Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Comedy Well Done...

So the big night has come and gone. It was the Premier of the pilot of "Falling in Love with Mike Bocchetti" and comedy show. It was held in an "A" room of one of the best clubs in the city Comix. I was very lucky to be asked to be part of this short film.  Then to be able to perform stand up the same night was a big bonus.

I had never been involved in anything like this before and it was all very exciting for me.  The project was starring  the wonderful funny man Mike Bocchetti  It was written and directed by Jay Nog.  I didn't know when filming this thing that several other comedy friends were in this project including the very funny Emily Epstein and   Laura Nickiforchuck.   I have known Emily since the first open mics that we did every week and week out at the Morrison Motel.  I miss those days of seeing her all the time.    This entire experience was so rewarding in ways that I never expected.  

Jay had asked me to audition for this project.  I was thrilled to be asked.  Unfortunately the day of the audition I had car problems and didn't want to risk going into the city.   Much to my surprise  Jay a few weeks later gave me the part without an audition.   Okay so I'm old , I'm a Mom,  I'm a Jew  so I was type cast  ..... what ever!!!   I'm in!!!

It was a really hectic day of Filming .We started early in the morning and I had to leave filming early to be at a show in Philly that night.   I  sometimes cant believe all that I do in a single day....  And being a mom is hectic but nothing like being a mom and a comedian  too.  I found while filming that my improv skills helped tremendously with acting and  my comedic ability  to think on my feet made it fun and easy.

We had a great time doing this project.  Jay was patient and so nice to work with.  Mike is maybe one of the sweetest men in comedy.   

Jay told us that he had made plans to premiere the film at Comix and that we would all get to perform.  He was planning on inviting some major industry to the show.   I was busy gathering some family and friends to come out to see this.   In my head.... It was to be one of those Entertainment Tonight   moments.   I saw light bulbs flashing for some strange reason and a red carpet. Not... but still fabulous!   Carl had a business trip to attend and wanted me to go with him.  Of course.... it coincided with 4 big  shows  I had to do.  This one at Comix and another at Gotham next week and  another at the former Laugh Factory. I also had a weekend booked in Cherry Hill featuring.   How can I go to California?  Yes to see my brother but he was in treatment in Las Vegas.  So I had to pass.  This is the biggest 11 days in my comedy lifetime!   

Carl took my daughter instead with him on this business trip / vacation.  Just a few days before he was set to go.... I got an email cancelling the Gotham show.   The charity producing the show hadn't mentioned the show in their most recent newsletter and having an audience looked to be a problem.  I more than understood having produced shows myself.  So scratch that one off the list.   Then another email came about the Laugh Factory/ Times Sq Art center. show... the show had to be put off due at least for a month or so for reasons I cant go into on here. We plan God laughs.  

The comedy screening show at Comix was a blast.  I love this club.  It is one of the nicest in the city .  It was the first club I passed at in NYC and I love to perform here.  It is on 14th street just east of 9th.  The neighborhood is one of the coolest places in the city now.  Not so true 25 years ago when I went to the Old Homestead for dinner with my soon to be in laws for the first time.   It is the former meat packing district.  Back then It was a good neighbor hood to get shot in.   Seedy to the 10th degree the Bowery in many way felt nicer and safer.  Now both places I couldn't afford to pay for monthly parking no less live there.

I will never forget that meal for as long as I live.  My father in law ordered prime rib well done.  When they brought it to him it was rare and he couldn't eat it.  The waiters were the most surly old school NYC nasty white lab coat wearing bastards you could ever meet outside of a busy deli.  The waiter looked at the slab of black and blue meat and held his arm straight out  it to his side  then tilted his hand and through it into the trash.  Not only throwing out the meat but the vegetables and potatoes .    Moments later he came out with another beautiful prime rib.   It was a perfect  medium with a light pink center.  My father in law wouldn't eat anything pink.   He called the waiter over and asked if they could put it in the oven for just a few moments longer and it would be just like he would like it.  Sure enough.... the waiter grabs his plate.... holds it out to the side and tosses the meat in the trash.  The third time the meat came out well done and the perfect shade of cardboard gray and everyone was happy.  More and more that NY is not longer around.  Its a good thing except for now finding parking is a problem....

The show started on time despite an unfortunate problem with the clubs ability to play the DVD of the film.   The sound system and the DVD weren't compatible.   They tried and tried but unfortunately they were not able to show the project.   Jay opened the show and did a strong 15.  I really don't know how he was able to stay composed and pull it off with all the aggravation that had gone on right before the show.   I went on next.   I wanted to perform my set a few nights before but I wasn't booked anywhere so this was my first time up since the weekend.
I had been in Cherry Hill the weekend before and had a great 2 shows where I featured 2 nights in a row doing 30- 35 minute sets.    Doing a feature set verses a showcase set.... I will take the feature set hands down every time.  It is so much easier to do a great 30  as opposed to a killer 10.   Truth be told to make it in this industry, it is key to have a killer 5 clean.   I'm at this more than 5 years and I'm not happy with my clean 5.  My naughty not dirty 5 is good and has gotten me where I am but if I want bigger and better things  I need to work on stronger and more unique 5. 

