Comedy Workshop

There are some open mics that are run by comics who just host open mics for stage time as a host.  Then there are open mics run by comedy production companies that produce shows like bringer shows and industry showcases where comedy club booking agents or various media casting managers are in the audience.  These are not “companies” with many employees and casual Fridays, but rather one or few people who probably just run these things on the fly without an office.

Laughing Buddha is one of those companies.  I’ve performed at a couple of its open mics, but they also have comedy classes that meet for a few weeks at a price of around $300 to $500.  I have never taken those classes, but today at NYCC, they had a free workshop.  Guests included a marketing person and a comedy agent.  Since I barely know anything about this business, I went to the workshop hoping to learn something new.

I guess I did learn something, but it wasn’t much.  They were things I either knew/suspected already, or had no use of until I get significantly better.  One thing I suspcted, and confirmed by a guest tonight, was that comedy is 90% marketing and 10% funny.  I will work on the funny part first so that I would have something to market.  An idea thrown around was to post YouTube videos.  Umm, I’m sure I won’t get many hits, and I don’t want others to steal my jokes.

The agent also said this: always tape yourself.  I’ve taped myself twice but deleted them because I don’t like seeing or hearing myself.  Odd, I know, as a person whose goal could involve being on TV.   But it is something I have been considering.  I have thought about buying a small camcorder, since a cheap but dedicated video recorder is probably better than lugging around a $500 digital camera.  I haven’t bought one yet because it costs money and it’s a commitment that I would continue to do comedy.  But I guess I will get one at some point.

After the show, I went to a nearby mic at Beauty Bar, which turned out to be a booked mic.  But they did have lottery for walk-ins for 4th, 7th, and 10th spots.  I figured I would wait, but I did not get any of the spots.  Now I will be home at midnight without any stage time.  Oh well.

I do have another actuarial exam coming up in one month, so I’m only going to do comedy once a week until then.  See you next week.

Open Mic 034: Audition

I had today’s theme all ready to go.  Tonight, I was on the cast list with two other Koreans, and another Asian.  This post was supposed to be about wanting to be funny in front of other Asians, but things changed.

Thursday night at New York Comedy Club seems like quite a happening place.  There were many regulars here, and only me and maybe one or two others seemed to be not with the “in” crowd.  The atmosphere was lively, although I was not a part of it.  But having this type of audience made me nervous.  It felt like an audition, to be accepted by the New York amateur comics.  There is a guy who has done acting in commercials and he wass here.  Another had a corporate gig.  I was an outsider, probably recognized by some from other shows but nothing beyond that.

The crowd was pretty good, they were into the show.  Laughters were coming from little throwaway lines.  I had a feeling that not many comics were going to leave early, so I wanted to go later than earlier.  Alas, I was the third comic up out of 20.  I did my jokes, and I think I did okay, but I was expecting more.  It was my third all-baby set and they haven’t gone too well.  I gotta keep working on them, I guess, but there are only so many mics in the City, and I don’t want to repeat my jokes to the same crowd.  I guess I’ll try to find different venues for different audiences.

The second Korean dude did much worse than I, which was a relief of sorts.  The last Korean guy is in the “in” crowd, and he was the one who hosted a mic at CB’s Comedy Club a month or two ago.  He was pretty good tonight.  I wish I knew him and many others better.  I’m not looking to get into the “in” crowd, but I would at least like a friendly relationship where I can get some honest feedback and inside info.

After the show, I stuck around in my corner for about 10 seconds before I left.  I really wished that I had a cigarette, just so that I can use that as an excuse to hang out outside the club for 5 more minutes.  (Trying to quit again.)  That sounds sad, I know, but it’s the truth.

One thing I would like to know about these “in” comics is, do they repeat their jokes?  Or do they try to do all new jokes they wrote throughout the week?  I guess I’ll find out as I go to more open mics.

Open Mic 032 & 033: Baby Talk

The holidays are over and I finally managed to get back into comedy today.  After four months of raising an infant, I gathered up about 10 minutes of baby material.  Out of that, I like half of them, or a bit less.  The other half, I hope could be decent enough to be good fillers.  Problem is, most comics are single and they don’t have babies.  So if I don’t get laughs, it may be because the jokes suck, but also because they can’t relate to the jokes.  If I ever make it big, or even get gigs in front of real audience who have kids, I think I would do better.  But I still gotta work on them, so I hit the streets, armed with the baby jokes.

First spot was Greenwich Treehouse, where I had an alternate spot but got on due to cancellations.  It was my first time in 3 weeks or so so I was a bit rusty at first, and even forgot the punchline to my opening joke.  Not only that, I forgot that I even had a punchline and was left thinking hmm… this isn’t it, did I do something wrong?  Anyway, set wasn’t that great and I wasn’t too satisfied.  And normally I stick around to the end of the show, but due to the lack of seats (I was standing the whole time), I decided to go to another mic starting in 25 minutes.

