Congratulations to us all for making it through another year. No matter where you are in comedy it is always a challenge and that deserves some kind of acknowledgement. No matter where you are .... From the comedy virgin who finally got the courage to do that first open mic to the vet running all over the city to do a unpaid spot at 1 am just for the love of it.
We all give up so much to chase down that laugh waiting just around the corner in the next joke we may perform. Some of us are chasing fame but most of us are just chasing the chance to make people laugh and laugh so hard that they might even remember us and want to see us again.
The highlight of this past year for me was knowing that I made people laugh and I did it more often and better than I did the year before. I met a lot of great funny interesting people and unlike raising my family I didn't feel isolated and alone most of the time. Sure I melted down a few times and questioned why anyone in their right mind would pursue this.....and then Id come up with something in my head and need to get on a stage and share it and spin it and see if it could fly....and be funny to anyone besides myself.
I am so grateful to all the wonderful people I have met doing this..... I spent a long time dealing with people who bored me and didn't get me being a home based mom for all those years. I love my family a am so grateful that I could be home with them to love and take care of them....and it came at a price. I have wanted to be a comedian since I was a freshman in college and I tucked that dream away for so long....... and I did have fun being the funniest mom in the cul de sac and cracking them up on supermarket lines. When I started this comedy thing my one wish was to be able to say I am "a Comedian and have it be true". This year more than ever I feel that I have reached this goal. Its all up hill from here and If I'm lucky I will meet more amazing people than get more laughs than the year before.
Happy New Year !
Comments are below
Hmmmm...
Posted on 12/31/2005 at 06:21 PM by Harris Bloom
Do you really believe that some are chasing fame but most are chasing the chance to make people laugh and wanna see them/us again?
I'm not so sure.
I will say that in the few months that I've been doing this, my goal has already changed...fact is, comics just dont make coin...unless you're willing to be a road comic, living the life of a nomad for a few years, it's tough to make it as a full-time comic.
Between that and hearing what comics make per set (I think you can still qualify for food stamps), I still wanna be a comic, getting paid by NY clubs, but I don't think it'll ever be my only gig.
So I'm not sure where I fit in...actually...thinking about it...wanting people to come see you again is a type of fame...just on a lower scale.
My point? None..as usual.
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year
Posted on 12/31/2005 at 09:36 PM by
I am happy you are realizing your dream, Robin! I was delighted to see you are back at the NYCC...just bring liner for that seat! lol I am sure I will see you there because I am back in comedy. I am doing open mic at the Comic Strip. I wrote a whole new set... It is easy to get stuck at one level and stay there forever. It is true that you have to be ready to take it to "the road." I am not; so here I stay: locked into Manhattan comedy clubs and loving it! For me, "making it" is a booked spot that is not a "bringer!"
what am I chasing??
Posted on 01/03/2006 at 12:49 PM by Andy Kaufman
I am chasing a ghost!
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Party of one.
Not wanting to be one of those comics who bitch and moan....BUT. I have missed every holiday party this year except one. I was sick and then as soon as I feel better POW this dam strike and I missed another one. Im angry because I really enjoy spending down time with other comics. I usually have a lot of fun at these things and it just stinks that I missed all but one of them. Last year the same thing happened. So there is my hissy fit. I feel that the end of the year parties are a celebration for the Holidays and also for making it through another year..in comedy and that's a bid deal to me.
Comments are below
At least you were invited to a few....
Posted on 12/21/2005 at 02:59 PM by Harris Bloom
ack!
Join the Club
Posted on 12/21/2005 at 10:52 PM by April Brucker
I was taking finals and went home for holiday break. So I missed all the holiday parties. But luckily I am escaping the strike. Peace and happy holidays, April
Comments are below
At least you were invited to a few....
Posted on 12/21/2005 at 02:59 PM by Harris Bloom
ack!
Join the Club
Posted on 12/21/2005 at 10:52 PM by April Brucker
I was taking finals and went home for holiday break. So I missed all the holiday parties. But luckily I am escaping the strike. Peace and happy holidays, April
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Tuesday with Laurie
I am so excited tonight I am hosting at NYCC and my role model and idol Laurie Kilmartin is performing. I can die now. I feel like I am really a comedian. Wow. When I started this thing I used to troll the web looking to learn anything I could from anyone. I found Laurie had a web site with a weekly blog she had kept for over 5 years. Like a nut that I am I read the entire thing over the course of that first summer in comedy. I learned so much from her. Firstly I love her as a comedian. I dont see her as a woman comic I see her as just a top notch comic....everything I would hope to be.
The second thing I loved about her is that she always seem grounded to the truth. She told the truth about the realities of this business she was truthful about all aspects of navigating he life in comedy. She gave me the closest sense of a road map when I was getting started.
I love her humor it is real and smart and has a sarcasum I adore.Laurie traveled and did the road for over a decade...then she came to NYC and had to start right where all of us do, she hit the open mic's. In her blog she talks about going from doing 40 minute sets to doing 5 minutes at a Village open mic. She was so talented that in two years time she had worked her way into the top clubs in NYC. Her first club to give her a break was the NYCC. I met Miss Kilmartin in front of the Improv 3 months ago and she was warm and approachable. It is a dream come true that I will be hosting a show she will be on. I have a respiratory infection and am feeling like shit but I don't have time to be sick. This is just so great.
I have small goals in comedy and this is a goal I didn't even know I had. My favorit quote is Her's " ALL we have control of is to try to get funnier" It is my mantra.
Comments are below
Nice!
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 07:03 AM by Greg Manuel
By any chance did she do the joke about how she could never marry Charlie Sheen? I saw her at an open mic some two or three years ago, and I always liked that one...wordplay just gets me, you know?
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 10:50 AM by Raquel D'Apice
Congrats! Hope it went well!
Congrats
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 06:16 PM by April Brucker
She is one funny lady (you are too). I saw her act a while ago I believe when I first came to nyc. I nearly wet my pants
Im Sick
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 08:10 PM by Robin Fox
I guess its been to much excitement and late nights for this old lady. Last night was really a tough night. We had a million comics to put up. Lorrie was gonna perform at half past nine but came back around ten fourty five. She remembered me from infront of the Improv where I met her a few months ago. I intorduced her and as I did half the room walked. Oh my.She asked the room to give ME a hand for hosting which was really nice. Only one other comic did that last night. She did too long a set and it was my fault. No one told me how long she was to do. I figured 8 minutes. I felt awful. She was wonderful but she struggled the room was really tough. The show went on till the we we hours.
There were a few standouts last night. Chriss Souflee went on right after Larie and killed it was a spectacular set. A black woman named Georgette was also very strong. Alex Rubar was a total nut as the "Angry Lumber Jack" Kiesha Zoalar ,and Katie McKenna all were real stand out stand ups last night. I got home at 3 am and I am so sick with a respritory infection and cold.
Really?
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 08:48 PM by Harris Bloom
SHE can't even do eight minutes?
And to think,I get pissed when I can only do five.
Feel better.
I was there
Posted on 12/15/2005 at 11:33 AM by Jeanne Noll
and Robin did a great job and I was watching when Laurie got up - she did great considering the fact that so many people got up right as she was getting on the stage. And - yes it was a long long night!
Still sick
Posted on 12/15/2005 at 04:42 PM by Robin Fox
Thanks Jeany (NOLLL) As I wrote you even though you performed for 8 people you could see that the writing is there. You were really kind to stay till we locked the doors. Also I have to mention Grace Clayton she was a 3rd time on stager and she was very good.
I so wanted to go out to the Lantern tonight but Im sick still
The second thing I loved about her is that she always seem grounded to the truth. She told the truth about the realities of this business she was truthful about all aspects of navigating he life in comedy. She gave me the closest sense of a road map when I was getting started.
I love her humor it is real and smart and has a sarcasum I adore.Laurie traveled and did the road for over a decade...then she came to NYC and had to start right where all of us do, she hit the open mic's. In her blog she talks about going from doing 40 minute sets to doing 5 minutes at a Village open mic. She was so talented that in two years time she had worked her way into the top clubs in NYC. Her first club to give her a break was the NYCC. I met Miss Kilmartin in front of the Improv 3 months ago and she was warm and approachable. It is a dream come true that I will be hosting a show she will be on. I have a respiratory infection and am feeling like shit but I don't have time to be sick. This is just so great.
I have small goals in comedy and this is a goal I didn't even know I had. My favorit quote is Her's " ALL we have control of is to try to get funnier" It is my mantra.
Comments are below
Nice!
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 07:03 AM by Greg Manuel
By any chance did she do the joke about how she could never marry Charlie Sheen? I saw her at an open mic some two or three years ago, and I always liked that one...wordplay just gets me, you know?
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 10:50 AM by Raquel D'Apice
Congrats! Hope it went well!
Congrats
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 06:16 PM by April Brucker
She is one funny lady (you are too). I saw her act a while ago I believe when I first came to nyc. I nearly wet my pants
Im Sick
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 08:10 PM by Robin Fox
I guess its been to much excitement and late nights for this old lady. Last night was really a tough night. We had a million comics to put up. Lorrie was gonna perform at half past nine but came back around ten fourty five. She remembered me from infront of the Improv where I met her a few months ago. I intorduced her and as I did half the room walked. Oh my.She asked the room to give ME a hand for hosting which was really nice. Only one other comic did that last night. She did too long a set and it was my fault. No one told me how long she was to do. I figured 8 minutes. I felt awful. She was wonderful but she struggled the room was really tough. The show went on till the we we hours.
There were a few standouts last night. Chriss Souflee went on right after Larie and killed it was a spectacular set. A black woman named Georgette was also very strong. Alex Rubar was a total nut as the "Angry Lumber Jack" Kiesha Zoalar ,and Katie McKenna all were real stand out stand ups last night. I got home at 3 am and I am so sick with a respritory infection and cold.
Really?
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 08:48 PM by Harris Bloom
SHE can't even do eight minutes?
And to think,I get pissed when I can only do five.
Feel better.
I was there
Posted on 12/15/2005 at 11:33 AM by Jeanne Noll
and Robin did a great job and I was watching when Laurie got up - she did great considering the fact that so many people got up right as she was getting on the stage. And - yes it was a long long night!
Still sick
Posted on 12/15/2005 at 04:42 PM by Robin Fox
Thanks Jeany (NOLLL) As I wrote you even though you performed for 8 people you could see that the writing is there. You were really kind to stay till we locked the doors. Also I have to mention Grace Clayton she was a 3rd time on stager and she was very good.
I so wanted to go out to the Lantern tonight but Im sick still
Monday, December 12, 2005
Come back an wow me in another six months
That is what Starla told me to do after my last audition. She was really positive until she found out it was my first audition and said that if that's the case comeback in 6 months and wow me again. Tonight I will audition again. I am not feeling sharp. I feel tiered all day and depressed. I don't know if I should do other material or the same stuff I did last time but with my better timing and new tags. I will go with the latter. I had a great audition at NYCC for industry and did well. I did the best at this point in time that I am capable of doing. One agent passed on me and the other liked me and wants to see more in 6 months.
That all said.... I feel like someone let all the air out of my head. I had an argument with Mr Fox yesterday and my life is at an all time stress high. I am a pro. I have a 6 minute set for a 5 min audition. I need to see the room before I figure out what to cut. Go know. I am writing this to remind myself that this is all I work for. I sometimes wonder why I am so full of angst and second guessing myself so much. I am really a good comedian. If it was baseball and they kept stats... Mine are good. It just is I am an approval junkie and this entire process takes a lot out of me. I just want to get booked more on better shows. It is not the fame it is the undying need to perform in good rooms and to make people laugh...which I can do.
I love doing Adams room. Every time I go there I really do kill. The high from that lasts for days. I love doing Don't tell Mamas for the same reasons. I know this is what I should be doing with my life. I have known I'm a comic all my life. I feel like shit ...But I'm going and I am gonna Wow that woman if it kills me.
Comments are below
so how good did you do?
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 12:16 AM by Josh Homer
As an artist
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 12:37 AM by H. P.
The artist is always critical of the art they paint. never realizing the art in itself is inspiring and the ARTIST IS the masterpiece. So I hoped you riped them all a new one.
Remember the Pearl Necklace.
Peace
no soap radio
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 02:30 AM by Robin Fox
I am sad to report that I did not wow her tonight. I miss read the room. I was the first up after the passed pros. Vinnie Brand was up before me and had an excellent set the room loved. I should have taken notice of the age of the room. I had planned my strong KY opener and it was wrong for the room. It was filled with people even older than myself and I am older than dirt. The first joke that more than usually kills hit soft. I pertended that it was fine. I moved into my second joke and it landed a bit stronger but still softer than expected. Then I hit into my stride and things went well. I did this very same set last week at an industry showcase at NYCC and it killed. It is a 5 minute set that took at NYCC 6 minutes so I was fearfull and cut out a few jokes and timed it for 4 mins 30 seconds leaving room for my imagined applause breaks and laughter. I was done at 4min 30 seconds and ended short. I was underwhelmed. Not to make excuses...but I was having an off day the entire day at home. I quit smoking and was irritable more than normal. Im off them 3 weeks one day.
I also like an ass asked Vinne to stay and watch my set so it was a double audition....more pressure. Lastly the Comical Mag. was there to photograph me for an upcoming feature story....what am I high?? I only wish it would have at least been enjoyable.
Starla came out to talk to me. She didnt remember me at all. I refreshed her with a comment she gave me about a joke that I had changed. She said first off I ran short...not good. Then she said I had really good punch lines but my set ups were too long. This is the same set that last time she complimented me in the set up punch ratio. So I dont know what to do with that. She didnt think my opener was strong enough and I told her it was wrong for the room tonight and she agreed. She also told me I should have been in the balcony watching the sets before me to get a sence if things needed changing. I told her Im new and I dont know how to zig and zag under pressure yet and that I could have saved it with replacing the joke with another and then told it to her ...making her laugh.
She told me I am going to get this right eventually and she looks forward to seeing me in 6 months. I know this I have no choice but to continue to work my butt off and just ghet funnier. I find this comedy thing is getting harder and harder yet I really feel like I am developing comedy some stronger comedy abs. So my 6 pack is 6 months away. She lead me to believe that she is sure that I will nail this and its a matter of time and timing.
Lastly the comedy planets werent in line tonight...I wasnt in the zone but I know I will get there somehow.
Tonight Tuesday I am hosting at NYCC. This was just a dream a year ago. I am thrilled because my idol...Laurie Kilmartin is on the bill. She is my inspiration...and the woman who taught me my mantra, All we have control of is to try to get funnier. Im trying and then some.
I left the audition tonight and went to the Holiday party at NYCC. I had such a great time and I have to say it was wonderful to be with so many friends and people I just enjoy so much. I also feel that I have gained the respect of people who I never dreamed I could ever deserve to share a stage with just a few years ago. So I guess it is a good ending to this year. I am just finishing my 3rd year and I am futher than I thought Id be and have so much more to learn and grow. I dont want a sitcom....I dont want to be Ellen. I just want to be a working comic who is booked on shows and gets the chance to perform in shows with other good comics and hold my own. I am too hard on myself most of the time....but despite the outcome tonight I am truly proud of the work I am doing and Im a glutton for punishment...this wont stop me. Im stubborn, Im married 23 years I can handle ups and downs with the best of them.
Oh well...as they say...
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 07:24 AM by Harris Bloom
Whatever doesn't kill ya postpones the inevitable.
Better luck next time (and I love Kilmartin too - she did a set at a show I was on last night).
Congrats on Quitting Smoking....
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 09:51 AM by Al Wagner
Soon, very soon, you will stop thinking about it...You are certainly tough, talented and determined, so I know you can beat the habit and the audition process eventually.
And if I ever get an audition at the Comic Strip, of course I won't pass but I am going to say it is my fiftieth audition so she tells me to pack it in...no hope for me. ;)
You can do it!
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 10:33 AM by Jeanne Noll
Hi Robin. I quit smoking about 13 years ago. Haven't had one since. If I could do it - you definitely can. When I used to crave a cigarette I'd go outside and take a giant breath of fresh air into my lungs - it did help. Also, each time you would normally buy a pack, put the money in a jar - at the price they are today - you'll have enough for a small vacation before ya know it. And sorry about your audition last night. If this helps - I know people who've been doing it much longer than 3 years and aren't auditioning yet - so you have come far.
Noll
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 04:13 PM by Kelly Shannon
yeah, she quit smoking but now she's drinking (see previous blog) :)
I'm sorry Robin.
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 07:14 PM by Dave O'Gara
I'm really shocked and surprised. You are really talented, hell you know that. I'm sure you'll get it next time. Shit happens kid, you will make it happen. Stay strong.
coming from you Dave
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 02:16 AM by Robin Fox
Thats a rave. You know how wonderful I and talented I think you are. Im really not to upset Starla was very positive and feels strongly that I will pass eventualy. I forgot to mention when I walked into the Club The woman who beat me at the Ladies of Laughter was there. I got jolted by it. She is another mom comic and I paniced that Id have to follow her and it would be bad. She in the end went on after me. I know that if I dont give up and god I dont know why I am so determined in the face of all thats up against me I will make it. Its a living thing this comedy thing and I just have to hope that next time I will be on my A game.
That all said.... I feel like someone let all the air out of my head. I had an argument with Mr Fox yesterday and my life is at an all time stress high. I am a pro. I have a 6 minute set for a 5 min audition. I need to see the room before I figure out what to cut. Go know. I am writing this to remind myself that this is all I work for. I sometimes wonder why I am so full of angst and second guessing myself so much. I am really a good comedian. If it was baseball and they kept stats... Mine are good. It just is I am an approval junkie and this entire process takes a lot out of me. I just want to get booked more on better shows. It is not the fame it is the undying need to perform in good rooms and to make people laugh...which I can do.
I love doing Adams room. Every time I go there I really do kill. The high from that lasts for days. I love doing Don't tell Mamas for the same reasons. I know this is what I should be doing with my life. I have known I'm a comic all my life. I feel like shit ...But I'm going and I am gonna Wow that woman if it kills me.
Comments are below
so how good did you do?
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 12:16 AM by Josh Homer
As an artist
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 12:37 AM by H. P.
