in Los Angeles and all alone.  What was I thinking?

Yeah, now you can see where things went sideways pretty fast.

Same thing in Oakland at the competition.  I was thousands of miles from home, rented a car and drove over five hours to a city I didn’t know for a minimum of 4 minutes on stage, with no guarantee of prize money or success.

As many of you have witnessed, that didn’t go well, although it went way better than Flappers did, if you can believe that.  I was more scared in Oakland, but managed to release some tension in the room by acknowledging the awkward silence in the room.  Since I was already shit scared, the confidence flew out the window almost immediately and therefore I couldn’t rely on my training to bring the audience back.  When you aren’t confident, you cannot remember what you were taught.

It still bothers me today, as I know that I can present a completely different picture to the audience aside from what I showed them.  Maybe going back in two years instead of next summer will help me prepare a bit better.  Did I fail?  Yup.  Was it worse than my very first time on stage?  Yup.  But I’m the only one around here that has the moxy to do such a thing and be thrown into the deep waters like that, with no guarantee of success.  As I mentioned before, I know of two comics who vacationed in California.  Neither of them did open mics.  Then again, when you are used to failing, as I am, it makes it easier to try because you’ve already fucked up before.  What’s the worst that can happen this time around?  Well, little did I know.

In the summer of 2019 I will be 46, hopefully still employed with the company I start work with in the morning, hopefully still living in the same basement suite (providing I don’t get evicted this month), and hopefully having someone to come with me to Los Angeles the second time around.

My family isn’t aware that I went to Los Angeles this past summer.  You folks who follow me through the various media formats are like my family, my posse of sorts.  You may be small in numbers but mighty loyal in your support.  So, 2018 will be the dress rehearsal for my return trip to L.A. in 2019.

I had to fly a few thousand miles to throw myself into the deepest end of the waters where local comedians dare not go.  I don’t see any comics equalling my attempt, so the lead up to the summer of 2019 begins.  Lots of writing, lots of preparation, lots of speculation and lots of what-ifs.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.