I walked eastward to the 6 train, took it to 33rd St., and completed my eastward journey to 2nd Avenue to arrive at 1-Republik 1 minute late.  This mic is lottery but since I got there after the lottery was done, I was placed last (15th).  Thankfully, a couple more arrived after me so I wasn’t last, and the crowd was okay.  I did a bit better here, but not by much.

I’m gonna keep doing the baby jokes for the next few weeks, mixing in various jokes of the 10-minute set into 5 minutes.  If I ever find myself in front of a crowd full of parents who managed to get babysitters for the evening, I will be ready.

Wasted Week

This week, I am only working on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.  This means I could stay in NY until late on Tuesday and Friday without having to worry about getting up early the next day.  With this in mind, I e-mailed for spots at Tuesday’s show and Thursday’s show.

Whoop, what?  Wife wants to go take professional photos with our son?  And it has to be Tuesday?  Okay, cancel the Tuesday spot.  And a text, what?  My brother wants to meet for Christmas (Sunday)?  Can’t, busy with wife’s family.  And wife works on Saturday and you work Friday?  I guess it’ll have to be on Thursday.  Cancel that one.

I don’t mind that sometimes comedy has to take a backseat to my familial duties, especially during the Christmas season.  But it sure is annoying that both of them happened to coincide with both days I e-mailed for spots.  I could have gone yesterday but my wife’s parents came over yesterday.  So no comedy this week.  Hopefully I’ll make lemons out of lemonade by studying more.

In other news, looks like I have my first subscriber.  I can only do so much while blogging from my phone, but I think the subscriber is a comedy podcasting site.  Thanks for following and I’ll return the favor when I get a chance.

Open Mic 030 & 031: Don’t Be Late!

I wasn’t sure about my availibility tonight but once again, due to my wife’s friend coming over, I got to go do comedy again.  This time, I did 2 shows, but both times, I was second to last.

First show was at Broadway Comedy Club, and I was 35 minutes late.  My material didn’t get a good reaction, but I did have a heckler.  A couple of comics before me was asked by someone in the audience if he can come heckle.  The comic said sure, and the heckler stayed for the remainder of the night.  He started heckling me, and I hit my line of the night: “don’t they have open mics for hecklers?”  The crowd, or at least what was left of it, with less than 10 in the audience, liked that one.  I don’t know why he was doing this, but he wasn’t doing it to be mean.  And if I ever go pro and get a real heckler, I now have a line to use against him.

I decided to go to 1-Republik for the second open mic of the night even though I was going to be late.  I was about 20 minutes late and once again, I was second to last.  And I did not fare well at all.  I didn’t bring my notepad, and when I don’t get any laughs, I kind of get nervous and forget what I was going to say.  So both sets were pretty bad, and had I known this was going to happen, I would have just gone home.  But I know I can’t think like that.  Good or bad, I have to build up experience and although one open mic’s impact on my skills is miniscule, they do add up.  All good things require this type of dedication where results aren’t seen instantly, like studying or working out.

I also saw E-Mail here again tonight.  He stuck around to the end of the show, but he left without saying hi.  What da heck?  Did he meet another comic?  He gave me his number and now he ignores me?  Typical comic!

This will be it for this week, and my next shows will be either Monday or Tuesday.

Wasted Trip II

Man, two wasted trips in a row.  I can’t afford to waste my time like this.  This really shows that I must commit in advance with a pre-booked mic instead of just going.  I worked late today so instead of going to east side of Manhattan like I had done the previous two Mondays, I went to a mic in Hoboken.  It didn’t interest me before because it was a musician/comedian open mic, but my views on them changed after that time a couple of Fridays ago.

Well, I should have kept my original views because the restaurant where the open mic was supposed to be held was closed.  No lights, locked doors, closed.  Dang it, it was 8pm and too late to go anywhere else.  I could’ve tried the 9pm show on 1st Ave, but that would mean coming home after midnight, so I decided to cut my losses and head home.

Not sure if I’ll have time to go again this week, since my compasny party is Thursday.  But starting next week, I’m definitely pre-booking two nights/week.  Can’t waste my time anymore.

Wasted Trip

Today was a total waste.  I had pre-booked a spot at Broadway Comedy Club.  I should have left work at 5 but got held up for 30 minutes due to work.  I thought it would still be okay, but today, they didn’t have much time so they cut off all latecomers.  I’m never late to open mics, and one time I am late, I lose my spot.  What luck.  I also spent $1.50 on PATH and $2.25 for subway from 32nd and 6th to 53rd and 7th.  Damange so far: $3.75.

Weird thing about Thursdays is that there are no late open mics.  Latest one starts at 7pm.  Although it was on the east side, I didn’t want to waste a trip, so I took another ride and a walk to McSwiggins.  As I expected, all booked and no spots left.  Although I did sign up for the e-mail list with the host, I’m not sure if I’d want to come here due to its location and the fact that the bar music is really loud.  I did see an unconscious guy in the middle of the street getting a CPR by EMTs.  Considering the amount of time they tried, I doubt he survived.  He got rolled into an ambulance and I walked up a block to NY Comedy Club.  I wanted to see if they had a spot although it is a fully booked mic.  When I was asked to buy a beer to get in, I walked out.  Now that I think about it, maybe I should have asked anyway.  But really, it was a long shot.  Another subway ride and damage tally is now $6.00.