The artist is always critical of the art they paint. never realizing the art in itself is inspiring and the ARTIST IS the masterpiece. So I hoped you riped them all a new one.
Remember the Pearl Necklace.
Peace
no soap radio
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 02:30 AM by Robin Fox
I am sad to report that I did not wow her tonight. I miss read the room. I was the first up after the passed pros. Vinnie Brand was up before me and had an excellent set the room loved. I should have taken notice of the age of the room. I had planned my strong KY opener and it was wrong for the room. It was filled with people even older than myself and I am older than dirt. The first joke that more than usually kills hit soft. I pertended that it was fine. I moved into my second joke and it landed a bit stronger but still softer than expected. Then I hit into my stride and things went well. I did this very same set last week at an industry showcase at NYCC and it killed. It is a 5 minute set that took at NYCC 6 minutes so I was fearfull and cut out a few jokes and timed it for 4 mins 30 seconds leaving room for my imagined applause breaks and laughter. I was done at 4min 30 seconds and ended short. I was underwhelmed. Not to make excuses...but I was having an off day the entire day at home. I quit smoking and was irritable more than normal. Im off them 3 weeks one day.
I also like an ass asked Vinne to stay and watch my set so it was a double audition....more pressure. Lastly the Comical Mag. was there to photograph me for an upcoming feature story....what am I high?? I only wish it would have at least been enjoyable.
Starla came out to talk to me. She didnt remember me at all. I refreshed her with a comment she gave me about a joke that I had changed. She said first off I ran short...not good. Then she said I had really good punch lines but my set ups were too long. This is the same set that last time she complimented me in the set up punch ratio. So I dont know what to do with that. She didnt think my opener was strong enough and I told her it was wrong for the room tonight and she agreed. She also told me I should have been in the balcony watching the sets before me to get a sence if things needed changing. I told her Im new and I dont know how to zig and zag under pressure yet and that I could have saved it with replacing the joke with another and then told it to her ...making her laugh.
She told me I am going to get this right eventually and she looks forward to seeing me in 6 months. I know this I have no choice but to continue to work my butt off and just ghet funnier. I find this comedy thing is getting harder and harder yet I really feel like I am developing comedy some stronger comedy abs. So my 6 pack is 6 months away. She lead me to believe that she is sure that I will nail this and its a matter of time and timing.
Lastly the comedy planets werent in line tonight...I wasnt in the zone but I know I will get there somehow.
Tonight Tuesday I am hosting at NYCC. This was just a dream a year ago. I am thrilled because my idol...Laurie Kilmartin is on the bill. She is my inspiration...and the woman who taught me my mantra, All we have control of is to try to get funnier. Im trying and then some.
I left the audition tonight and went to the Holiday party at NYCC. I had such a great time and I have to say it was wonderful to be with so many friends and people I just enjoy so much. I also feel that I have gained the respect of people who I never dreamed I could ever deserve to share a stage with just a few years ago. So I guess it is a good ending to this year. I am just finishing my 3rd year and I am futher than I thought Id be and have so much more to learn and grow. I dont want a sitcom....I dont want to be Ellen. I just want to be a working comic who is booked on shows and gets the chance to perform in shows with other good comics and hold my own. I am too hard on myself most of the time....but despite the outcome tonight I am truly proud of the work I am doing and Im a glutton for punishment...this wont stop me. Im stubborn, Im married 23 years I can handle ups and downs with the best of them.
Oh well...as they say...
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 07:24 AM by Harris Bloom
Whatever doesn't kill ya postpones the inevitable.
Better luck next time (and I love Kilmartin too - she did a set at a show I was on last night).
Congrats on Quitting Smoking....
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 09:51 AM by Al Wagner
Soon, very soon, you will stop thinking about it...You are certainly tough, talented and determined, so I know you can beat the habit and the audition process eventually.
And if I ever get an audition at the Comic Strip, of course I won't pass but I am going to say it is my fiftieth audition so she tells me to pack it in...no hope for me. ;)
You can do it!
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 10:33 AM by Jeanne Noll
Hi Robin. I quit smoking about 13 years ago. Haven't had one since. If I could do it - you definitely can. When I used to crave a cigarette I'd go outside and take a giant breath of fresh air into my lungs - it did help. Also, each time you would normally buy a pack, put the money in a jar - at the price they are today - you'll have enough for a small vacation before ya know it. And sorry about your audition last night. If this helps - I know people who've been doing it much longer than 3 years and aren't auditioning yet - so you have come far.
Noll
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 04:13 PM by Kelly Shannon
yeah, she quit smoking but now she's drinking (see previous blog) :)
I'm sorry Robin.
Posted on 12/13/2005 at 07:14 PM by Dave O'Gara
I'm really shocked and surprised. You are really talented, hell you know that. I'm sure you'll get it next time. Shit happens kid, you will make it happen. Stay strong.
coming from you Dave
Posted on 12/14/2005 at 02:16 AM by Robin Fox
Thats a rave. You know how wonderful I and talented I think you are. Im really not to upset Starla was very positive and feels strongly that I will pass eventualy. I forgot to mention when I walked into the Club The woman who beat me at the Ladies of Laughter was there. I got jolted by it. She is another mom comic and I paniced that Id have to follow her and it would be bad. She in the end went on after me. I know that if I dont give up and god I dont know why I am so determined in the face of all thats up against me I will make it. Its a living thing this comedy thing and I just have to hope that next time I will be on my A game.
Friday, December 9, 2005
Shut the fuck up.
Wed. night I did an Industry Showcase at NYCC, Buddy Flip had produced. It was my night to shine and I had a really strong set. I was in the zone, the audience was in the zone the planets were all in line and best of all It was in front of industry and being taped.
I was nervous because I hadn't performed in over 2 weeks the longest I have taken a break since beginning. After the show I headed downtown to Sal's and he offered to put me up....love him... I followed Rick Shapiro who is god to me and did very well....thank-you planets.
The next night I had 2 spots at the NYCC one in the big room at 9:30 and the second at 11:30. The room was late to fill up and they were a loud group of folks. As the show began it was a bringer I had a booked spot on.... Mary Domino who is cute and hysterical took to the stage to MC. Cell phones were ringing every few minutes people were still being seated. There was a group of people in the front of the room closest to the door....who wouldn't shut up. I was standing by the booth and people all around them were getting annoyed that they were talking. The mic the night before was really hot...you had to hold it away...this night it was running very soft. With talkers it helps somewhat for me if the mic is loud because I can focus on my own voice.
I am pumped up from the night before. I dressed up both nights and felt very confident. Mary introduced me and I took to the stage. As I am walking to the stage the guy in the front says to his group ( I was told this later by a comic sitting near them and heard some of it myself) Great another woman comic I hate them. I hit the stage and I'm off to a strong start. I have them, then the talkers all turn their backs and are in a huddle talking louder than I am on stage. I say " Feel free to ignore me I'm married 23 years I'm used to it" They keep talking I continue with my set and the room is laughing and I pause before the next set up and the Guy in the group shouts out "Maybe if you were funny I would be talking". I continue.... I'm like George Costanza in Sienfeld "Hey George the ocean called their running out of shrimp" ALL I can think about is a comeback and I have none. I begin the next joke and get the light. I start the set up wrong and am so angry they are still talking people around them are all annoyed. I say " I got the light so I just have a few more seconds up hear and instead of finishing this joke Id much rather say some thing else.....SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!! pause........................no really I mean it SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! I'm Robin Fox." As I walk by their table I say to them.... I hope when your friend goes up they get treated the same way you treated me...what goes around. " I walk to get my coat and everyone is high fiving me comics and some audience. I am told I was good. I am thanked for shutting them up. I go into the hall and obsess with what I could have done or said. I wanted to say something like this isn't the movies I can actually hear you. I didn't want to sound like an ass...or cross a line. Mary the MC runs out and says wow that hardly every happens during a showcase. I lost my Heckel virginity. Hell I'm in my third year what did I expect....but just like the real thing It is the next day and I'm still sore. I was standing by the bar and was telling a friend what happened. The pro comics and people at this much longer than me were wondering what the big deal was. I was a being such a girl.... I was really upset by how cold they were to it. Then again..... if you do this its as much a part of the business as the gum under the tables. To them it wasn't a big deal. One comic said.... I love a good ass hole. I love fucking with them back. I don't.
I felt like I was back in 5th grade and being picked on....the reason I became funny in the first place. What was I gonna say....your not coming to my birthday party. The good news is they were quiet the rest of the night.I was waiting in the hall to do my next set and so many comics and audience people said something nice to me. Mostly things like...Im glad you told them off...they were ruining the night. Others just said I was funny and wish they could have heard more. I have been in rooms where people were really chatty sometimes after I have gone up. I have gone up to them and said can you be quiet...Id like to hear. If your at a bringer and your a comic maybe you could do something to help a comic out before it comes to getting nasty. I don't know if that's the answer.
What is it with people that they don't know how to act during live entertainment. Is it that they don't go out of the house and just don't know how to behave?? Turn your cell phone off. ...and if you have to talk leave the room or don't sit in front of the stage at least. To the comics bringging these people ...please if you see your firends ackting like ass holes say something to them....the set you save may be your own. And to myself.....Grow a thicker skin.
Later in the night their comic went up she was so bad it was a train wreck. She looked like she was high and was incoherent. Her group not only talked during her set one got up and walked out shouting "I don't know her'. In the hallway after another woman was from the group and she was talking so loudly as was the entire area by the bathroom.... The manager walked by and asked them to keep it down. I then said...".Yea just Shut the fuck up" The woman recognized my voice and looked right at me I stared her down.... she looked away.
I went to do my second set in the small room their were 8 people left I had a good set. It is never a done deal with this thing. Two days ago I felt on top of the world..... today I feel like I've just started.
Comments are below
congrats
Posted on 12/09/2005 at 04:17 PM by Josh Homer
everyone gets heckled. once a woman heckled me because I am half white and half black, and she 'don't like halfbreeds'. I always follow the Patrick Swayze road house rule, be nice, if they talk, be nice, if they call you names, be nice. Be nice until it's time not to be nice, that way the audience is on your side when you rip them a new one, you don't get people thinking 'man that comic is an asshole' instead they think 'i am glad someone said something to that jerk'.
some clubs ask talkers to be quiet, and if they keep it up to leave (see the IMPROV) but NYCC pretty much leaves you to your own devices up there. i did a show there last monday with ssome english people who talked the whole show, no matter how many comics told them to STFU, or made fun of them. some people just want to be part of the show.
Posted on 12/09/2005 at 04:38 PM by Chris McDevitt
I like to ask everyone in the audience who paid good money to hear a comedy show and not to listen to a drunken douchebage to raise their hand. Then I ask them to extend their middle finger. Then I ask them to wave it at said drunken douchebag.
I like doing that.
P.S., it doesn't work so good on the Train.
Robin...
Posted on 12/09/2005 at 08:15 PM by Adrienne
That room was terrible. They were so chatty, that and I thought the mic was really low. I wish I would have told them to shut the fuck up, I would have felt better about the set then too.
You were great dispite them
Posted on 12/09/2005 at 10:24 PM by Robin Fox
I was so angry I wanted to spit. Its a bringger show you jerk. I only wish I was sucking really tanking and it happened because then I would have felt I deserved it. It was a clear case of someone just not wanting any female to do good. Adrienne you were fantastic all the same even with the talking... Loved the new material. I was so proud of you.
Bringers...
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 09:47 AM by Al Wagner
Seem to bring out the novices...the people who would never be in the club if it weren't for their friends...so without excusing bad behavior it just seems to happen more often at bringers.
At least you got your wish, not only was their friend treated poorly, but by her own group!
Sorry for the difficult experience. I once had a bringer turn out badly since my own group were the idiots, but I won't dwell since I don't want anyone to hear my plaintive roar...
Glad the industry show went well!
-A Fan
Robin, you can't trust the planets!
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 09:58 AM by Kantad Svendsgaard
Seriously, if I've learned anything in the couple of years I've been doing comedy, it is typical to feel very high in the stratosphere one night only to plumb a new low the very next night. I've gotta think the comedians who don't quit and keep plugging along and don't let the last show affect the next show are the ones who make it big. I wish I had your courage - I would have told the Apollo crowd to shut the fuck up. On second thought...
By the way, you were great at Buddy Flip's show. Other comics asked me if I was going up that night, and I was proud to say "no, I'm here to see Robin Fox!"
I feel your pain
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 10:02 AM by Jeanne Noll
Robin, a few years ago I did a show - it was my first real show (not a bringer or open mike). I was doing a guest spot (five minutes at the front). The MC was also the booker and a regular MC at this show so he knew everyone and had inside jokes and they loved him... I was right after him to do my 5 minute guest spot. Right before he went up he told me "Make me look good - you're a professional!" No Pressure There! There was a really drunk lady in front and she wasn't exactly heckeling me - just totally incoherent and making funny loud noises. But she was a regular audience member and had a lot of friends there. I wouldn't dare say anything to her at that point anyway because I very seldom strayed from my totally memorized set. I think I ended up doing 2 1/2 minutes and forgot half of my punchlines - I was extremely flustered! Anyway, when I got down, the pro comics who were there came up to me and said things like, "You get used to that kid..." Like stuff that really left me feeling like everyone knew (thought) that I had no business being there. I came across like it was my first time being on stage and it really hurt. I just remember not being able to get that horrible feeling that I could have said something to save myself, put her in her place and make it funny, out of my mind. I haven't encountered anything like that since so I don't know if I've learned anything from it or if I would react any better if it happened today - but I think from experience I may not get so flustered - at least! I'm doing a bringer at NYCC next week (first time) so hopefully the mike will be loud and those people won't be there or they will have learned something from you. Anyway - good for you for maintaining your composure and saying something to them later on and congrats on your first heckling experience!!!
rule of bringing
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 12:33 PM by Alan Schwartz
If I have doubts as to whether my friend can behave themselves in a comedy club, I wouldn't bring them to see me. That being said, I saw the girl in the hallway being noisy, and while I didn't see her behavior in the room itself, her behavior outside it gave me the picture of what you had to go through. While that may have sucked, eventually it will be a distant memory while it's another night and you're killing uninterrupted.
Look at it from this viewpoint
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 12:42 PM by Shaun Eli
You said that the comedian they came to see was horrible. Clearly they did NOT want to be there. I'm not defending their behavior, but knowing that their friend was so bad, they obviously came into the room with a negative attitude.
Thanks for all the kindness
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 03:37 PM by Robin Fox
People think Im nice but I am really not. I would have paid someone big money to beat that guy up and given me pictures. I dont care why he was there... Keep your mouth shut. I chatt at a whisper and feel guilty when I talk during a show. The other night I had to move my seat because a comic keept talking to me and wouldnt get the hint...that I wanted to hear the show. Gina the manager asked me if she needed to go into the room and handle them, after my letting them have it they were quiet. Its good to know that the club stands behind you.
You go girlfriend!
Posted on 12/11/2005 at 01:11 PM by April Brucker
I think more comics should tell hecklers to shut the fuck up. I mean, you are a very nice lady off stage but I gotta hand it to you, you don't take shit from anyone!
I was nervous because I hadn't performed in over 2 weeks the longest I have taken a break since beginning. After the show I headed downtown to Sal's and he offered to put me up....love him... I followed Rick Shapiro who is god to me and did very well....thank-you planets.
The next night I had 2 spots at the NYCC one in the big room at 9:30 and the second at 11:30. The room was late to fill up and they were a loud group of folks. As the show began it was a bringer I had a booked spot on.... Mary Domino who is cute and hysterical took to the stage to MC. Cell phones were ringing every few minutes people were still being seated. There was a group of people in the front of the room closest to the door....who wouldn't shut up. I was standing by the booth and people all around them were getting annoyed that they were talking. The mic the night before was really hot...you had to hold it away...this night it was running very soft. With talkers it helps somewhat for me if the mic is loud because I can focus on my own voice.
I am pumped up from the night before. I dressed up both nights and felt very confident. Mary introduced me and I took to the stage. As I am walking to the stage the guy in the front says to his group ( I was told this later by a comic sitting near them and heard some of it myself) Great another woman comic I hate them. I hit the stage and I'm off to a strong start. I have them, then the talkers all turn their backs and are in a huddle talking louder than I am on stage. I say " Feel free to ignore me I'm married 23 years I'm used to it" They keep talking I continue with my set and the room is laughing and I pause before the next set up and the Guy in the group shouts out "Maybe if you were funny I would be talking". I continue.... I'm like George Costanza in Sienfeld "Hey George the ocean called their running out of shrimp" ALL I can think about is a comeback and I have none. I begin the next joke and get the light. I start the set up wrong and am so angry they are still talking people around them are all annoyed. I say " I got the light so I just have a few more seconds up hear and instead of finishing this joke Id much rather say some thing else.....SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!! pause........................no really I mean it SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! I'm Robin Fox." As I walk by their table I say to them.... I hope when your friend goes up they get treated the same way you treated me...what goes around. " I walk to get my coat and everyone is high fiving me comics and some audience. I am told I was good. I am thanked for shutting them up. I go into the hall and obsess with what I could have done or said. I wanted to say something like this isn't the movies I can actually hear you. I didn't want to sound like an ass...or cross a line. Mary the MC runs out and says wow that hardly every happens during a showcase. I lost my Heckel virginity. Hell I'm in my third year what did I expect....but just like the real thing It is the next day and I'm still sore. I was standing by the bar and was telling a friend what happened. The pro comics and people at this much longer than me were wondering what the big deal was. I was a being such a girl.... I was really upset by how cold they were to it. Then again..... if you do this its as much a part of the business as the gum under the tables. To them it wasn't a big deal. One comic said.... I love a good ass hole. I love fucking with them back. I don't.
I felt like I was back in 5th grade and being picked on....the reason I became funny in the first place. What was I gonna say....your not coming to my birthday party. The good news is they were quiet the rest of the night.I was waiting in the hall to do my next set and so many comics and audience people said something nice to me. Mostly things like...Im glad you told them off...they were ruining the night. Others just said I was funny and wish they could have heard more. I have been in rooms where people were really chatty sometimes after I have gone up. I have gone up to them and said can you be quiet...Id like to hear. If your at a bringer and your a comic maybe you could do something to help a comic out before it comes to getting nasty. I don't know if that's the answer.
