TAKING THE DOG OUT.

I am the kind of comic who is either too new at this, afraid, or untalented to just hop on stage for a regular show and do new untested material. Each new joke must audition for room in my line up. HEY... You new kids farting in my car Joke... Where do you think your going? We dont have room for you here at a real show. Go to a half dozen open mics and see me when youve gotten some laughs... then will see about putting you up...will talk.

Not a bad policy, So I go to the open mics and take out the new stuff. Unless the new joke gets a huge response...I seldom give the joke a chance in my core set. FAST FOWARD... I am in good room ...the crowd is hot... I get up on stage and instead of adding a new joke or two... I "Take the dog for a walk." That meaning, I just do my standard set. I have to tell you, That everytime I do this..I hate myself. I can have people tell me how good I was on stage and Im thinking..."Wimp. How are you ever going to get better if you do the same stuff over and over." Its going for the safe bet. I gotta kill so I can get booked again. Its hoping that, if I do well... Ill be offered longer sets and more stage time. I dont want risk a new set, because what Im looking for is more important than an artistic risk. I guess its just part of the place I now if find myself,in comedy.

Most disturbing is when I get to an open mic, where there for some freak of nature is a good audience... Out of some sickness I will waste the entire set and not do my new jokes. Sometimes I do it out of laziness. I hate myself for doing it out of a need to show off. To have to kill in a room desigened...to be a safe place to bomb. My ego refuses to let me risk bombing. I think this is the core fear all together. This is the reason I make new jokes audition...and do the safe and sure thing. Im not willing to bomb at the cost of getting better. This must stop. I dont want to be a comic who 5 years from now is doing the same set. I am going to stop this....it cant go on... Im waisting time. Hopefully you can come see me bomb at an open mic near you. Im done ...Now I got a write that fart joke..I was just useing it metophoricaly.

Comments are below
A win is a win
Posted on 09/24/2004 at 08:18 PM by Mark Moseley

I know what you mean about showing up at an open mic, ready to do new untested jokes, and finding an 'audience'. I do the same thing. I do time-tested material. But don't look at it as wimping out. I see it as a chance to do my best to entertain people who SEEK TO BE ENTERTAINED. It doesn't matter if its just comics. They didn't come to the spot for you to make them laugh. They came to try new stuff. But you instincts are right, and real. Its proof, I think, that you are a BORN entertainer. You see a real audience, and your mind goes into 'Its Showtime!' mode. Not a damn thing wrong with that.




Posted on 09/25/2004 at 08:52 PM by Shaun Eli

Nothing wrong with trying new material in front of a paying audience, though I've learned that it's risky to open or close with it.

As far as wanting to get better, you can get better doing the same jokes. It's practice telling them over and over, learning what to emphasize, how to work them, how much to pause...