Now that one is funny.

Now that one is funny.


Last night, I did 2 open mic's. I did not allow myself to do more than one minute of old material. I did the first show at the Lantern. Matt ran a great show. I went on around # 24... I was worn out waiting so long. I got up with really just a few notes and some premises. I started to tell the story of my Aunt and Uncles funeral. It didn't fly too well. SOme of it was salvageable. I then talked about.... My brother the Doctor, and My sons Bar mitzvah. Lastly my Gay friend Barbara. The Funeral got a few laughs..the structure of the joke is wrong. I still think it has a chance. The Bar Mitzvah joke was awful and its the 2nd time I have tried the premise...It might never fly, I will give it a few more shots. It just doesn't feel comfortable. My brother the doctor..felt hacky. I hate it. I will put it back in my book and revisit it in a few weeks. My gay friend Barbara did well. The joke flows it feels like it belongs to me. It feels like I had the joke for years and I wrote it just a few weeks ago.

I did another the set later at the VILLAGE MA. The funeral joke did so so. The joke just wont flow out of me. It needs to be written out and structured better. I got to the joke about my Gay friend and boom...big laughs to a room full of comics. I love when I find something new that works.

I have had a very hard time coming up with new material for the past few months. I think for starters its that...My standards have gone up. The kind of jokes I want to tell has changed. That might be why it has gotten harder. Not since Motherhood have I found this to be true....that the longer I do this the harder it gets...the anti keeps going up. As a mom, you master changing diapers and the next thing you know your dealing with night terrors...or food allergies. It never ever is done. There is always more work waiting to do. Tonight I gave birth to a joke that I like and am proud of. It just cost a lot more than I thought it would. Some jokes are easy they just pop into my head. Other jokes are like doing woodworking...they have to be hand crafted. I want to write a new 15 minute set and I am finding it so hard...yet what I have done I feel in someway's is better than what I have done before. I think this is what you have to go through if you want to get funnier. For me...that is my goal for the immediate future. To write and perform funnier material. I dont know what the next level in comedy is for me....but getting funnier is a goal I can work on for now.

Comments are below

Posted on 11/24/2004 at 09:28 AM by Joe Fernandes

I'm glad to hear you took the risk with the new stuff. I keep telling myself to do that and I usually punk out. I did some new ideas last night, but I kept retreating to the old to get the laugh back. It was a weird show... I would warm them up with the old... then cool them right off with the new. What was even weirder... the jokes that fell flat... people told me after that they liked them. Not the ones they visibly laughed at... the ones they stared at. Its very confusing. I think thats why I like it so much.



Keep the Faith, Robin
Posted on 11/24/2004 at 11:53 AM by Adam Sank

Taking risks is the only way to go. Remember that in the beginning ALL your material was new material. And you perfected it, and now you own it. (I gotta keep this in mind, myself...)