What is it with people that they don't know how to act during live entertainment. Is it that they don't go out of the house and just don't know how to behave?? Turn your cell phone off. ...and if you have to talk leave the room or don't sit in front of the stage at least. To the comics bringging these people ...please if you see your firends ackting like ass holes say something to them....the set you save may be your own. And to myself.....Grow a thicker skin.
Later in the night their comic went up she was so bad it was a train wreck. She looked like she was high and was incoherent. Her group not only talked during her set one got up and walked out shouting "I don't know her'. In the hallway after another woman was from the group and she was talking so loudly as was the entire area by the bathroom.... The manager walked by and asked them to keep it down. I then said...".Yea just Shut the fuck up" The woman recognized my voice and looked right at me I stared her down.... she looked away.
I went to do my second set in the small room their were 8 people left I had a good set. It is never a done deal with this thing. Two days ago I felt on top of the world..... today I feel like I've just started.
Comments are below
congrats
Posted on 12/09/2005 at 04:17 PM by Josh Homer
everyone gets heckled. once a woman heckled me because I am half white and half black, and she 'don't like halfbreeds'. I always follow the Patrick Swayze road house rule, be nice, if they talk, be nice, if they call you names, be nice. Be nice until it's time not to be nice, that way the audience is on your side when you rip them a new one, you don't get people thinking 'man that comic is an asshole' instead they think 'i am glad someone said something to that jerk'.
some clubs ask talkers to be quiet, and if they keep it up to leave (see the IMPROV) but NYCC pretty much leaves you to your own devices up there. i did a show there last monday with ssome english people who talked the whole show, no matter how many comics told them to STFU, or made fun of them. some people just want to be part of the show.
Posted on 12/09/2005 at 04:38 PM by Chris McDevitt
I like to ask everyone in the audience who paid good money to hear a comedy show and not to listen to a drunken douchebage to raise their hand. Then I ask them to extend their middle finger. Then I ask them to wave it at said drunken douchebag.
I like doing that.
P.S., it doesn't work so good on the Train.
Robin...
Posted on 12/09/2005 at 08:15 PM by Adrienne
That room was terrible. They were so chatty, that and I thought the mic was really low. I wish I would have told them to shut the fuck up, I would have felt better about the set then too.
You were great dispite them
Posted on 12/09/2005 at 10:24 PM by Robin Fox
I was so angry I wanted to spit. Its a bringger show you jerk. I only wish I was sucking really tanking and it happened because then I would have felt I deserved it. It was a clear case of someone just not wanting any female to do good. Adrienne you were fantastic all the same even with the talking... Loved the new material. I was so proud of you.
Bringers...
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 09:47 AM by Al Wagner
Seem to bring out the novices...the people who would never be in the club if it weren't for their friends...so without excusing bad behavior it just seems to happen more often at bringers.
At least you got your wish, not only was their friend treated poorly, but by her own group!
Sorry for the difficult experience. I once had a bringer turn out badly since my own group were the idiots, but I won't dwell since I don't want anyone to hear my plaintive roar...
Glad the industry show went well!
-A Fan
Robin, you can't trust the planets!
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 09:58 AM by Kantad Svendsgaard
Seriously, if I've learned anything in the couple of years I've been doing comedy, it is typical to feel very high in the stratosphere one night only to plumb a new low the very next night. I've gotta think the comedians who don't quit and keep plugging along and don't let the last show affect the next show are the ones who make it big. I wish I had your courage - I would have told the Apollo crowd to shut the fuck up. On second thought...
By the way, you were great at Buddy Flip's show. Other comics asked me if I was going up that night, and I was proud to say "no, I'm here to see Robin Fox!"
I feel your pain
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 10:02 AM by Jeanne Noll
Robin, a few years ago I did a show - it was my first real show (not a bringer or open mike). I was doing a guest spot (five minutes at the front). The MC was also the booker and a regular MC at this show so he knew everyone and had inside jokes and they loved him... I was right after him to do my 5 minute guest spot. Right before he went up he told me "Make me look good - you're a professional!" No Pressure There! There was a really drunk lady in front and she wasn't exactly heckeling me - just totally incoherent and making funny loud noises. But she was a regular audience member and had a lot of friends there. I wouldn't dare say anything to her at that point anyway because I very seldom strayed from my totally memorized set. I think I ended up doing 2 1/2 minutes and forgot half of my punchlines - I was extremely flustered! Anyway, when I got down, the pro comics who were there came up to me and said things like, "You get used to that kid..." Like stuff that really left me feeling like everyone knew (thought) that I had no business being there. I came across like it was my first time being on stage and it really hurt. I just remember not being able to get that horrible feeling that I could have said something to save myself, put her in her place and make it funny, out of my mind. I haven't encountered anything like that since so I don't know if I've learned anything from it or if I would react any better if it happened today - but I think from experience I may not get so flustered - at least! I'm doing a bringer at NYCC next week (first time) so hopefully the mike will be loud and those people won't be there or they will have learned something from you. Anyway - good for you for maintaining your composure and saying something to them later on and congrats on your first heckling experience!!!
rule of bringing
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 12:33 PM by Alan Schwartz
If I have doubts as to whether my friend can behave themselves in a comedy club, I wouldn't bring them to see me. That being said, I saw the girl in the hallway being noisy, and while I didn't see her behavior in the room itself, her behavior outside it gave me the picture of what you had to go through. While that may have sucked, eventually it will be a distant memory while it's another night and you're killing uninterrupted.
Look at it from this viewpoint
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 12:42 PM by Shaun Eli
You said that the comedian they came to see was horrible. Clearly they did NOT want to be there. I'm not defending their behavior, but knowing that their friend was so bad, they obviously came into the room with a negative attitude.
Thanks for all the kindness
Posted on 12/10/2005 at 03:37 PM by Robin Fox
People think Im nice but I am really not. I would have paid someone big money to beat that guy up and given me pictures. I dont care why he was there... Keep your mouth shut. I chatt at a whisper and feel guilty when I talk during a show. The other night I had to move my seat because a comic keept talking to me and wouldnt get the hint...that I wanted to hear the show. Gina the manager asked me if she needed to go into the room and handle them, after my letting them have it they were quiet. Its good to know that the club stands behind you.
You go girlfriend!
Posted on 12/11/2005 at 01:11 PM by April Brucker
I think more comics should tell hecklers to shut the fuck up. I mean, you are a very nice lady off stage but I gotta hand it to you, you don't take shit from anyone!
Saturday, November 19, 2005
I have so so much to learn
I just want to say that I am so sick of my set I could barf. I do a set that is basically a decent set. In a good room it kills...but what wouldn't. In an average room and if I go on before the check spot I hold my own...I do a good set. In a small room late at night after 25 comics I don't bomb but it's hit and miss.
I did a show the other night at Sal's very late into the night. All that was left in the audience were stragglers and people too drunk to leave. I followed the brilliant Rodney Laney....Montreal, Comedy Central, all the good stuff. I did my best material and I just did ok.
Tonight I did a show at a church... I thought is was going to be at a firehouse for the past few weeks and found out differently yesterday. I knew this meant PG so I went threw my sets and picked out a few thing dropped out a few others. When I got to the church I was told no "F "word.... I assumed that included no "C" words either. I use the word cunt and cock sucker in a few of my bits. I take to the stage and I knew I had to replace a "Fuck you" with a "Bite Me". I get to the stage and I cant remember what the word I'm gonna use instead of Fuck . I start with my set and out of no where I jump 3 jokes ahead. Now I back track.. I do the "Bite me" joke ...it hits. I totally leave out my Trophy wife bit, by mistake. Now I'm moving on and thinking ..."Can I go back to it?" I am thinking ahead and performing and for a short second loose my place. This has not happened to me on stage in a long long time. I trudge along and now "I got them" there laughing at all of it. I decide its a really easy room. I am planning on doing 10 minutes I want to do longer... I could have gone on because I see its going really well. I think what to do what to do.... I cant remember what other clean stuff I have. All the time I'm worried about cursing... I curse an often don't know it. I have my censor on full blast in my head. I say the word "Bitch" on purpose then I pause and say "I'm going to Hell but you guys already know that.... I'm Jewish" Off the top of my head they love it. I figure okay riff Robin riff. I go on to say something about my brother who is married to an Italian girl.... I say yeah he's not Jewish anymore he's Italian.... I know this cause he calls it gravy not sauce anymore. THUD THUD THUD. Now that is a joke I never did on stage but in real life i.e.. supermarket lines, with friends at Dunkin Donuts it kills. I feel thrown, from the car. I finish up and end on a big note.
The woman who ran the room tells me I killed...Thanks ( you don't know good) The other comics all complement me. The ladies in the bathroom ask for my email. The woman who paid me says she loved me.
I don't know if I had PMS or I am just in my 3rd year phase of feeling...I WANT TO BE A REAL COMIC GOD DAM IT . I wasn't happy, I forgot 3-4 different tags. I left out 2 jokes. I talked to fast. I hate my material.
I think the real problem was I was doing well enough but I wasn't in my zone. I developed a nasty habit of doing the same set over and over because I feel every show (especially ones with over 150 people) I have to do my A set. By the way my A set is really only a B-. I am getting more shows for paying audiences and out of fear I stay in my safety zone. So what has changed???? I think this is it.. I have been doing less and less open mic's. I used to do 4 a week and sometimes 3 in one night. You can work the kinks out of a joke and become comfortable with your material when you do it often in a room where your doing it mostly for yourself. I got Lazy that's it in a nut shell. The second I had to adjust my set to fit a format of a Church I wasn't as good as I could have been. I thought I was prepared but at the end of the day I should have done more. Its getting cold and the mic's in the Village have gotten spread out. I used to do 3 shows on a Tuesday... now I can only do 2. The real road block has been getting weekend work. I don't feel good about being out Friday night and Saturday night and then doing a booked show during the week and then going out another 2 nights. My husband who I call Mr Wonderful in my act is just that wonderful... but I cant be out 6 nights a week.
In the beginning I would do my sets into a tape recorder over and over...at home. I would listen to the sets and see which way a joke sounded better. I have a friend who videos herself at home....doing her new material and watching them to see what works. I don't know. Maybe that's a way to go.
To those of you who are saying Robin you were probably great your being really hard on yourself I say YES!!! I have to be. If you think I did well here's the litnes test. The headliner was Rodney Laney the same comic I followed at Sal's the other night. He was awesome so funny and they loved him. I was in the back of the room after the show. Anyone who walked by shook his hand, hugged him stayed and chatted. Every now and then Id get a you were funny too. In the kitchen with smokers I got a few you were funny's. I don't expect to get the accolades of a headliner. I just think being able to truly assess what we have on stage is critical to getting better. I have so much more to learn.
I think its about levels. I was really good at my last level. Now I've gotten better at the same time I am performing with better comics and I am at the bottom looking up again. I feel like I'm starting all over again. I have been writing everyday for at least a half hour for a few weeks now. I cant wait to have something really great come out of the process. So far I have struck no gold. I sometimes feel that all I care about is this obsession to get funnier. I have to believe I will as long as I don't give up. My mantra is from Dr Phil (I'm Pathetic I know) Winners do what the losers wont. I hope its true.
Comments are below
Dr. Phil can do many things...but...
Posted on 11/19/2005 at 04:40 AM by Peter Greyy
Dr. Phil can't help you like material that you're sick of...
What's worse is...if you're sick of your material, it probably shows--maybe not consciously, but in a subconcious way...and that may be why your A-set isn't always getting A-level responses.
Phil would point out that you KNOW the things you need to do...you just aren't doing them. You're writing--but you're not taking that material to as many open mics as you had before...and you're feeling like you have to do your A-set in most every setting...
You KNOW what you need to do. You need to take that stuff you've been writing--even if it isn't the absolute flat-out perfect guaranteed-to-kill material that you wish it was--and you need to put it out there...to see what it does in front of an audience--an open mic audience, sure...but you need to get it off of the page and into your head.
You do that stuff in front of people...you hear what THEY find funny about it, maybe it leads you into new directions...maybe it just allows you to drop the parts that just aren't funny--but you get back into the process of building new material...material that you're not sick of...material that, at some point, you're going to be excited to try in front of weekend audiences...to replace some of the bits from your A-set that annoy you the most...
Allow yourself the excitement of WORKING on something--something that may or may not work right off the bat... Let the WORK be the goal--because if you want it to be perfect right out of the gate, you'll never allow yourself the chance to TRY something and SEE if it works... Chances are, if you need it to be perfect right from the start--you'll never do ANYTHING new.
Another thing...do you HAVE to run at your top speed at all times? No. Give your self the opportunity to catch your breath--to really take a look at what you're doing and how it's working out for you... It sounds like you need to recharge your batteries--and it might be that you're in need of a slightly new perspective, to rethink what you're doing...and what you want to do.
Just get out of your comfort zone (especially because it is making you uncomfortable)--and concentrate on the process of doing something that you DO want to do...and focus on the things that you CAN'T WAIT to get up on that stage and tell other people.
The things that interest you the most--are the things that you will share with the most passion...and that passion will translate on stage...and you will connect with others, perhaps in a way you haven't been connnecting lately...
If you hate your material...if you're tired of it...if it no longer interests you the way it once did...you need to set that material aside... Revisit it with fresh eyes and ears, perhaps...or pull it out when you absolutely need to do material that is time tested and true...but CONCENTRATE on FRESH, NEW and PERSONALLY INVOLVING ideas that make you excited for your chance to take 'em around the block for a spin (so all the neighbors can see...)
Oh, and put down the god damned fork. I don't know why, but Dr. Phil always seems to say that, doesn't he?
pg--seattle
Just what the Dr. Ordered.
Posted on 11/19/2005 at 08:16 AM by Robin Fox
Thanks Peter, I hear you. All the things your saying are just what I must do. I also need to be in the moment more. The real pitfall of last night was that I was consantly editing in my head and watching out to stay clean. I lost my focus and the only reason the set came off to the audience as a good set was that I am so well rehearsed that I was able to pull it off. I need a well rehersed clean set that I know just what Im doing down to the last line before hitting the stage. Then I can zig or zag but I will be able to be more in the moment.
As for burn out ... I am going on vacation this week for the first time in 2 years. Its with the kids so for this mom its not a total rest. I cant wait to get away.
I am MCing more and more lately and have developed on stage alot of one liners for that kind of job. That has been my writing focus before this past 3 weeks of writing everyday. I will one by one start to take the new material to the open mics and see how it looks coming out of my mouth instead of on paper. I thank you so much for all your imput. The work is in the doing.
Thanks for the stream of consciousness
Posted on 11/20/2005 at 04:53 PM by
It's nice to see a little female agony so well displayed. Keep up the good work.
Strong Stand Up is like Fine Wine...it can't be rushed.
Posted on 12/02/2005 at 10:11 PM by Luchia
I honestly don't read blogs but Robin I find you so interesting a comic, that I just had to stop by and check yours out. I can so identify with everything you're saying and trust me you aren't the only one who is hard on yourself--I beat myself up nightly LOL! But then I take a breath and remember that what we're doing is literally one of the most difficult things in the world to do and there are many aspects of it that just can not be rushed. No matter how talented the comic, it takes TIME a lot of TIME to totally tap into that talent. All we can do is enjoy the ride on the way.
I did a show the other night at Sal's very late into the night. All that was left in the audience were stragglers and people too drunk to leave. I followed the brilliant Rodney Laney....Montreal, Comedy Central, all the good stuff. I did my best material and I just did ok.
Tonight I did a show at a church... I thought is was going to be at a firehouse for the past few weeks and found out differently yesterday. I knew this meant PG so I went threw my sets and picked out a few thing dropped out a few others. When I got to the church I was told no "F "word.... I assumed that included no "C" words either. I use the word cunt and cock sucker in a few of my bits. I take to the stage and I knew I had to replace a "Fuck you" with a "Bite Me". I get to the stage and I cant remember what the word I'm gonna use instead of Fuck . I start with my set and out of no where I jump 3 jokes ahead. Now I back track.. I do the "Bite me" joke ...it hits. I totally leave out my Trophy wife bit, by mistake. Now I'm moving on and thinking ..."Can I go back to it?" I am thinking ahead and performing and for a short second loose my place. This has not happened to me on stage in a long long time. I trudge along and now "I got them" there laughing at all of it. I decide its a really easy room. I am planning on doing 10 minutes I want to do longer... I could have gone on because I see its going really well. I think what to do what to do.... I cant remember what other clean stuff I have. All the time I'm worried about cursing... I curse an often don't know it. I have my censor on full blast in my head. I say the word "Bitch" on purpose then I pause and say "I'm going to Hell but you guys already know that.... I'm Jewish" Off the top of my head they love it. I figure okay riff Robin riff. I go on to say something about my brother who is married to an Italian girl.... I say yeah he's not Jewish anymore he's Italian.... I know this cause he calls it gravy not sauce anymore. THUD THUD THUD. Now that is a joke I never did on stage but in real life i.e.. supermarket lines, with friends at Dunkin Donuts it kills. I feel thrown, from the car. I finish up and end on a big note.
The woman who ran the room tells me I killed...Thanks ( you don't know good) The other comics all complement me. The ladies in the bathroom ask for my email. The woman who paid me says she loved me.
I don't know if I had PMS or I am just in my 3rd year phase of feeling...I WANT TO BE A REAL COMIC GOD DAM IT . I wasn't happy, I forgot 3-4 different tags. I left out 2 jokes. I talked to fast. I hate my material.
I think the real problem was I was doing well enough but I wasn't in my zone. I developed a nasty habit of doing the same set over and over because I feel every show (especially ones with over 150 people) I have to do my A set. By the way my A set is really only a B-. I am getting more shows for paying audiences and out of fear I stay in my safety zone. So what has changed???? I think this is it.. I have been doing less and less open mic's. I used to do 4 a week and sometimes 3 in one night. You can work the kinks out of a joke and become comfortable with your material when you do it often in a room where your doing it mostly for yourself. I got Lazy that's it in a nut shell. The second I had to adjust my set to fit a format of a Church I wasn't as good as I could have been. I thought I was prepared but at the end of the day I should have done more. Its getting cold and the mic's in the Village have gotten spread out. I used to do 3 shows on a Tuesday... now I can only do 2. The real road block has been getting weekend work. I don't feel good about being out Friday night and Saturday night and then doing a booked show during the week and then going out another 2 nights. My husband who I call Mr Wonderful in my act is just that wonderful... but I cant be out 6 nights a week.
