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.

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 024: Fastest Facebook Friend

Today being Thanksgiving Eve, I thought there would be less comics at the open mics, if they’re open at all.  So I was planning on going home until two circumstances intervened.  One, my wife’s friend was coming over.  Granted, she was coming over at 10 pm, but still, she was coming over.  And two, Marty wanted to grab some food.  I didn’t want to turn him down, nor did I want to go home after eating, so off to New York I went.

I arrived at CB’s Comedy Club a bit too early, and got to talking to another comic who was also waiting to get in.  Within a couple of minutes of talking, bam, he wanted to find me on Facebook, and I accepted a few minutes later.  I know Facebook friendships are shallow, but I don’t think I’ll ever beat that record for quickest friending after meeting.  I just checked his profile and he has over 1600 friends.  I guess for him, 1600 is everyone he’s ever met.

Once downstairs, I ordered my mandatory drink.  Last time I was here, I tried to go cheap with a Bud Light Draft, only to find that it cost $7.  I also suspected that all drinks here were $7.  So tonight, I went with Rum & Coke.  While nursing that drink, I met the guy who asked for my e-mail last week (his name will now be E-Mail).  He did e-mail me that night and is looking to start his own open mic.  He asked if I was interested in joining him… we’ll see how that goes.

I talked with the Facebook guy a bit more, and he said he had a show this Saturday in Long Island.  How to get shows?  Connections and dick sucking, he said.  He also felt a lot of pressure from the comedy club owner or booking agent to bring a lot of people to the mic.  I guess that’s low rung business of comedy for you.  He also showed me his typed set – it was pretty much a script.  Me, I just go by one or two sentences.  And after all that build up, he was not funny.  I think I got better jokes than he does.  And I’m jumping to that conclusion because this was his warm-up for the Saturday night show and I’m assuming this was one of his best material.

As for my set, I did a whole new batch of jokes tonight due to E-Mail’s presence.  I did fairly well, although my pedophile joke did cause one woman to repeat “gross” several times.  Trust me, the joke is as tame as it gets, considering it’s about pedophilia.  No physical acts are described nor pantomimed.

After the show, I had 2 options: Charley O’s mic at 8 or 1-Republik mic at 9.  It was already 8:30 and I didn’t know how to get to 1-Republik via subway or bus so I decided to go home… until I changed my mind and stopped by Charley O’s.  As I feared at the beginning of the night, there was no mic.  Oh well, at least I didn’t have to travel far to find out.