Walked back to 5th Ave to take a 6 train, but I was out of money on my MetroCard.  While I was filling it, I missed a train.  Annoying but the next train came within 5 minutes.  Transferred at Grand Central, and just missed the 7 train to Times Square.  Annoying AND the next train didn’t come for 15 minutes, and felt like 30.  Took it back to Port Authority, and damage now is $8.25.

Of course, I just missed another bus and waited 10 more minutes.  Bus fee I had to pay was $2.50.  Final damage: $10.75.  Final time cost: two and a half hours.  Stage time: 0 minutes.  What a waste of a trip.

Open Mic 028 & 029: Got a Number!

I debated about heading out tonight, and decided to head out based on the fact that my wife wasn’t home and I wasn’t hungry after work.  I didn’t bring my notes but just jotted down some that I remembered.

First spot was NY Comedy Club.  About 10 people saw me and I did not fare that well.  But I wasn’t too disappointed I guess, possibly because I didn’t expect much from the crowd and also because I’m used to it.  I don’t want to blame the “crowd” but the guy after me was sooo depressed about the atmosphere.  He was an 18-year-old kid, big black kid, who really did not want to be up there.  He didn’t even really do any material and just talked about how depressing it was and how his mom was calling him to come home.  Since other comics who went before me bolted soon after their sets, I ventured off to another mic myself soon after that guy.

I walked up 10 blocks to 1-Republik, my first time there.  It was a fairly crowded mic and although I was one of the last to go up, the crowd was still there.  The mic here is 4 minutes, which means I got lighted by the host after 3, indicating that I had a minute left.  I ended up doing all Jesus jokes, which may have come off as being too Christian for the open mic scene, but I didn’t do too bad, I suppose.  I’ll write more about the Jesus jokes next time, since tonight’s topic is E-Mail.  E-Mail is the guy I met a couple of weeks ago who asked for my E-Mail and talked to me about starting an open mic in the city.  I talked to him for quite a bit, walking together after the show.  And he asked me for my number.  I’ve gotten business cards and E-Mail addresses a couple of times, but never a phone number.  Could it be that I have my first comedy friend?  He doesn’t seem part of the comedy clique and seems like a nice guy.  We shall see, I’m sure I’ll run into him again.

Next up on my schedule is this Thursday, back at Broadway Comedy Club.

Open Mic 027: Losing Faith in My Material

I think this happened for the first time, that I completely forgot to post on my way home and is now updating the following morning.  Probably because I was still disturbed by that absolutely horrible knish I bought off a street vendor for $2.  Note to self: no more street knishes.

Last night, I did an open mic at Broadway Comedy Club, produced by Laughing Buddha Comedy.  Besides open mics, they produce bringer shows, real shows, and auditions, not to mention comedy classes.  I’m wondering if they are really good people to get involved with, or if they’re just interested in money.

As for my set, I did my homeless routine again, and again it did not get a great response.  Maybe it’s really not funny and I need to drop it.  Maybe I need to change it up.  I don’t know yet but I’m now having serious doubts that this routine is good.  I won’t give up yet, but time’s running out.

Open Mic 025 & 026: After Show Surprises

Today I booked my spots by e-mail and although both shows have more requests than available spots, I got on both shows.  I’m still getting over a cold I had over the Thanksgiving break, but I did not want to cancel so onward I went.

First is a spot I somehow did really well at my first two times here, then pretty bad on my third time, Greenwich Treehouse.  I did the same set I’ve been doing recently, mostly involving homeless, and I did fairly bad.  Some days, I feel like you’re definitely funny enough and only need an opportunity to make it, but other times, like tonight, I realize I have a lot of work to do.  But after the show, some guy at the bar approached me and said he really liked one of my jokes, which is an encouragement.  Too bad he wasn’t at the show, since the bar area is curtained off (but you can still hear everything if sitting near the curtain).

Second show was at CB’s Comedy Club, where I luckily got to go 2nd.  Since I’ve performed in front of this mic’s host many times, I decided to debut my new baby jokes here.  Most of them did not do so well, but a couple were keepers.  But overall, I did not like my set tonight, both here and Greenwich Village.

As I was ducking out early, a guy sitting outside said, “interesting set” as he struck up a conversation.  Not quite as good a compliment as “funny set” but I’ll take it.  He says he is a producer, although he does do comedy, and gave me his website and e-mail.  I mean, there are so many comedians and producers in this town that one can’t take everyone seriously, but since he is still a connection in comedy, of which I don’t have much, I’m glad I met one more person today.  He said he is looking to fill a few positions, although I don’t know what that means.  I guess I’ll check out his website and maybe shoot him an e-mail.

My next open mic is also a booked mic, coming this Thursday.