In the beginning I would do my sets into a tape recorder over and over...at home. I would listen to the sets and see which way a joke sounded better. I have a friend who videos herself at home....doing her new material and watching them to see what works. I don't know. Maybe that's a way to go.
To those of you who are saying Robin you were probably great your being really hard on yourself I say YES!!! I have to be. If you think I did well here's the litnes test. The headliner was Rodney Laney the same comic I followed at Sal's the other night. He was awesome so funny and they loved him. I was in the back of the room after the show. Anyone who walked by shook his hand, hugged him stayed and chatted. Every now and then Id get a you were funny too. In the kitchen with smokers I got a few you were funny's. I don't expect to get the accolades of a headliner. I just think being able to truly assess what we have on stage is critical to getting better. I have so much more to learn.
I think its about levels. I was really good at my last level. Now I've gotten better at the same time I am performing with better comics and I am at the bottom looking up again. I feel like I'm starting all over again. I have been writing everyday for at least a half hour for a few weeks now. I cant wait to have something really great come out of the process. So far I have struck no gold. I sometimes feel that all I care about is this obsession to get funnier. I have to believe I will as long as I don't give up. My mantra is from Dr Phil (I'm Pathetic I know) Winners do what the losers wont. I hope its true.
Comments are below
Dr. Phil can do many things...but...
Posted on 11/19/2005 at 04:40 AM by Peter Greyy
Dr. Phil can't help you like material that you're sick of...
What's worse is...if you're sick of your material, it probably shows--maybe not consciously, but in a subconcious way...and that may be why your A-set isn't always getting A-level responses.
Phil would point out that you KNOW the things you need to do...you just aren't doing them. You're writing--but you're not taking that material to as many open mics as you had before...and you're feeling like you have to do your A-set in most every setting...
You KNOW what you need to do. You need to take that stuff you've been writing--even if it isn't the absolute flat-out perfect guaranteed-to-kill material that you wish it was--and you need to put it out there...to see what it does in front of an audience--an open mic audience, sure...but you need to get it off of the page and into your head.
You do that stuff in front of people...you hear what THEY find funny about it, maybe it leads you into new directions...maybe it just allows you to drop the parts that just aren't funny--but you get back into the process of building new material...material that you're not sick of...material that, at some point, you're going to be excited to try in front of weekend audiences...to replace some of the bits from your A-set that annoy you the most...
Allow yourself the excitement of WORKING on something--something that may or may not work right off the bat... Let the WORK be the goal--because if you want it to be perfect right out of the gate, you'll never allow yourself the chance to TRY something and SEE if it works... Chances are, if you need it to be perfect right from the start--you'll never do ANYTHING new.
Another thing...do you HAVE to run at your top speed at all times? No. Give your self the opportunity to catch your breath--to really take a look at what you're doing and how it's working out for you... It sounds like you need to recharge your batteries--and it might be that you're in need of a slightly new perspective, to rethink what you're doing...and what you want to do.
Just get out of your comfort zone (especially because it is making you uncomfortable)--and concentrate on the process of doing something that you DO want to do...and focus on the things that you CAN'T WAIT to get up on that stage and tell other people.
The things that interest you the most--are the things that you will share with the most passion...and that passion will translate on stage...and you will connect with others, perhaps in a way you haven't been connnecting lately...
If you hate your material...if you're tired of it...if it no longer interests you the way it once did...you need to set that material aside... Revisit it with fresh eyes and ears, perhaps...or pull it out when you absolutely need to do material that is time tested and true...but CONCENTRATE on FRESH, NEW and PERSONALLY INVOLVING ideas that make you excited for your chance to take 'em around the block for a spin (so all the neighbors can see...)
Oh, and put down the god damned fork. I don't know why, but Dr. Phil always seems to say that, doesn't he?
pg--seattle
Just what the Dr. Ordered.
Posted on 11/19/2005 at 08:16 AM by Robin Fox
Thanks Peter, I hear you. All the things your saying are just what I must do. I also need to be in the moment more. The real pitfall of last night was that I was consantly editing in my head and watching out to stay clean. I lost my focus and the only reason the set came off to the audience as a good set was that I am so well rehearsed that I was able to pull it off. I need a well rehersed clean set that I know just what Im doing down to the last line before hitting the stage. Then I can zig or zag but I will be able to be more in the moment.
As for burn out ... I am going on vacation this week for the first time in 2 years. Its with the kids so for this mom its not a total rest. I cant wait to get away.
I am MCing more and more lately and have developed on stage alot of one liners for that kind of job. That has been my writing focus before this past 3 weeks of writing everyday. I will one by one start to take the new material to the open mics and see how it looks coming out of my mouth instead of on paper. I thank you so much for all your imput. The work is in the doing.
Thanks for the stream of consciousness
Posted on 11/20/2005 at 04:53 PM by
It's nice to see a little female agony so well displayed. Keep up the good work.
Strong Stand Up is like Fine Wine...it can't be rushed.
Posted on 12/02/2005 at 10:11 PM by Luchia
I honestly don't read blogs but Robin I find you so interesting a comic, that I just had to stop by and check yours out. I can so identify with everything you're saying and trust me you aren't the only one who is hard on yourself--I beat myself up nightly LOL! But then I take a breath and remember that what we're doing is literally one of the most difficult things in the world to do and there are many aspects of it that just can not be rushed. No matter how talented the comic, it takes TIME a lot of TIME to totally tap into that talent. All we can do is enjoy the ride on the way.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
A New York Bargin
Sal's Comdey Hole has opened his new club on 87 Macdougal underneath cafe del Marre. The Weds. open mic will kick off at 6PM today....no cover! The new club is great you got to see it. Best of all Sal is a comic himself and brings that feel to the club.
Sal told me shortly he will be doing an open mic 7 days a week how cool will that be!
Comments are below
That is very cool......
Posted on 11/17/2005 at 03:18 AM by Adrienne
Sal told me shortly he will be doing an open mic 7 days a week how cool will that be!
Comments are below
That is very cool......
Posted on 11/17/2005 at 03:18 AM by Adrienne
Saturday, November 12, 2005
There once was a host from NJ....hosting Limerick
This week I will be hosting the Tuesday Night Morrison Motel at the Limerick House. It is a tremendous honor to me because the Motel was the first regular open mic I did when I ventured out of my Comfort Zone of the Stress Factory in NJ. I have a huge affection for this room that John Morrison has put together. It is one of the best of its kind. I have once a month Big shoes to fill. Matt O' Brian did a fantastic job and I still miss him. The other 3 hosts of the month are all talented and lovely people. Ed,Lorrie and Guy are all great.
I still remember the first night I went to the Motel I was so scared and in awe. We had our own group in NJ and we all week after week learned and grew at our craft. Coming to NYC was an entirely different experience. The host my first night in was Lori Chase. Lori is a wonderful comedian and host. I remember thinking.....will I ever be able to do that? Look how at ease she is. That night and during the first few shows I did there I saw Rick Shapiro, Bill Burr, Jason Good, Sue Costello, Carmen Lynch, and Michelle Bateau....... the bar had been raised . Week after week I watched and would all week long drive myself nuts to come up with anything new to bring to the Motel and see if it flew. Slowly I got to know so many talented and dedicated people. It was like that song...NY NY if I can make it there Ill make it anywhere.
So even though I have been fortunate to be hosting at NYCC lately... I feel a different pressure at the Motel. At NYCC the audience is always different. At the Morrison it is a core group that comes in each week and I want to have something new and fresh each time. I was originally thinking of asking each person to answer a dumb question once they finishes.... Like I don't know Paper or Plastic. But that's really dumb. I was thinking of reading passages from one of the 2 women I hate most on this earths auto biography..... Kathy Lee. ( Star Jones being the second) But what I think I will do is just write a short bit to begin the show and just try to explore my funny self on stage here and there.... I promise more there than here. I think this is a good idea because it is an open mic for me too. I am learning how to bring the real Robin to the stage and just be funny from the core and not so much from staged material. We will see it will be a work in progress. I would love to have music but I don't own an I Pod and wouldn't know how to work it if I did..... I just figured out how to text message on my cell after 3 years.
I am performing later tonight at Ramapo College. It is my first college gig so far. Every time I get onstage there is something new to be afraid of and overcome or learn from. Hey its college lets see what I can learn.
Lastly the comic who used my bio as a template changed hers at long last. I had to send her 2 letters but she changed it. It might have been nice If she ever answered my emails at all ...or said sorry....but no. Call me catty or another word that begins with "C" I took her out of my circle. Her new bio is good because its her own and she has quite an unique resume.
Comments are below
I'll see you there
Posted on 11/12/2005 at 08:34 AM by Alan Schwartz
I've been Morrison's sign-up guy on tuesdays, I guess he feels a Jew should collect the money. Anyway, I'm sure you'll do a great job hosting, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. I also took that lady out of my circle. She's still trying to get in my square and rectangle, but I won't let her into those either.
Great
Posted on 11/12/2005 at 11:29 AM by H. P.
Hope to see ya there.
Peace
The Motel
Posted on 11/12/2005 at 08:04 PM by Amy Patrick
I still miss O'Brien too. He was so great. Also, I have read Kathy Lee's bio. It's tremendous. Does Star have one I'll check it out. Have you seen her website?
Yes I have seen Stars web site
Posted on 11/13/2005 at 12:30 AM by Robin Fox
SHe doenst have a book. But here wedding web site is so sick. She paid for nothing. Everyone was told to do it for free since she was selling the photos to all the rags. What a ass. Even if she lost all that weight.
Good Luck Hosting!
Posted on 11/13/2005 at 04:55 PM by Adrienne
great
Posted on 11/13/2005 at 06:36 PM by Sean O'Connor
you did awesome, colleges are so fun and easy.
Glad she changed her bio
Posted on 11/14/2005 at 11:17 AM by Kelly Shannon
quite a unique resume? Are you sure it's hers? Just because she changed from yours doesn't mean she didn't steal somebody elses. I took her out of my circle also.
I still remember the first night I went to the Motel I was so scared and in awe. We had our own group in NJ and we all week after week learned and grew at our craft. Coming to NYC was an entirely different experience. The host my first night in was Lori Chase. Lori is a wonderful comedian and host. I remember thinking.....will I ever be able to do that? Look how at ease she is. That night and during the first few shows I did there I saw Rick Shapiro, Bill Burr, Jason Good, Sue Costello, Carmen Lynch, and Michelle Bateau....... the bar had been raised . Week after week I watched and would all week long drive myself nuts to come up with anything new to bring to the Motel and see if it flew. Slowly I got to know so many talented and dedicated people. It was like that song...NY NY if I can make it there Ill make it anywhere.
So even though I have been fortunate to be hosting at NYCC lately... I feel a different pressure at the Motel. At NYCC the audience is always different. At the Morrison it is a core group that comes in each week and I want to have something new and fresh each time. I was originally thinking of asking each person to answer a dumb question once they finishes.... Like I don't know Paper or Plastic. But that's really dumb. I was thinking of reading passages from one of the 2 women I hate most on this earths auto biography..... Kathy Lee. ( Star Jones being the second) But what I think I will do is just write a short bit to begin the show and just try to explore my funny self on stage here and there.... I promise more there than here. I think this is a good idea because it is an open mic for me too. I am learning how to bring the real Robin to the stage and just be funny from the core and not so much from staged material. We will see it will be a work in progress. I would love to have music but I don't own an I Pod and wouldn't know how to work it if I did..... I just figured out how to text message on my cell after 3 years.
I am performing later tonight at Ramapo College. It is my first college gig so far. Every time I get onstage there is something new to be afraid of and overcome or learn from. Hey its college lets see what I can learn.
Lastly the comic who used my bio as a template changed hers at long last. I had to send her 2 letters but she changed it. It might have been nice If she ever answered my emails at all ...or said sorry....but no. Call me catty or another word that begins with "C" I took her out of my circle. Her new bio is good because its her own and she has quite an unique resume.
Comments are below
I'll see you there
Posted on 11/12/2005 at 08:34 AM by Alan Schwartz
I've been Morrison's sign-up guy on tuesdays, I guess he feels a Jew should collect the money. Anyway, I'm sure you'll do a great job hosting, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. I also took that lady out of my circle. She's still trying to get in my square and rectangle, but I won't let her into those either.
Great
Posted on 11/12/2005 at 11:29 AM by H. P.
Hope to see ya there.
Peace
The Motel
Posted on 11/12/2005 at 08:04 PM by Amy Patrick
I still miss O'Brien too. He was so great. Also, I have read Kathy Lee's bio. It's tremendous. Does Star have one I'll check it out. Have you seen her website?
Yes I have seen Stars web site
Posted on 11/13/2005 at 12:30 AM by Robin Fox
SHe doenst have a book. But here wedding web site is so sick. She paid for nothing. Everyone was told to do it for free since she was selling the photos to all the rags. What a ass. Even if she lost all that weight.
Good Luck Hosting!
Posted on 11/13/2005 at 04:55 PM by Adrienne
great
Posted on 11/13/2005 at 06:36 PM by Sean O'Connor
you did awesome, colleges are so fun and easy.
Glad she changed her bio
Posted on 11/14/2005 at 11:17 AM by Kelly Shannon
quite a unique resume? Are you sure it's hers? Just because she changed from yours doesn't mean she didn't steal somebody elses. I took her out of my circle also.
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Bio-hazard.....some one liked my bio too much
I was invited to join someone's comedy circle the other day..... I didn't know this comic at all. Not to act like the cool kids at the cool kids lunch table I accepted the invite. I don't want to make someone feel rejected the more the merrier. Curiosity hit me and I wondered if I knew her so after about a week I hit her photo and go to her profile page. She is not from the NYC area. So she might know me just from here on the Soapbox. Then I read her profile and oh my she has lifted my bio. Not that it is a big thing but in someway's its huge. I spent a long time putting that together. I think it reflects who and what I am about. I worked in advertising and really never had to write about myself before and it really bothers me. Now I am going to write to her and nicely ask her to change her bio. Here Judge for yourself....
Here is mine: Robin has spent the past 17 years being a Mom and dieting. Three years ago she gave up dieting and decided to make her life long dream of being a comic a reality. She is happier than she can ever remember and will never look back. Original and funny, she talks from her heart about the frustrations of suburban living and raising a family. No longer is she willing to just be the funniest Mom on the cul de sac.
Here is hers
Comedian xxxxxx has spent the past 14 years being a Mom and dieting. Because it became too hard to juggle both she gave up dieting and decided to take a sit down job with a local invention company. Original and funny, she talks from her heart about the frustrations of public schools, work, public transportation and raising a daughter.
Now I know there are more important things in this world to worry about ie Global warming....writing a clean 30 minute set...... but you know this really bothered me. What was she thinking....? If youll hack a bio....... what else should get nailed down and bolted to the floor???
I just sent her a short note .......
Hi Comedian XXXXX, I wanted to know if I knew you after you invited me to your circle. Tonight I checked out your profile and noticed that you used my bio as a template for your own. I know copying is the sincerest form of flattery....but No. I spent a long time working on that and it is mine. In a bussiness that prides itself on originality....you can do better I am sure. Please change it. Thank-you. Best wishes Robin.
Comments are below
Wow
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 03:22 AM by Adrienne
Sounds like Single White Female. I like the part where you say, "I know copying is the sincerest form of flattery....but No" That was great. Let me know how it turns out.
Ditto on that
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 07:56 AM by April Brucker
Single white female is one scary assed movie. And copying is a sincere form of flattery, but not copying almost directly. Wow. Scary.
And one or two comedians I didn't know asked me to join their circles. I was like cool, even though I don;t know you. But this whole circle thing is like facebook, which isfriendster for college kids basically. Next thing you know comedian XXX will be trying to poke you. (Robin, ask your daughter about facebook).
Single White Female
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 08:32 AM by Alan Schwartz
With all due respect ladies, I just don't see how you can kill somebody with a shoe.
That is just down right tacky!
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 09:22 AM by Kelly Shannon
Good thing she doesn't really know you or she would be stealing your jokes too. I think you did the right thing and with class I should add.
Just woke up
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 09:34 AM by Robin Fox
Its 9:44 and she hasnt gotten back to me. Will keep you posted.
that's a bit scary and messed up
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 10:02 AM by Josh Homer
I agree with Kelly, if someone will take a bio, I think they will take a joke.
#1 FAN
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 11:01 AM by Jud Heine
This may be an inopportune time, but Robin, will you please join my circle? I'm a huge fan. I love that joke you do about....oh, forget it.
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 11:20 AM by Robert Driemeyer
I like your "Not to act like the cool kids at the cool kids lunch table I accepted the invite." I didn't know this person but also accepted. Lucky for me she's not an overweight, bald, ex-chorus boy or I might have had similar troubles.
Hey Robin
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 11:37 AM by H. P.
That was me silly. It's just that I can't come in second, so, why not take from first. By the way, tell me when your next performance is so i could bring my recorder, last time it was difficult to write down all of your jokes to claim for my own.
Peace
you're putting comedian XXXXX in the top 10
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 11:53 AM by Josh Homer
although you never say this person's name, most know who it is, and we have all run to thier page on soap box, and guess what, now they are in the top 10!!!!!! I'm stealing your bio!
No Shit!
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 12:34 PM by Adam Sank
Bitch is ahead of ME now! I won't have it!
You go, Robin!
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 12:47 PM by Correne Kristiansen
As always, you handled yourself like a professional. Next time, though, I think we'll have to beat her up on the playground after lunch...as long as I get to sit at your lunch table.
I didn't want to tell you, but
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 01:39 PM by Ray Rivera
I've been using your mom material, I just couldn't think of jokes about being a mom, especially since I've not given birth, but you never know. What we'll do is if we are on the same show, I won't do your jokes.
Buh-bye....
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 01:38 PM by Sue Ball
Fuck, Robin, I'm WITH ya on this one, and glad you brought this shit UP, as I also accepted a comic in to my circle that I DON'T KNOW and HAVE NEVER MET because my thinking is always, "Sue, don't be an asshole..., be flattered." However, y'know, I'm thinkin' of booting her out, and she may be lovely, but, it IS a little weird....so, yeah, y'know, I'm looking forward to hearing the outcome. Robin, I don't know YOU, but right now, baby, you trailblaze....and I'm pullin for ya.....k?
as the hours go by...
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 02:48 PM by Robin Fox
I am getting more and more pissed. I emailed her last night and she hasnt gotten back to me. As for everyone saying I have acted professional....I dont know if I will still feel like this by tomorrow. Thanks all of you for your understanding and support. Oh and to show you how dense I am it took me half a day to connect Single White Female with the movie. Im on the talent search trying to find a comic named "single" I am hosting tonight at NYCC and will be at the Gotham thing too but will have to leave early. Hope to run into a few of you then.
Its 1:52 and counting
Posted on 11/10/2005 at 01:43 AM by Robin Fox
So heres the update. The comic who lifted my bio has still not responded to my email. Im not sure what the next step is. I would love if we could all collectivly tar and feather her....but that wouldnt be nice. What I will do eventually is kick her out of my circle. oooooooooooooooooooooooow that will show her! I really know its not a biggy but come the fuck on. This is a site for comedians. What do we treasure more than the sound of our own voice............OUR WORDS. The thing that pisses me off the most is it wont even make a good bit except at an open mic where there are a room full of comics. Lastly thanks for putting up with me on this.
Can I out her?
Posted on 11/10/2005 at 03:53 AM by Adrienne
Posted on 11/10/2005 at 09:31 AM by Kelly Shannon
I already deleted her from my circle. I don't want to be associated with someone who steals.
bio changed
Posted on 11/10/2005 at 09:44 AM by Josh Homer
looks like it worked. its changed to a longer wordier, bio.
Thanks Josh
Posted on 11/10/2005 at 11:41 AM by Robin Fox
By the way to those of you reading this I didnt give out her name. The reason some people figured it out is she invited just about everyone who is in my circle. Last night I came home at 2 am from working and the bio was still up. I wrote her a second letter.
It went something like this......
It might be nice if you at the very least responed to my email. It not as nice as an apology which I really do deserve. More importantly... Please change your bio. I dont want to have to resort to speaking to Steve or Danny about this. Lastly as a comic what is the big deal of writing a bio. Its no where as hard as writing a joke.
I am glad she changed it.
Here is mine: Robin has spent the past 17 years being a Mom and dieting. Three years ago she gave up dieting and decided to make her life long dream of being a comic a reality. She is happier than she can ever remember and will never look back. Original and funny, she talks from her heart about the frustrations of suburban living and raising a family. No longer is she willing to just be the funniest Mom on the cul de sac.
Here is hers
Comedian xxxxxx has spent the past 14 years being a Mom and dieting. Because it became too hard to juggle both she gave up dieting and decided to take a sit down job with a local invention company. Original and funny, she talks from her heart about the frustrations of public schools, work, public transportation and raising a daughter.
Now I know there are more important things in this world to worry about ie Global warming....writing a clean 30 minute set...... but you know this really bothered me. What was she thinking....? If youll hack a bio....... what else should get nailed down and bolted to the floor???
I just sent her a short note .......
Hi Comedian XXXXX, I wanted to know if I knew you after you invited me to your circle. Tonight I checked out your profile and noticed that you used my bio as a template for your own. I know copying is the sincerest form of flattery....but No. I spent a long time working on that and it is mine. In a bussiness that prides itself on originality....you can do better I am sure. Please change it. Thank-you. Best wishes Robin.
Comments are below
Wow
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 03:22 AM by Adrienne
Sounds like Single White Female. I like the part where you say, "I know copying is the sincerest form of flattery....but No" That was great. Let me know how it turns out.
Ditto on that
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 07:56 AM by April Brucker
Single white female is one scary assed movie. And copying is a sincere form of flattery, but not copying almost directly. Wow. Scary.
And one or two comedians I didn't know asked me to join their circles. I was like cool, even though I don;t know you. But this whole circle thing is like facebook, which isfriendster for college kids basically. Next thing you know comedian XXX will be trying to poke you. (Robin, ask your daughter about facebook).
Single White Female
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 08:32 AM by Alan Schwartz
With all due respect ladies, I just don't see how you can kill somebody with a shoe.
That is just down right tacky!
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 09:22 AM by Kelly Shannon
Good thing she doesn't really know you or she would be stealing your jokes too. I think you did the right thing and with class I should add.
Just woke up
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 09:34 AM by Robin Fox
Its 9:44 and she hasnt gotten back to me. Will keep you posted.
that's a bit scary and messed up
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 10:02 AM by Josh Homer
I agree with Kelly, if someone will take a bio, I think they will take a joke.
#1 FAN
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 11:01 AM by Jud Heine
This may be an inopportune time, but Robin, will you please join my circle? I'm a huge fan. I love that joke you do about....oh, forget it.
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 11:20 AM by Robert Driemeyer
I like your "Not to act like the cool kids at the cool kids lunch table I accepted the invite." I didn't know this person but also accepted. Lucky for me she's not an overweight, bald, ex-chorus boy or I might have had similar troubles.
Hey Robin
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 11:37 AM by H. P.
That was me silly. It's just that I can't come in second, so, why not take from first. By the way, tell me when your next performance is so i could bring my recorder, last time it was difficult to write down all of your jokes to claim for my own.
Peace
you're putting comedian XXXXX in the top 10
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 11:53 AM by Josh Homer
although you never say this person's name, most know who it is, and we have all run to thier page on soap box, and guess what, now they are in the top 10!!!!!! I'm stealing your bio!
No Shit!
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 12:34 PM by Adam Sank
Bitch is ahead of ME now! I won't have it!
You go, Robin!
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 12:47 PM by Correne Kristiansen
As always, you handled yourself like a professional. Next time, though, I think we'll have to beat her up on the playground after lunch...as long as I get to sit at your lunch table.
I didn't want to tell you, but
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 01:39 PM by Ray Rivera
I've been using your mom material, I just couldn't think of jokes about being a mom, especially since I've not given birth, but you never know. What we'll do is if we are on the same show, I won't do your jokes.
Buh-bye....
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 01:38 PM by Sue Ball
Fuck, Robin, I'm WITH ya on this one, and glad you brought this shit UP, as I also accepted a comic in to my circle that I DON'T KNOW and HAVE NEVER MET because my thinking is always, "Sue, don't be an asshole..., be flattered." However, y'know, I'm thinkin' of booting her out, and she may be lovely, but, it IS a little weird....so, yeah, y'know, I'm looking forward to hearing the outcome. Robin, I don't know YOU, but right now, baby, you trailblaze....and I'm pullin for ya.....k?
as the hours go by...
Posted on 11/09/2005 at 02:48 PM by Robin Fox
I am getting more and more pissed. I emailed her last night and she hasnt gotten back to me. As for everyone saying I have acted professional....I dont know if I will still feel like this by tomorrow. Thanks all of you for your understanding and support. Oh and to show you how dense I am it took me half a day to connect Single White Female with the movie. Im on the talent search trying to find a comic named "single" I am hosting tonight at NYCC and will be at the Gotham thing too but will have to leave early. Hope to run into a few of you then.
Its 1:52 and counting
Posted on 11/10/2005 at 01:43 AM by Robin Fox
So heres the update. The comic who lifted my bio has still not responded to my email. Im not sure what the next step is. I would love if we could all collectivly tar and feather her....but that wouldnt be nice. What I will do eventually is kick her out of my circle. oooooooooooooooooooooooow that will show her! I really know its not a biggy but come the fuck on. This is a site for comedians. What do we treasure more than the sound of our own voice............OUR WORDS. The thing that pisses me off the most is it wont even make a good bit except at an open mic where there are a room full of comics. Lastly thanks for putting up with me on this.
Can I out her?
Posted on 11/10/2005 at 03:53 AM by Adrienne
Posted on 11/10/2005 at 09:31 AM by Kelly Shannon
I already deleted her from my circle. I don't want to be associated with someone who steals.
bio changed
Posted on 11/10/2005 at 09:44 AM by Josh Homer
looks like it worked. its changed to a longer wordier, bio.
Thanks Josh
Posted on 11/10/2005 at 11:41 AM by Robin Fox
By the way to those of you reading this I didnt give out her name. The reason some people figured it out is she invited just about everyone who is in my circle. Last night I came home at 2 am from working and the bio was still up. I wrote her a second letter.
It went something like this......
It might be nice if you at the very least responed to my email. It not as nice as an apology which I really do deserve. More importantly... Please change your bio. I dont want to have to resort to speaking to Steve or Danny about this. Lastly as a comic what is the big deal of writing a bio. Its no where as hard as writing a joke.
I am glad she changed it.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Im the shit and I eat it too....
Weds. night I did a show at a room in Essex Co. NJ. It was my kind of room. It was a bunch of good hard working middle class rowdy rude New Jerseyains. I had gotten the gig from a strong recommendation from a fellow comedian who has played the room before. I love NJ rooms I did my first paid gig at Porkeys in Byram and worked my favorite NJ room for J&J comedy at the Woodbridge Sheraton...on Sat nights. There is an ease to these rooms for me. First off it is a paying audience that knows its not in NY...they aren't expecting to see Jerry Seinfeld or Jim Norton....depending on their tastes. They are open to the funny.
The show has a wild format...2 brand new comics go on right after the MC.. In a portion they call Digging for gold. These are raw and freshly hatched kids. One comic really showed the crowd a decent set...he opened with a call back to the MC's biggest joke and they loved him for it. It showed he could think on his feet and be funny . The second comic is a kid you have to love for his heart and determination alone. He struggled a bit but I think he can if he sticks with this find his voice and potential. Then there was a 10 minute break and the show began. During the break the two seasoned comics were to give our thoughts to the 2 newbies one at a time. That I was considered by the fact that I was a feature for the night a seasoned comic was unreal to me. I gave the fist comic some advice about finding stage time and asked him how long he had been at this. I repeated all the good advice I was given at the start. The second comic I did the same and also told him that he needed to be more personal in his material. He was hitting on some topics that are tread worn and I think he needed to impart a bit more of his own point of view into his set. Everything I said I also needed to hear myself. The fundamentals of this thing we do are pretty basic. Stage time, Stage time and more Stage time. Keeping it more personal helps you to develop your own voice and saves you the time of rewriting constantly a new set when your mostly topical. I was truly impressed at the spark in both their eyes. Those early days are so nerve wracking. A kind word goes a long way.
Then the break was over an it was my turn to take the stage. I was feeling off the entire day. My thoughts had been jangled and I cried for no reason during a commercial on TV that afternoon. It wasn't a Hallmark ad either. It was a diaper add Luvs. My daughter is in her freshman year at NYU and even though I see her once a week at least I miss her terribly. Uh Ho Hormones....what's the date.....I got big time PMS. So I get on stage and I'm holding a soda and a cigarette. I make an off the cuff remark about how nice it is to smoke indoors. I mention that I quit for 17 years and now that I'm back it has become an outdoor activity.... (like soccer) F. U. Mayor Blumberg. I have them. I do my standard opener and get an applause break. Oh shit I have them. I still feel off. This is where the 100's of shows and mic's pay off the set was on my hard drive of my brain. I try to stay tight and keep it slow and smooth. I do my 20 and I have KILLED. I'm thinking shit this was my "C" game. You should see me when I'm on my "A" game. The rest of the show was a blur. The headliner had a fantastic set and the booker and producers both were really happy and told me I would be booked again ASAP.....and I got paid. Lovely and it was only a half an hour away from my home. I love NJ.
The next night I was booked in the small room at NYCC. I didn't feel like making the long drive in but off I went. I went on just about 15 minutes after I got there. I followed my friend from Sal's Ryan Reese....and they loved him he had a very strong set from a very tied and worn out audience. I love seeing comics turn a room around...if only to prove that it can be done. I take to the stage and do almost the same set I did in NJ the night before .....shortened for NY stage time. I feel like I am on my "A" game. I deliver a decent set nothing more.....job done....no applause breaks I give myself a C. I feel shitty. Hey this isn't NJ the bar is higher. I worry that I will ever be good enough to turn a room around. Not yet it seems. I am no Ryan yet.
As much as I love NYCC I am not part of any inner circle and this night I know no one Ryan has left and so do I. I head for the village to see if anyone is hanging out. I go back to the womb to Sal's club. The feeling I get when I see Sal is like seeing family. He gives me a million dollar smile and we catch up. Paul Verdi is outside he comes over and he and I talk for a while. Sal has some great news and the three of us and Raymo too all go to a bar and celebrate. Paul is at this about 6 or 7 years I tell him about my last 2 shows. He suggests I don't over analyze what happens...just to concentrate on the next set and have a plan. We riff a few new jokes and Sal always has a great story.....Paul and I stop for a slice of pizza.....and we talk some more. I had been told by the pro headliner the night before that he liked my stuff and if I want more paid work I should really get more clean material. Who knew that a suburban mom could be such a gutter mouth but I am. I explain that my problem is I find the topics that I write that are clean are lame. I cant find my true voice in them. His answer is to keep writing and trying. Once again there are no short cuts. I get home at 4 am....I had a 9 am teeth cleaning and wake up to an hour of torture. I go home and sleep till 1pm. This leaves me 5 hours to get a days work in around my home and cook dinner.
I leave for the city at 10 for the Urban Late show at NYCC. I don't think that is the name of the show Seymour runs it and has offered me a spot a week before. It takes me no time to get in but an hour to find parking. I am a mile away and get to the club only to find out I'm right on time the show started at midnight. The room is full and the comics are not good but EXCELLENT. I am the only white comic on the show. I have gone to many of these shows and seen good comics go under. The energy is different. The comics hold nothing back. The humor is dead on and rough and hysterical. These are not light weights. Marc Theibold destroys, Yamaneika Saunders is killer good, Dean Edwards and Seymore are pros to the 10th degree. I am getting scared...no terrified. If you have seen me perform I am a slow moving vehicle..... I look like getting up on the stage is a chore. I lean.....I sit.... I am sarcastic and at liveliest just pissed off. Will this fly?? More to the point am I good enough to be here?? I want to run.... I don't want to go up. Sorry but we made a mistake here...... I talk to Seymour and ask him for some advice................."JUST HAVE FUN" really how?? Fun is doing well.. sucking ass is HELL. I feel like I will be going to hell. Calise Hawkins tells me to be positive and beleive I can do well. I feel as the only white person on stage I need to address it in a fun way. Michelle Bateau is in the club and she suggest a great line. I'm black from the back....and show my ass. I get onstage and say her line and I add "this baby's go back side and front. I begin my suburban saga to an urban room......aren't I suppose to have a plan???? My KY joke hits the rest kinda just sails along on the good energy in the room. My jokes about Costco are wrong...... is it the setting. I don't think so. I know its suburban....but the real truth is I am not a great comic. It is not a racial issue at all the plain truth as harsh as it is.......is .......... I am out of my league and the boat is taking on water. I get the light and I get off stage. The applause didn't last till I hit the door. Fuck. "all we can do is try to get funnier" I am not all that and some. I give myself a C maybe a C plus. I say this because I didn't bomb and many jokes hit.....plus I was scared going in and did it anyway. It felt like I was on stage for the very first time. I felt like the boys back on Weds night.... On stage I had dry mouth which I hardly get anymore. My jaw felt like someone hit me up there...it ached. I was getting a headache. I wanted a big sandwich...and felt nauseous all at the same time. Out in the hall all the comics were riffing on each other and giving Yamaneika a hard time about her hair. I threw in a comment and even there I was lame. They were all very nice to me anyway. Yamaneka was really nice and told me that It was just good to get up there and do it....and to be myself with full confidence. I tucked my tail between my legs and went home. Its almost 5 am and my head is still racing. It was like I never did comedy before. I have a lot to learn.....and a long long way to go....
Comments are below
Stop that!
Posted on 10/29/2005 at 02:09 PM by H. P.
It's bad enough to have critiques, but to place them yourself is self defeatist. Concentrate AWAYS on the positive.
"I tucked my tail between my legs and went home"
That should be out of your mind and more how you got the chance to work it all out. No more self defeatist. Hope to see ya soon.
Peace
You are right HP but ...
Posted on 10/29/2005 at 02:42 PM by Robin Fox
I think there are many comics who dont have a clear vision of themselves. I am far from a defeatist....but I fairly can asses my limitations and see that I need work. I want alot and it will take alot.
I think we all are like that..
Posted on 10/30/2005 at 02:23 PM by April Brucker
In a way. We are very harsh with ourselves. When most of my jokes hit and that one does not hit I only focus on that one that did not hit. I could have a fab set otherwise and have a slow beginning or weak ending though it is a fab set and everyone is telling me I did well I only focus on where I screwed up. And you should see me when I bomb. Man, I pity the fool who has to comfort me after a bad set. But a mentor once told me, "It is a process. It does not come over night." And an older comedian told me, "If you are getting up as much as you are (3 times a night every night when I can. Sounds like you are on the same schedule) God bless you." You'll be alright, no worries
my show
Posted on 11/04/2005 at 12:02 PM by
Robin I've been trygn to get in touch with you to invite you to my one woman show the evolution of a sexy mutha fuckak all the info is at suecostello.com I hope you can come:):)
The show has a wild format...2 brand new comics go on right after the MC.. In a portion they call Digging for gold. These are raw and freshly hatched kids. One comic really showed the crowd a decent set...he opened with a call back to the MC's biggest joke and they loved him for it. It showed he could think on his feet and be funny . The second comic is a kid you have to love for his heart and determination alone. He struggled a bit but I think he can if he sticks with this find his voice and potential. Then there was a 10 minute break and the show began. During the break the two seasoned comics were to give our thoughts to the 2 newbies one at a time. That I was considered by the fact that I was a feature for the night a seasoned comic was unreal to me. I gave the fist comic some advice about finding stage time and asked him how long he had been at this. I repeated all the good advice I was given at the start. The second comic I did the same and also told him that he needed to be more personal in his material. He was hitting on some topics that are tread worn and I think he needed to impart a bit more of his own point of view into his set. Everything I said I also needed to hear myself. The fundamentals of this thing we do are pretty basic. Stage time, Stage time and more Stage time. Keeping it more personal helps you to develop your own voice and saves you the time of rewriting constantly a new set when your mostly topical. I was truly impressed at the spark in both their eyes. Those early days are so nerve wracking. A kind word goes a long way.
Then the break was over an it was my turn to take the stage. I was feeling off the entire day. My thoughts had been jangled and I cried for no reason during a commercial on TV that afternoon. It wasn't a Hallmark ad either. It was a diaper add Luvs. My daughter is in her freshman year at NYU and even though I see her once a week at least I miss her terribly. Uh Ho Hormones....what's the date.....I got big time PMS. So I get on stage and I'm holding a soda and a cigarette. I make an off the cuff remark about how nice it is to smoke indoors. I mention that I quit for 17 years and now that I'm back it has become an outdoor activity.... (like soccer) F. U. Mayor Blumberg. I have them. I do my standard opener and get an applause break. Oh shit I have them. I still feel off. This is where the 100's of shows and mic's pay off the set was on my hard drive of my brain. I try to stay tight and keep it slow and smooth. I do my 20 and I have KILLED. I'm thinking shit this was my "C" game. You should see me when I'm on my "A" game. The rest of the show was a blur. The headliner had a fantastic set and the booker and producers both were really happy and told me I would be booked again ASAP.....and I got paid. Lovely and it was only a half an hour away from my home. I love NJ.
The next night I was booked in the small room at NYCC. I didn't feel like making the long drive in but off I went. I went on just about 15 minutes after I got there. I followed my friend from Sal's Ryan Reese....and they loved him he had a very strong set from a very tied and worn out audience. I love seeing comics turn a room around...if only to prove that it can be done. I take to the stage and do almost the same set I did in NJ the night before .....shortened for NY stage time. I feel like I am on my "A" game. I deliver a decent set nothing more.....job done....no applause breaks I give myself a C. I feel shitty. Hey this isn't NJ the bar is higher. I worry that I will ever be good enough to turn a room around. Not yet it seems. I am no Ryan yet.
As much as I love NYCC I am not part of any inner circle and this night I know no one Ryan has left and so do I. I head for the village to see if anyone is hanging out. I go back to the womb to Sal's club. The feeling I get when I see Sal is like seeing family. He gives me a million dollar smile and we catch up. Paul Verdi is outside he comes over and he and I talk for a while. Sal has some great news and the three of us and Raymo too all go to a bar and celebrate. Paul is at this about 6 or 7 years I tell him about my last 2 shows. He suggests I don't over analyze what happens...just to concentrate on the next set and have a plan. We riff a few new jokes and Sal always has a great story.....Paul and I stop for a slice of pizza.....and we talk some more. I had been told by the pro headliner the night before that he liked my stuff and if I want more paid work I should really get more clean material. Who knew that a suburban mom could be such a gutter mouth but I am. I explain that my problem is I find the topics that I write that are clean are lame. I cant find my true voice in them. His answer is to keep writing and trying. Once again there are no short cuts. I get home at 4 am....I had a 9 am teeth cleaning and wake up to an hour of torture. I go home and sleep till 1pm. This leaves me 5 hours to get a days work in around my home and cook dinner.
I leave for the city at 10 for the Urban Late show at NYCC. I don't think that is the name of the show Seymour runs it and has offered me a spot a week before. It takes me no time to get in but an hour to find parking. I am a mile away and get to the club only to find out I'm right on time the show started at midnight. The room is full and the comics are not good but EXCELLENT. I am the only white comic on the show. I have gone to many of these shows and seen good comics go under. The energy is different. The comics hold nothing back. The humor is dead on and rough and hysterical. These are not light weights. Marc Theibold destroys, Yamaneika Saunders is killer good, Dean Edwards and Seymore are pros to the 10th degree. I am getting scared...no terrified. If you have seen me perform I am a slow moving vehicle..... I look like getting up on the stage is a chore. I lean.....I sit.... I am sarcastic and at liveliest just pissed off. Will this fly?? More to the point am I good enough to be here?? I want to run.... I don't want to go up. Sorry but we made a mistake here...... I talk to Seymour and ask him for some advice................."JUST HAVE FUN" really how?? Fun is doing well.. sucking ass is HELL. I feel like I will be going to hell. Calise Hawkins tells me to be positive and beleive I can do well. I feel as the only white person on stage I need to address it in a fun way. Michelle Bateau is in the club and she suggest a great line. I'm black from the back....and show my ass. I get onstage and say her line and I add "this baby's go back side and front. I begin my suburban saga to an urban room......aren't I suppose to have a plan???? My KY joke hits the rest kinda just sails along on the good energy in the room. My jokes about Costco are wrong...... is it the setting. I don't think so. I know its suburban....but the real truth is I am not a great comic. It is not a racial issue at all the plain truth as harsh as it is.......is .......... I am out of my league and the boat is taking on water. I get the light and I get off stage. The applause didn't last till I hit the door. Fuck. "all we can do is try to get funnier" I am not all that and some. I give myself a C maybe a C plus. I say this because I didn't bomb and many jokes hit.....plus I was scared going in and did it anyway. It felt like I was on stage for the very first time. I felt like the boys back on Weds night.... On stage I had dry mouth which I hardly get anymore. My jaw felt like someone hit me up there...it ached. I was getting a headache. I wanted a big sandwich...and felt nauseous all at the same time. Out in the hall all the comics were riffing on each other and giving Yamaneika a hard time about her hair. I threw in a comment and even there I was lame. They were all very nice to me anyway. Yamaneka was really nice and told me that It was just good to get up there and do it....and to be myself with full confidence. I tucked my tail between my legs and went home. Its almost 5 am and my head is still racing. It was like I never did comedy before. I have a lot to learn.....and a long long way to go....
Comments are below
Stop that!
Posted on 10/29/2005 at 02:09 PM by H. P.
It's bad enough to have critiques, but to place them yourself is self defeatist. Concentrate AWAYS on the positive.
"I tucked my tail between my legs and went home"
That should be out of your mind and more how you got the chance to work it all out. No more self defeatist. Hope to see ya soon.
Peace
You are right HP but ...
Posted on 10/29/2005 at 02:42 PM by Robin Fox
I think there are many comics who dont have a clear vision of themselves. I am far from a defeatist....but I fairly can asses my limitations and see that I need work. I want alot and it will take alot.
I think we all are like that..
Posted on 10/30/2005 at 02:23 PM by April Brucker
In a way. We are very harsh with ourselves. When most of my jokes hit and that one does not hit I only focus on that one that did not hit. I could have a fab set otherwise and have a slow beginning or weak ending though it is a fab set and everyone is telling me I did well I only focus on where I screwed up. And you should see me when I bomb. Man, I pity the fool who has to comfort me after a bad set. But a mentor once told me, "It is a process. It does not come over night." And an older comedian told me, "If you are getting up as much as you are (3 times a night every night when I can. Sounds like you are on the same schedule) God bless you." You'll be alright, no worries
my show
Posted on 11/04/2005 at 12:02 PM by
Robin I've been trygn to get in touch with you to invite you to my one woman show the evolution of a sexy mutha fuckak all the info is at suecostello.com I hope you can come:):)
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Open mic....Open mind
Last week I stopped by Sal's on a Tues. night after doing a set at NYCC. I wanted to get another set in that night before making the long drive home. It was the weekly open mic...Laugh off. I haven't been able to get to this show for a while because I try to not go out more than 2 nights in a row during the week. The warden ( Mr. wonderful) gets lonely. I also wanted to see some of my friends. I saw Sal from my car and pull up in front. He tells me the place is packed and he is putting up about 50 ...they started around 8ish. It was past 11 when I got there. I was going to just go home but I found a parking space a block away and figured Id just pop my head in and say hi. I look at the bar and there is no one I know. I go down to the show room and it pretty full. Then as I look around..................I recognized only one comic. I go over and say hi and ask..."who are these people?" They were all new to me.
I find it really scary how many people keep jumping in to give Standup a try. I am one of them so this isn't to say they shouldn't be there, rather it is shocking how many new faces in just six weeks showed up. On the other side where were all the comics I do know? Hopefully and factually many have moved up and out of the open mic scene and are getting stage time with paying audiences. .
I really love going to Sal's open mic. Sometimes we would actually get an audience and that made it a lot of fun. Also when you have a club or a mic that is your home base there is a comradery that is really fun. Some people see it as clicky.... I cant say that I have found it to be like that. Sure the first time you go to any new room if you don't know anyone it is rare anyone will jump off the stage to shake your hand. But if you go to a mic regularly you will find that people are really receptive especially if they see you are serious about what you are trying to do comedy wise. I was very scared the first show I did at the Morrison Motel. The room felt like everyone knew every one else. John the mench extrodinare that he is welcomed me warmly as I checked in. After the show he came over to me and told me that he like what I did. I loved going there and still do.
Many comics get angry about open mic's. They say things like...... how can you tell if a joke is good if your telling it to a bunch of comics just waiting to go on...or for a prize at the end of the night??? Many complain that they cant do the same set week after week when all the comics have heard it before. I agree somewhat....so I would try to have at least 2 new bits or even jokes or premises to work out. It made me write.....which made me better. One night early on Bill Burr was in the room this was almost 30 months ago. How do you perform in front of a bunch of other comics waiting to go on who aren't paying attention??? I learned from Bill that night.. you do it by waking them up with lots of laughter. He did a bunch of stuff that 2 years later he did on his HBO special...... If its good enough for Bill its good enough for me.
I started at the Stress Factory in NJs open mic. We often had 25 or more real audienc members it was great. But the best part for me was the feedback I would get from the other comics. Jullian would give me tons of feedback from the bar. John Bander and Greg Concodora and Jarret Kruse.....we all would help one and other....it was wonderful and made us all get stronger,
I like all of us don't want to languish at open mic's for ever.... I look to perform in front of a real audience when and wherever I can. However that said.... There is something great about the freedom of an open mic that cant be had anywhere else..................I can relax......I can reinvent.......I can ad lib...........I can try a different style...... and if it works great if it doesn't no foul. Now for the argument you cant tell if a joke is really good until you do it before a real audience. I don't know about you guys but my very BEST jokes I have known were good since the minute they were on paper...sometimes sooner. Sure Id run them by a friend or my husband. But after about a year of this I could judge pretty well if a joke was a laugh out louder or only a smile joke or a dud. Yes its great to go into a real room and find out a joke is great....on the other end it really sucks to find out that the joke is on you because it just bombed in front of 100 people. One of the things that I think I have developed is the ability to be able to self assess what is working and what is not. At open mic's I will take a joke that isn't working that I believe in and rework it and rework it until I think I have the correct wording, delivery and timing down pat. I do it for me................ not the room. Would I rather go to just real shows and do all this..... not really.
Hosting has let me do a bit more of this. Between comics I have thrown out a new line or 2 and some fly and others hover. I would much rather test run them at an open mic where a few good friends are. Best of all I respect the feedback theses friends give me. I love doing a new joke and late deconstructing it with Larry Baily or Guy or Sebastian or Raquel,Emily, Jill, Adrienne or Katy. We all help each other get better. I owe so much to so many people who like me endured open mic's with.. 1000 of dick jokes, thrown stools........ and boredom to the 100th degree. ALL because we want to get better at this. Remember this..........."Winners are willing to do what the losers wont."
Comments are below
point and counter point
Posted on 10/26/2005 at 06:05 PM by Josh Homer
Well I agree with most of what you said, however that all can be done at regular shows. When I bark, I talk with the other comics about bits ect like you described. I do relax on stage an dtake chances there, I play games with it, try differnt voices on stage etc. Just I don't feel that loving feeling at open mics. I did Stress Factory for months, no one offered me anything help or otherwise. I even got heckled by one of the people from SF, one of the guys from the back table.
your right about SF....
Posted on 10/26/2005 at 06:13 PM by Robin Fox
I started going to SF.. almost over 3 years ago. We eventually lost most of our real audience due to having been bumped by Jim Brewer for months on end. And you are right the group changed... I even felt like an odd man, or woman out in that situation. As for the love.... It is nice when it is there. I have barked for hours at clubs and done a set and it was if It never happened ...sometimes it didnt ...they ran out of show. Not one comic says hi.... I feel like I am seen as less than. I had a Killer set at one show I barked at for over 3 hours. I went on and just did great. To tell you the truth maybe cause Im old as shit.... I was too exhausted to enjoy it. It took me 10 months of hard work at all kinds of stage time some booked some barked some interned for...some open to finally be asked back for a spot without doing anything but bringing the funny. That was great. As for Heckeling at an open mic..... I have said on stage to someone who did that to me....Geee why dont you go fight someone with CP after this...ass hole. There is no room for it...At an open mic. Its great that you feel comfortable doing the things you do at barked shows... I do them there too. But for me.... and the situation I have created for myself, there is something really nice about having a home base open mic to go to. Lastly at the SF I always made it a point to go up to someone new and say hi....that place can be really scary the first time.
class act
Posted on 10/26/2005 at 06:26 PM by Josh Homer
I have seen you perform a few times (including the open mic at SF) and you seem like a really nice down to earth person. Hopefully I will work with you soon.
Well put Robin..
Posted on 10/27/2005 at 10:08 AM by Larry Bailey
I cant believe that I'm actually defending open mics as much as I hate them at times. But you hit the nail on the head. Sure there are a lot of negatives to the whole scene, but I've come to appeciate the little positives that do exist. In this business I've learned to take whatever positives you can get.
Best of all
Posted on 10/27/2005 at 12:24 PM by Robin Fox
Larry is the people you come to respect and enjoy. That is why I was so sad to go to Sals and see no one I know there but one comic. Your right they are unbearable at times. I have to leave the room often for a break. I miss some of those days when all we did was open mics and it was new...because I saw all of you at least 3 times a week. I dont feel like a fit in as much as this new crop of comics come up. But then there is the stage...and that is my classroom, no matter where it is I can learn something.
love your attitude
Posted on 10/28/2005 at 02:53 AM by Ray Rivera
i need to have your attitude, its really refreshing and professional, much success. i'm going to bed now.
from you Ray
Posted on 10/28/2005 at 02:59 AM by Robin Fox
Thats a rave. I feel the same way about you. Your always working writing and growing ...that all I can do to make this happen. There are very few if any short cuts. Great running into you tonight.
it's so true...
Posted on 08/28/2006 at 03:44 PM by Emily Epstein
You have a knack for putting things in perspective, ms. robin. open mics can be long and oppressive and frustrating. and for some of us that have been doing comedy for a while now, it's especially tough when we're not sure where we fit in--maybe ready to graduate from the mic circuit, but not sure that we can get enough stagetime to get up at least 5 times a week or more. But i agree, with our schedules and directions changing i miss seeing as many of the familiar faces. i haven't run into you in forever, but i'm so glad you're doing well! and i'm actually doing seymour's room this weekend and not sure what to expect myself. but i agree, it's all about challenging yourself and forcing yourself to go out of your element. it's the only way to grow.
I find it really scary how many people keep jumping in to give Standup a try. I am one of them so this isn't to say they shouldn't be there, rather it is shocking how many new faces in just six weeks showed up. On the other side where were all the comics I do know? Hopefully and factually many have moved up and out of the open mic scene and are getting stage time with paying audiences. .
I really love going to Sal's open mic. Sometimes we would actually get an audience and that made it a lot of fun. Also when you have a club or a mic that is your home base there is a comradery that is really fun. Some people see it as clicky.... I cant say that I have found it to be like that. Sure the first time you go to any new room if you don't know anyone it is rare anyone will jump off the stage to shake your hand. But if you go to a mic regularly you will find that people are really receptive especially if they see you are serious about what you are trying to do comedy wise. I was very scared the first show I did at the Morrison Motel. The room felt like everyone knew every one else. John the mench extrodinare that he is welcomed me warmly as I checked in. After the show he came over to me and told me that he like what I did. I loved going there and still do.
Many comics get angry about open mic's. They say things like...... how can you tell if a joke is good if your telling it to a bunch of comics just waiting to go on...or for a prize at the end of the night??? Many complain that they cant do the same set week after week when all the comics have heard it before. I agree somewhat....so I would try to have at least 2 new bits or even jokes or premises to work out. It made me write.....which made me better. One night early on Bill Burr was in the room this was almost 30 months ago. How do you perform in front of a bunch of other comics waiting to go on who aren't paying attention??? I learned from Bill that night.. you do it by waking them up with lots of laughter. He did a bunch of stuff that 2 years later he did on his HBO special...... If its good enough for Bill its good enough for me.
I started at the Stress Factory in NJs open mic. We often had 25 or more real audienc members it was great. But the best part for me was the feedback I would get from the other comics. Jullian would give me tons of feedback from the bar. John Bander and Greg Concodora and Jarret Kruse.....we all would help one and other....it was wonderful and made us all get stronger,
I like all of us don't want to languish at open mic's for ever.... I look to perform in front of a real audience when and wherever I can. However that said.... There is something great about the freedom of an open mic that cant be had anywhere else..................I can relax......I can reinvent.......I can ad lib...........I can try a different style...... and if it works great if it doesn't no foul. Now for the argument you cant tell if a joke is really good until you do it before a real audience. I don't know about you guys but my very BEST jokes I have known were good since the minute they were on paper...sometimes sooner. Sure Id run them by a friend or my husband. But after about a year of this I could judge pretty well if a joke was a laugh out louder or only a smile joke or a dud. Yes its great to go into a real room and find out a joke is great....on the other end it really sucks to find out that the joke is on you because it just bombed in front of 100 people. One of the things that I think I have developed is the ability to be able to self assess what is working and what is not. At open mic's I will take a joke that isn't working that I believe in and rework it and rework it until I think I have the correct wording, delivery and timing down pat. I do it for me................ not the room. Would I rather go to just real shows and do all this..... not really.
Hosting has let me do a bit more of this. Between comics I have thrown out a new line or 2 and some fly and others hover. I would much rather test run them at an open mic where a few good friends are. Best of all I respect the feedback theses friends give me. I love doing a new joke and late deconstructing it with Larry Baily or Guy or Sebastian or Raquel,Emily, Jill, Adrienne or Katy. We all help each other get better. I owe so much to so many people who like me endured open mic's with.. 1000 of dick jokes, thrown stools........ and boredom to the 100th degree. ALL because we want to get better at this. Remember this..........."Winners are willing to do what the losers wont."
Comments are below
point and counter point
Posted on 10/26/2005 at 06:05 PM by Josh Homer
Well I agree with most of what you said, however that all can be done at regular shows. When I bark, I talk with the other comics about bits ect like you described. I do relax on stage an dtake chances there, I play games with it, try differnt voices on stage etc. Just I don't feel that loving feeling at open mics. I did Stress Factory for months, no one offered me anything help or otherwise. I even got heckled by one of the people from SF, one of the guys from the back table.
your right about SF....
Posted on 10/26/2005 at 06:13 PM by Robin Fox
I started going to SF.. almost over 3 years ago. We eventually lost most of our real audience due to having been bumped by Jim Brewer for months on end. And you are right the group changed... I even felt like an odd man, or woman out in that situation. As for the love.... It is nice when it is there. I have barked for hours at clubs and done a set and it was if It never happened ...sometimes it didnt ...they ran out of show. Not one comic says hi.... I feel like I am seen as less than. I had a Killer set at one show I barked at for over 3 hours. I went on and just did great. To tell you the truth maybe cause Im old as shit.... I was too exhausted to enjoy it. It took me 10 months of hard work at all kinds of stage time some booked some barked some interned for...some open to finally be asked back for a spot without doing anything but bringing the funny. That was great. As for Heckeling at an open mic..... I have said on stage to someone who did that to me....Geee why dont you go fight someone with CP after this...ass hole. There is no room for it...At an open mic. Its great that you feel comfortable doing the things you do at barked shows... I do them there too. But for me.... and the situation I have created for myself, there is something really nice about having a home base open mic to go to. Lastly at the SF I always made it a point to go up to someone new and say hi....that place can be really scary the first time.
class act
Posted on 10/26/2005 at 06:26 PM by Josh Homer
I have seen you perform a few times (including the open mic at SF) and you seem like a really nice down to earth person. Hopefully I will work with you soon.
Well put Robin..
Posted on 10/27/2005 at 10:08 AM by Larry Bailey
I cant believe that I'm actually defending open mics as much as I hate them at times. But you hit the nail on the head. Sure there are a lot of negatives to the whole scene, but I've come to appeciate the little positives that do exist. In this business I've learned to take whatever positives you can get.
Best of all
Posted on 10/27/2005 at 12:24 PM by Robin Fox
Larry is the people you come to respect and enjoy. That is why I was so sad to go to Sals and see no one I know there but one comic. Your right they are unbearable at times. I have to leave the room often for a break. I miss some of those days when all we did was open mics and it was new...because I saw all of you at least 3 times a week. I dont feel like a fit in as much as this new crop of comics come up. But then there is the stage...and that is my classroom, no matter where it is I can learn something.
love your attitude
Posted on 10/28/2005 at 02:53 AM by Ray Rivera
i need to have your attitude, its really refreshing and professional, much success. i'm going to bed now.
from you Ray
Posted on 10/28/2005 at 02:59 AM by Robin Fox
Thats a rave. I feel the same way about you. Your always working writing and growing ...that all I can do to make this happen. There are very few if any short cuts. Great running into you tonight.
it's so true...
Posted on 08/28/2006 at 03:44 PM by Emily Epstein
You have a knack for putting things in perspective, ms. robin. open mics can be long and oppressive and frustrating. and for some of us that have been doing comedy for a while now, it's especially tough when we're not sure where we fit in--maybe ready to graduate from the mic circuit, but not sure that we can get enough stagetime to get up at least 5 times a week or more. But i agree, with our schedules and directions changing i miss seeing as many of the familiar faces. i haven't run into you in forever, but i'm so glad you're doing well! and i'm actually doing seymour's room this weekend and not sure what to expect myself. but i agree, it's all about challenging yourself and forcing yourself to go out of your element. it's the only way to grow.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Lets keep this show going!!!!!!!!!! Give it up for......
I left for the city early yesterday because I didn't want to be late to the show I was hosting. I forgot to show up at an aftenoon party because I was so nuts about hosting later that night. I have been working on new material and stream lining my jokes to fit the hosting format. Most of my bits are too long. The show I did was the 7:30 new talent showcase.
When I got there I was told that I wouldn't get much time up front.... 5 minutes. I was put off by this how was I to warm these people up? There were 3 staff spots to follow me. So I came onstage and just did crowd work. Then I told the room the rules...and then I mentioned that there were a lot of people here to see their friends and that lets be supportive of all the comics..... They were a great room! Not a typical bringer situation. So the 3 house comics did their sets and all were great. Sean Murphy, Steve Aaron's, and a comic who's name I cant recall. Then I went on and did one short bit. My goal was just to establish rapport and to let them get to know me. The show was being recorded and my friend Eric Alexander was filming. He needed me to do longer bits from time to time to change tape and then I would do a longer set. I had more one line jokes than I have ever had since I began doing comedy. All I do latly is write short jokes, because I had none. I was really happy with how well it went. I still had to run for the comics....learn how to say their names... get credits....time and light them etc.. And be funny! I was scared going in but once the show began I really felt very comfortable. The comics were funny ! Only one did awful. Only one comic ignored the light....( I hate that) I had the club manager telling me to get him off. I did everything except walk on to the stage....and pull him off. There were two stand outs last night. Adrienne Ioppolucci, and Tim Warner. Both had the sets of the night. There was another comic I know from Sal's a big funny guy who went on early in the show who also killed....I have to find my list and figure out who he was. Dave O'Gara (thanks April see comment).
I really am so happy to have gotten through this . I know this is what I need to be doing. I don't know if I will ever be a great MC but I know MCing will help me be a greater comic. Then just when I am feeling like I'm the shit....in walks Michelle Bateau to the club. For those of you who don't know Michelle she is wonderful. She has a Premium Blend coming out in a few weeks. She is my favorite MC in the city. Every show she does makes you feel like you are so lucky to be at HER PARTY! She is everything I would like to be as a host. I may have done well but to be in Michelles league of hosting ....... I have a lot to learn.
Its funny so many comics I meet know me from the Soapbox page. It happens all the time. Its nice because many of the comics feel like the know me already. Someone asked me why I blog. I responded that no one in my suburban life really wants to hear this stuff. My husband listens to it day in and day out....... Its an outlet for me and a chance to connect with perhaps someone who might give a rats ass. Quite a few conversations have been about the new format of the web site. What many say they miss is The Rundown of whom is going to be on the Soapbox show. You can still find it but you have to go to the calendar section to find it. The other thing is the Comedians on Comedians. It was fun to see what we all were saying about each other. I myself LOVED the Comedy around the world that listed 3-4 comics and where they were playing. It was fun to see to find out that someone I knew was going to Tampa etc. Everyone is talking about the comedians circle. It is kinda fun. Let's just get one thing out of the way as a teen I sat at the un cool table, that anyone wants to join my circle is a riot to me. I guess If you live long enough you see everything.
Comments are below
Posted on 10/24/2005 at 11:37 PM by April Brucker
There was another comic I know from Sal's a big funny guy who went on early in the show who also killed....I have to find my list and figure out who he was.
Oh, that was Dave O'Gara. I know this for a fact because he is my boyfriend (I let the secret out) and he could not come to my show saturday because he was doing the guest spot he won at Aaron Haber's mic. I told him you mentioned him and he says thank you because he cannot get ot a computer.
Thanks April
Posted on 10/25/2005 at 12:19 AM by Robin Fox
He was great! Steve even said to me ...hes good. It was a pleasure to see him do so well. I really am usually very good with names and Tell him I am sorry I couldnt remember his name.
Posted on 10/25/2005 at 07:53 AM by April Brucker
will do Robin
When I got there I was told that I wouldn't get much time up front.... 5 minutes. I was put off by this how was I to warm these people up? There were 3 staff spots to follow me. So I came onstage and just did crowd work. Then I told the room the rules...and then I mentioned that there were a lot of people here to see their friends and that lets be supportive of all the comics..... They were a great room! Not a typical bringer situation. So the 3 house comics did their sets and all were great. Sean Murphy, Steve Aaron's, and a comic who's name I cant recall. Then I went on and did one short bit. My goal was just to establish rapport and to let them get to know me. The show was being recorded and my friend Eric Alexander was filming. He needed me to do longer bits from time to time to change tape and then I would do a longer set. I had more one line jokes than I have ever had since I began doing comedy. All I do latly is write short jokes, because I had none. I was really happy with how well it went. I still had to run for the comics....learn how to say their names... get credits....time and light them etc.. And be funny! I was scared going in but once the show began I really felt very comfortable. The comics were funny ! Only one did awful. Only one comic ignored the light....( I hate that) I had the club manager telling me to get him off. I did everything except walk on to the stage....and pull him off. There were two stand outs last night. Adrienne Ioppolucci, and Tim Warner. Both had the sets of the night. There was another comic I know from Sal's a big funny guy who went on early in the show who also killed....I have to find my list and figure out who he was. Dave O'Gara (thanks April see comment).
I really am so happy to have gotten through this . I know this is what I need to be doing. I don't know if I will ever be a great MC but I know MCing will help me be a greater comic. Then just when I am feeling like I'm the shit....in walks Michelle Bateau to the club. For those of you who don't know Michelle she is wonderful. She has a Premium Blend coming out in a few weeks. She is my favorite MC in the city. Every show she does makes you feel like you are so lucky to be at HER PARTY! She is everything I would like to be as a host. I may have done well but to be in Michelles league of hosting ....... I have a lot to learn.
Its funny so many comics I meet know me from the Soapbox page. It happens all the time. Its nice because many of the comics feel like the know me already. Someone asked me why I blog. I responded that no one in my suburban life really wants to hear this stuff. My husband listens to it day in and day out....... Its an outlet for me and a chance to connect with perhaps someone who might give a rats ass. Quite a few conversations have been about the new format of the web site. What many say they miss is The Rundown of whom is going to be on the Soapbox show. You can still find it but you have to go to the calendar section to find it. The other thing is the Comedians on Comedians. It was fun to see what we all were saying about each other. I myself LOVED the Comedy around the world that listed 3-4 comics and where they were playing. It was fun to see to find out that someone I knew was going to Tampa etc. Everyone is talking about the comedians circle. It is kinda fun. Let's just get one thing out of the way as a teen I sat at the un cool table, that anyone wants to join my circle is a riot to me. I guess If you live long enough you see everything.
Comments are below
Posted on 10/24/2005 at 11:37 PM by April Brucker
There was another comic I know from Sal's a big funny guy who went on early in the show who also killed....I have to find my list and figure out who he was.
Oh, that was Dave O'Gara. I know this for a fact because he is my boyfriend (I let the secret out) and he could not come to my show saturday because he was doing the guest spot he won at Aaron Haber's mic. I told him you mentioned him and he says thank you because he cannot get ot a computer.
Thanks April
Posted on 10/25/2005 at 12:19 AM by Robin Fox
He was great! Steve even said to me ...hes good. It was a pleasure to see him do so well. I really am usually very good with names and Tell him I am sorry I couldnt remember his name.
Posted on 10/25/2005 at 07:53 AM by April Brucker
will do Robin
Saturday, October 22, 2005
One down one to go...
So tonight I hosted the Soapbox show at RB's. It is the first of two hosting spots I have this weekend. Saturday I am hosting at NYCC. I was really nervous about tonight's show it was the first time I was invited to perform there without barking. I wanted to leave my home in "WHY the fuck do I live so far from NYC, NJ. by 7pm. My call time was 9:45 I know it is insane to think it might take 2 hours and 45 minutes but on a Friday night it could.
I didn't get out of the house till 7:30 I am listening to the voice of God 1010 WINS for the traffic report. It is a crap shoot wich way to enter the city with out it. The Lincoln was delayed 45 minutes. Holland tunnel was 15 min's delay...and the GW Bridge was no delay. Now I never went into Manhattan by way of the GW. I'm afraid to go this way because if I get lost it could get ugly. The Holland seemed good but the west side hwy they never report on and it has taken me over 2 hours to get uptown on a Friday evening. I decide it will be the GW the show is on 94th and Amsterdam....its a plan. I take route 78 and like an idiot I get on Turnpike south. FUCK FUCK FUCK..... I hate when I go dumb and just let the car do the driving. So I race down to exit 13 I see no sighs to go back on the TPK to go north so like an idiot ....I go to the toll booth with a human. I have ez pass and she says since I don't have a toll card I have to pay the full toll almost 5 dollars. I tell her I know that she can write my transponder number down and I can pay that way.....this has happened to me before. She looks at me and says "just go". It was too much of a bother I guess. (One point me).
So I'm listening to NEWS RADIO 88 now and they say the Lincoln is down to a 5 minute wait. Change of plans...... but what is this. There is a huge electronic billboard over the high way that says Lincoln Tunnel heavy delays. I roll the dice and go with the Radio Gods. Sure enough it was smooth sailing right in to the city. I hop on the West side Hwy and were moving....until around 90th street. Were bumper to bumper. My cell phone rings and I have no intention of answering it I just want to make sure its not my daughter who I will have to call right back. I just glance to my car seat. I am moving at 1 mile an hour just then a car drives by on my right on the shoulder cutting 6 cars ahead. The car in front of me stops short and I TAP him. Not hit him Tap him. Out of the car comes a guy about 30 Spanish baseball hat jeans with the crotch at his knees. Foot ball jersey. He is looking at his bumper cars are honking. I get out and say I'm so sorry the car that cut in startled me. He says look at all this damage. He points to thin scratches that go horizontal on the bumper. The side of his car has these too and I didn't tap him there. He says that the impact shattered the paint. I say are you kidding me I was going 1 mile an hour. I tell him lets get the cops. I then think I am going to miss my show. Plan B. I ask him how much money can I give him to make this go away. I have 14 bucks, maybe 25. He says I need at least $100 to repaint the bumper. I cant believe this. I say lets call the cops. I dial 311. He walks over to my car and says he's sorry that he over reacted and says forget it. Wheeew. Just incase I dial my home phone and leave his licence plate number on my machine.
I get to the gig and start to look for parking. I get lucky and find a space. I walk into the club 20 minutes early. You see you need all that extra Friggin time....its NY. The show is about to start and we have 4 people in the audience. I am new to hosting...so I start off slowly. I tell them about my ride into the city. They are laughing. I ask them a few questions. I'm just playing with them. I did okay. Was I fantastic ...no but I did good. It was a new experience for me doing crowd work with 4 people. Then as the night went on we made it up to about 12-15. There were a lot of great comics too. Bernie Paulie was wonderful I always like her. Matty Golberg did a good set and EJ Williams was very funny it was the first time I have seen him. Mark Macomb was great too. Danny McDermott showed up late and had the set of the night. They just loved him. I left feeling like I learned something's about hosting. Its no big deal.... yet it is. I needed to be the me that I am that's funny offstage as much as Robin the funny onstage character. I am grateful that I did the Chicks and Giggles show earlier this week it really helped. So tomorrow night is the big one at NYCC. I hope I can do even better. It is always a learning experience...but I want to really do well all the same.
Comments are below
Good Luck!
Posted on 10/22/2005 at 04:35 AM by Adrienne
I will be at NYCC tomorrow night, can't wait to see you!
Congrats!
Posted on 10/22/2005 at 02:24 PM by Brad Cox
It's tough to break in. I know. I'm going through that now. Best of luck.
Its raining...
Posted on 10/22/2005 at 03:00 PM by Robin Fox
Thanks Adrienne and Brad.. So here we go again ... Im leaving 3 hours early because of the rain. The driving some nights is as big of a challenge as the show. My plan for tonight is to try to have a little fun. I really dont like hosting yet. I know I will like it more as I get better at it. And since it usually is the first rung to doing spots what choice do I really have. The hardest part is if Im having a bad day I can act my way through a well prepared 10 minute spot....but this is a 2 hour deal. Keep you posted.
Congratulations! From Linda San Lucas
Posted on 10/23/2005 at 07:33 PM by Linda San Lucas
Hey Robin: Congrats on the hosting gigs..I know you'll be great at it, I 've MC'd and its hard work! Hope you enjoyed it. Linda
I didn't get out of the house till 7:30 I am listening to the voice of God 1010 WINS for the traffic report. It is a crap shoot wich way to enter the city with out it. The Lincoln was delayed 45 minutes. Holland tunnel was 15 min's delay...and the GW Bridge was no delay. Now I never went into Manhattan by way of the GW. I'm afraid to go this way because if I get lost it could get ugly. The Holland seemed good but the west side hwy they never report on and it has taken me over 2 hours to get uptown on a Friday evening. I decide it will be the GW the show is on 94th and Amsterdam....its a plan. I take route 78 and like an idiot I get on Turnpike south. FUCK FUCK FUCK..... I hate when I go dumb and just let the car do the driving. So I race down to exit 13 I see no sighs to go back on the TPK to go north so like an idiot ....I go to the toll booth with a human. I have ez pass and she says since I don't have a toll card I have to pay the full toll almost 5 dollars. I tell her I know that she can write my transponder number down and I can pay that way.....this has happened to me before. She looks at me and says "just go". It was too much of a bother I guess. (One point me).
So I'm listening to NEWS RADIO 88 now and they say the Lincoln is down to a 5 minute wait. Change of plans...... but what is this. There is a huge electronic billboard over the high way that says Lincoln Tunnel heavy delays. I roll the dice and go with the Radio Gods. Sure enough it was smooth sailing right in to the city. I hop on the West side Hwy and were moving....until around 90th street. Were bumper to bumper. My cell phone rings and I have no intention of answering it I just want to make sure its not my daughter who I will have to call right back. I just glance to my car seat. I am moving at 1 mile an hour just then a car drives by on my right on the shoulder cutting 6 cars ahead. The car in front of me stops short and I TAP him. Not hit him Tap him. Out of the car comes a guy about 30 Spanish baseball hat jeans with the crotch at his knees. Foot ball jersey. He is looking at his bumper cars are honking. I get out and say I'm so sorry the car that cut in startled me. He says look at all this damage. He points to thin scratches that go horizontal on the bumper. The side of his car has these too and I didn't tap him there. He says that the impact shattered the paint. I say are you kidding me I was going 1 mile an hour. I tell him lets get the cops. I then think I am going to miss my show. Plan B. I ask him how much money can I give him to make this go away. I have 14 bucks, maybe 25. He says I need at least $100 to repaint the bumper. I cant believe this. I say lets call the cops. I dial 311. He walks over to my car and says he's sorry that he over reacted and says forget it. Wheeew. Just incase I dial my home phone and leave his licence plate number on my machine.
I get to the gig and start to look for parking. I get lucky and find a space. I walk into the club 20 minutes early. You see you need all that extra Friggin time....its NY. The show is about to start and we have 4 people in the audience. I am new to hosting...so I start off slowly. I tell them about my ride into the city. They are laughing. I ask them a few questions. I'm just playing with them. I did okay. Was I fantastic ...no but I did good. It was a new experience for me doing crowd work with 4 people. Then as the night went on we made it up to about 12-15. There were a lot of great comics too. Bernie Paulie was wonderful I always like her. Matty Golberg did a good set and EJ Williams was very funny it was the first time I have seen him. Mark Macomb was great too. Danny McDermott showed up late and had the set of the night. They just loved him. I left feeling like I learned something's about hosting. Its no big deal.... yet it is. I needed to be the me that I am that's funny offstage as much as Robin the funny onstage character. I am grateful that I did the Chicks and Giggles show earlier this week it really helped. So tomorrow night is the big one at NYCC. I hope I can do even better. It is always a learning experience...but I want to really do well all the same.
Comments are below
Good Luck!
Posted on 10/22/2005 at 04:35 AM by Adrienne
I will be at NYCC tomorrow night, can't wait to see you!
Congrats!
Posted on 10/22/2005 at 02:24 PM by Brad Cox
It's tough to break in. I know. I'm going through that now. Best of luck.
Its raining...
Posted on 10/22/2005 at 03:00 PM by Robin Fox
Thanks Adrienne and Brad.. So here we go again ... Im leaving 3 hours early because of the rain. The driving some nights is as big of a challenge as the show. My plan for tonight is to try to have a little fun. I really dont like hosting yet. I know I will like it more as I get better at it. And since it usually is the first rung to doing spots what choice do I really have. The hardest part is if Im having a bad day I can act my way through a well prepared 10 minute spot....but this is a 2 hour deal. Keep you posted.
Congratulations! From Linda San Lucas
Posted on 10/23/2005 at 07:33 PM by Linda San Lucas
Hey Robin: Congrats on the hosting gigs..I know you'll be great at it, I 've MC'd and its hard work! Hope you enjoyed it. Linda
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Why?
Of all the art forms one can pursue...I think standup comedy is probably one of the hardest of them all. If I spent years painting at least I might have a body of work that I could leave to my family. When I'm dead ...I'm thinking of willing off my jokes. Not that there so good mind you, but it is all I will have to show for the years of crawling through glass that this profession requires.
The other night a very up and coming on the fast track .....on the rise comic said to me. "When am I gonna start making some money at this." Now she has done a Premium Blend and performs at least 6 nights a week in the city. I can totally feel her frustration. She's funny as fuck....what the fuck. I will tell you this the money in her case will come. She's funny, young beautiful and is nice on and off stage. I am envious....6 nights a week. I would do it for free...to be that in demand. But no! I would get frustrated too....if I would ever get that much in demand I would think I should be earning some money. This is the lowest paying of almost all of the performing arts. When we do get a gig were thrilled to get $100. What is scale for a circus clown??? So the girl comic on the rise has a point. She's in her late 20's and wants this to be her profession. She also is most probably self supporting. I am in a totally different place. I have my house in NJ. The bills are getting paid. I am going on a vacation..... I have a good life to begin with. ........and the problem is???? I realize that the only reason to do this is that you love to do this. Is comedy like being in a one sided relationship....why do we love it???? What does it give back to me that I cant stop wanting to do it? I think part of it is that I like the attention? I like that it is something I can do well and not everyone can so I feel SPECIAL. I like getting out of the house. I like the community. I love the creativity and variety of it all....my jokes and yours.
Last night I did a show Called Chicks and Giggles. It is the second time I have done this show. It is all women.... It is so unlike the comedy you see in clubs. The comics don't do joke, joke, joke....Its more like conversion points and the funny follows. I was apprehensive because this is a young and kinda hipster room. Any one who knows me knows The only thing HIP about me....is my big hips. Stop and look at the Mommy Jeans. I have tried to be hip.......I bought the glasses. They made me look like a spinster not a hipster. So I decided to just blend in..... I have found from doing comedy that I have learned to blend in more. When you go to a club many times you have to adjust your set based on the room. You might have to change a joke because someone did a joke about the same premise...etc. Having done this show back last winter I new the vibe. It was the perfect place for me to be. Mostly because I have these two hosting gigs this weekend and I need to be more conversational than just relying on a set. Quite a few of the women had touched on Weight Watchers ... I have a joke I don't really like or use much in my set "SET" but last night I kinda acted like I was talking off the top of my head and dropped the best part of the joke into the conversation. The line got its biggest laugh since I wrote it over 2 years ago. I was really happy. If you haven't been to Chicks and Giggles you should its at MO Pinkins on Ave A....and 3rd St. The show is every Tuesday. If your a woman looking to get booked stop by one Tuesday and check it out. So I will leave you with this I still am not hip.....but for someone not trying to be hip....I can do 40ish I don't care if I'm hip so that makes me hip.......................in my sleep.
Comments are below
Thanks!
Posted on 10/21/2005 at 07:41 PM by Amy Patrick
Robin- thanks for this post. To say that comedy can be frustrating is an understatement. But, it's worth it. Thanks for the post.
Your most welcome...
Posted on 10/22/2005 at 01:38 AM by Robin Fox
Have we met? Try and get a photo up soon. I feel sometimes my posts are repetitve....but so is this bussiness
The other night a very up and coming on the fast track .....on the rise comic said to me. "When am I gonna start making some money at this." Now she has done a Premium Blend and performs at least 6 nights a week in the city. I can totally feel her frustration. She's funny as fuck....what the fuck. I will tell you this the money in her case will come. She's funny, young beautiful and is nice on and off stage. I am envious....6 nights a week. I would do it for free...to be that in demand. But no! I would get frustrated too....if I would ever get that much in demand I would think I should be earning some money. This is the lowest paying of almost all of the performing arts. When we do get a gig were thrilled to get $100. What is scale for a circus clown??? So the girl comic on the rise has a point. She's in her late 20's and wants this to be her profession. She also is most probably self supporting. I am in a totally different place. I have my house in NJ. The bills are getting paid. I am going on a vacation..... I have a good life to begin with. ........and the problem is???? I realize that the only reason to do this is that you love to do this. Is comedy like being in a one sided relationship....why do we love it???? What does it give back to me that I cant stop wanting to do it? I think part of it is that I like the attention? I like that it is something I can do well and not everyone can so I feel SPECIAL. I like getting out of the house. I like the community. I love the creativity and variety of it all....my jokes and yours.
Last night I did a show Called Chicks and Giggles. It is the second time I have done this show. It is all women.... It is so unlike the comedy you see in clubs. The comics don't do joke, joke, joke....Its more like conversion points and the funny follows. I was apprehensive because this is a young and kinda hipster room. Any one who knows me knows The only thing HIP about me....is my big hips. Stop and look at the Mommy Jeans. I have tried to be hip.......I bought the glasses. They made me look like a spinster not a hipster. So I decided to just blend in..... I have found from doing comedy that I have learned to blend in more. When you go to a club many times you have to adjust your set based on the room. You might have to change a joke because someone did a joke about the same premise...etc. Having done this show back last winter I new the vibe. It was the perfect place for me to be. Mostly because I have these two hosting gigs this weekend and I need to be more conversational than just relying on a set. Quite a few of the women had touched on Weight Watchers ... I have a joke I don't really like or use much in my set "SET" but last night I kinda acted like I was talking off the top of my head and dropped the best part of the joke into the conversation. The line got its biggest laugh since I wrote it over 2 years ago. I was really happy. If you haven't been to Chicks and Giggles you should its at MO Pinkins on Ave A....and 3rd St. The show is every Tuesday. If your a woman looking to get booked stop by one Tuesday and check it out. So I will leave you with this I still am not hip.....but for someone not trying to be hip....I can do 40ish I don't care if I'm hip so that makes me hip.......................in my sleep.
Comments are below
Thanks!
Posted on 10/21/2005 at 07:41 PM by Amy Patrick
Robin- thanks for this post. To say that comedy can be frustrating is an understatement. But, it's worth it. Thanks for the post.
Your most welcome...
Posted on 10/22/2005 at 01:38 AM by Robin Fox
Have we met? Try and get a photo up soon. I feel sometimes my posts are repetitve....but so is this bussiness
Monday, October 17, 2005
Hosting jitters.
I have been forcing myself to write... not to just jot down an idea when it pops in my head. I am still informal, I do most of my writing now while waiting for my kid to come out of a lesson or while I wait for parking at 6:30 PM so that I can park without a ticket at 7. I would have to say that I am shocked at how little I like. It is during these sessions that I become convinced that I have no right to be a comic. Then out of the blue one thing might look promising. I then think......now I got to go shop this thing at open mic's. I get depressed. Not that I expect to do the bit and get much feedback at an open mic. What does happen though at open mic's is the joke starts to take on a form and a I can feel out if I think it has potential. I don't know about others but every really good joke I have....I knew pretty early on if it was gold or not. Some jokes need time to develop and the open mic's are really the best place for them.
I was at the NYCC this past Sat night watching the show. I saw Marina Franklin do her set. What was really wonderful was that she really doesn't work joke joke joke. Her delivery her confidence and her persona on stage have as much to do it a bit works than the bit itself. She does bits where If I wrote it I might think there isn't enough here to make something out of it. She had a way of milking out the funny. So I am learning that I need to be more open to the things I write.....perhaps they might be funnier than I think.
Lastly I have been fortunate lately and have been getting booked to do Hosting. This Friday I will be hosting at the Soapbox show at RB's and Sat. I will be Hosting the 9pm show at NYCC. I think that hosting is the hardest thing I do. Mostly because I have been doing it for a very short time and the only way to learn to do it is to do it. If you have ever seen me perform I am not a crowd work comic.... Hey you give me 5 min's. of stage time in NYC I'm not wasting a second on talking to you. But now I have too. I also am not a one liner comic. So I have gone through every notebook every scrap of paper and trying to put together as many short jokes as I can use of mine for hosting. It feels like starting all over again. I am very nervous and I pray my PMS hold off one week so I can think clearly this weekend.
Comments are below
You will be great!
Posted on 10/17/2005 at 05:55 PM by Adrienne
You are a great comic and know where the funny is. Knock em dead!
Knock 'em Dead, Baby
Posted on 10/17/2005 at 07:24 PM by Adam Sank
You always do...
Posted on 10/18/2005 at 06:12 PM by Joe Fernandes
You expressed some of the same thoughts I get about comedy. Hosting is weird. As you have seen, I have been hosting steady for about 6 months now. Its an up and down thing. Some nights Im mortified up there because talking to the crowd is so diffrent on any given night. But wait until you see how it will influence your act. Because now, from hosting, you'll be engaging your audience in a new way, and giving the old jokes some new life. Thats what happened for me. People told me hosting would make me better. While taking my lumps I didnt see it happening, but now I see what they meant. Check out this link, it has a good article on Mcing that gave me some good stuff before I Mcd my first A-room. http://www.cringehumor.net/columns/020904_askjason.htm
I was at the NYCC this past Sat night watching the show. I saw Marina Franklin do her set. What was really wonderful was that she really doesn't work joke joke joke. Her delivery her confidence and her persona on stage have as much to do it a bit works than the bit itself. She does bits where If I wrote it I might think there isn't enough here to make something out of it. She had a way of milking out the funny. So I am learning that I need to be more open to the things I write.....perhaps they might be funnier than I think.
Lastly I have been fortunate lately and have been getting booked to do Hosting. This Friday I will be hosting at the Soapbox show at RB's and Sat. I will be Hosting the 9pm show at NYCC. I think that hosting is the hardest thing I do. Mostly because I have been doing it for a very short time and the only way to learn to do it is to do it. If you have ever seen me perform I am not a crowd work comic.... Hey you give me 5 min's. of stage time in NYC I'm not wasting a second on talking to you. But now I have too. I also am not a one liner comic. So I have gone through every notebook every scrap of paper and trying to put together as many short jokes as I can use of mine for hosting. It feels like starting all over again. I am very nervous and I pray my PMS hold off one week so I can think clearly this weekend.
Comments are below
You will be great!
Posted on 10/17/2005 at 05:55 PM by Adrienne
You are a great comic and know where the funny is. Knock em dead!
Knock 'em Dead, Baby
Posted on 10/17/2005 at 07:24 PM by Adam Sank
You always do...
Posted on 10/18/2005 at 06:12 PM by Joe Fernandes
You expressed some of the same thoughts I get about comedy. Hosting is weird. As you have seen, I have been hosting steady for about 6 months now. Its an up and down thing. Some nights Im mortified up there because talking to the crowd is so diffrent on any given night. But wait until you see how it will influence your act. Because now, from hosting, you'll be engaging your audience in a new way, and giving the old jokes some new life. Thats what happened for me. People told me hosting would make me better. While taking my lumps I didnt see it happening, but now I see what they meant. Check out this link, it has a good article on Mcing that gave me some good stuff before I Mcd my first A-room. http://www.cringehumor.net/columns/020904_askjason.htm
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
I hate change
Just when your used to things they change them. I like the site the other way. I like white writing on black backround. I like the hottest comic...."why is he there??" or equally...."why am I on there" I liked comics around the world..... I liked seeing where my friend were playing and finding out about new rooms. I liked the comics on comics.. I am sure the site might work better like this.... but I hate change even more.......... I dont even like pocket change. Edit.....hours later you cant comment on your own comments..............................I guess that is going to make for some interesting flame wars.
Comments are below
YEAH...
Posted on 10/11/2005 at 04:55 PM by H. P.
Hell no we won't GO! Hell no we won't GO!
"Hey buddy what you yelling about?"
"Dunno, but I do know this will get me laid with a comedienne"
Hell no we won't GO!
Peace
Am I the only one???
Posted on 10/12/2005 at 11:08 PM by Robin Fox
So what do you guys think????????
Frankly I agree
Posted on 10/13/2005 at 01:03 PM by April Brucker
I liked the old website just fine. There was nothing wrong with it. If it ain;t broke why fix it?
Comments are below
YEAH...
Posted on 10/11/2005 at 04:55 PM by H. P.
Hell no we won't GO! Hell no we won't GO!
"Hey buddy what you yelling about?"
"Dunno, but I do know this will get me laid with a comedienne"
Hell no we won't GO!
Peace
Am I the only one???
Posted on 10/12/2005 at 11:08 PM by Robin Fox
So what do you guys think????????
Frankly I agree
Posted on 10/13/2005 at 01:03 PM by April Brucker
I liked the old website just fine. There was nothing wrong with it. If it ain;t broke why fix it?
Saturday, October 8, 2005
I remember you.
Several years ago I signed up on Classmates.com I had no expectations and really wasn't sure if I even wanted to contact anyone from back then anyway. So I figured if they contact me good if not screw it. Nothing happened anyway and then about a year ago My Best friend from 8th thru 12 th grade contacted me. She lives now in Georgia and has a life except for comedy very much like mine. She has 2 kids a husband.....blah blah blah.
I was so happy to hear from her. We emailed and IM ed all the time and still keep in touch. We played hours of what happened to him what happened to her. Followed by lots of rounds of Do you remember him/her. and who was the guy/girl who did this and that. It was fun. Then 2 weeks ago a very good friend from 8th and 9th grade emailed me. She lives in North Carolina. She sent me an email with her picture and I can get over the fact that we truly are middle aged. She wore a shirt with butterfly's on it................... don't I do a routine about that?? But when I looked in her eyes and smile she's the same girl burned into my memory that is still 15.
Today I got an email from another classmate, Cheryl I don't recall if she said where she lives. I was thinking about her just the other day... Its strange to me. My entire life as a kid growing up I felt so rejected from just about everything. I never hung out with a cool crowd. I was what was known then as kind of a hood. Not a bad kid just one who could go wrong at any minute. I don't know how I stayed out of trouble. Ok I was overweight and thought I was repulsive so I avoided getting gang banged through low self esteem. So I find as I go through life that hindsight might not be 20/20. It seems that people remember a different person than I thought I was. They say I was fun. They say I was funny. They they have great memories of their time with me. Wow. This is an eye opener. I got to look into this not just for spiritual growth. I also think it might make for good material.
Comments are below
Hey
Posted on 10/08/2005 at 02:20 AM by Adrienne
Low self-esteem whats that like?
I was so happy to hear from her. We emailed and IM ed all the time and still keep in touch. We played hours of what happened to him what happened to her. Followed by lots of rounds of Do you remember him/her. and who was the guy/girl who did this and that. It was fun. Then 2 weeks ago a very good friend from 8th and 9th grade emailed me. She lives in North Carolina. She sent me an email with her picture and I can get over the fact that we truly are middle aged. She wore a shirt with butterfly's on it................... don't I do a routine about that?? But when I looked in her eyes and smile she's the same girl burned into my memory that is still 15.
Today I got an email from another classmate, Cheryl I don't recall if she said where she lives. I was thinking about her just the other day... Its strange to me. My entire life as a kid growing up I felt so rejected from just about everything. I never hung out with a cool crowd. I was what was known then as kind of a hood. Not a bad kid just one who could go wrong at any minute. I don't know how I stayed out of trouble. Ok I was overweight and thought I was repulsive so I avoided getting gang banged through low self esteem. So I find as I go through life that hindsight might not be 20/20. It seems that people remember a different person than I thought I was. They say I was fun. They say I was funny. They they have great memories of their time with me. Wow. This is an eye opener. I got to look into this not just for spiritual growth. I also think it might make for good material.
Comments are below
Hey
Posted on 10/08/2005 at 02:20 AM by Adrienne
Low self-esteem whats that like?
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