I had a very good set and opened up the room, this has been my forte in showcase shows lately.   I wasn't able to hang out after the show since I had  2 shows up at Ha!.  So I thanked Jay and the other comics and drove uptown.

Many of the newer comics help out at the Ha! by working the door.  I really never had to do this on a frequent basis.  I was moved to hosting shortly after starting at the club and only did it when they were in a jam.   I got to the club an hour early and there was no one to work the door.  The new guy  who normally would be doing it was hosting for the first time that night.   So when management asked me if I would mind doing the door for an hour....  I figured it was a nice night outside.  Sure.
I had shown up to the club an hour early  and here it is 10:30 and I'm working the door when I could have been downtown at Comix hanging out .   I was so afraid I would be late I jumped the gun and left.   A few short hours ago I feel like a star and now I'm standing outside a club pointing people down the stairs.  You got to love this business  the highs and lows come faster than a roller coaster.

I did the 11:30 show ,the great thing about my home club is I'm totally relaxed onstage.  I did the same set I did downtown and it was as Yogi Berra would say.  Dejah vu all over again.  I was to host the 12:30 but it got cancelled.   I  took my time leaving the club chatting with a few of the other comedians.  When I headed outside I walked 2 blocks down to 48th Street my car was 2 avenues away on 9th.   Just then the sky opened and it started raining .   I darted from building to building from over hang to over hang from  scaffold to hugging the building like a bug on a fridge.... I jumped puddles in my high heal sandals which were soaked by now and finally waited under the over hang of Starbucks for it to slow down.  20 minutes later it was still going strong and showed no sign of letting up.  I was tiered  and I decided to just get soaked.   I ran down the block fuddled for my keys and jumped in the car.  

It was one thirty.    I headed to the Lincoln tunnel where I waited to get into the tube for almost a half hour.    Then once in the tunnel traffic stopped completely.  I sat not moving at all for about 20 minutes.    Without traffic at this time of night takes me 45 -50 minutes to get home.  Once out of the tunnel they are redirecting traffic off the helix and through the Hoboken exit.  I decide to turn on my GPS and go home via Hoboken and get on the Turnpike down by the  Holland tunnel.  Big mistake.   My GPS lost its signal due to the heavy rain and I spent another 20 minutes lost in Hoboken.  This is quite a feet considering the entire town is less then 5 square miles.  Eventually  I found my way to the turnpike and at this point the rain was coming down in sheets.  If you know me you know that I have a huge fear of driving in the rain, since a mishap I had in my car last October where I lost control of the car in the rain and  jumped the median did a 180 and wound up from the express lane into the local facing oncoming traffic.  I wanted to pull over but I wanted to get home and go to bed too. Cars were parking under the overpasses for going driving till it let up.  I chose instead to drive the remaining 35 miles in the slow lane driving home at 30 miles an hour.   When I got home it was after 4 am.   I had left my home that afternoon at 6pm.  

What did  I learn from all of this?   Parking sucks everywhere in NYC.   (but I knew that)  I still have stage fright on shows that I perceive as special.  I am further than I dreamed I would be at this time in comedy and at the same time....   I'm still not to big to work a door. ...and be a team player.   I learned to listen to the weather reports and carry an umbrella.  To always pee before leaving the club.... you don't know how long it will take to get home.  GPS is great but not in the rain sometimes.  And lastly.... that this is all so real and all so unbelievable to me.  Everyday its like walking on the moon.  Who knew this would be my life.    Was the night a bad one.  Far from it.   It  was a great night.   Some how if I have a great show..... all the other things just don't seem to bother me.   They just come with the meal.

This week I will be at Ha! on Tuesday  June 10th and Sat. June 14th.  I am performing for the Gay Boys at the Ice Palace on Thursday night...   the rest of my calendar can be found on my website....................   www.robinfoxcomedy.com



Sunday, June 1, 2008

Five minutes at a time...

I have to say that taking off 2 weeks and cutting back is something I have been saying I should do for sometime. It took running myself down to a nub and getting sick to make me take the time not only to make my body feel better but give my mind and soul a much needed break. As most newer comics we are drummed into our heads that the way to become working comics is simple, stage time, stage time and more stage time.

I started in comedy in my early 40s and that was the only early thing about it. People tell me all the time....well Rosanne started late.... wrong, she started in her early 30s. They say the same about Phylis Diller and Joan Rivers I started after both of them. Factor into that I heard it takes 7 years to become a working comic at a minimum and that was only if you were funny and had some talent. Seven Years that's too long I told myself. I decided that if I worked really hard I could maybe shave off a year or two. Whats the point in working so hard if your too old for anyone to want to book you. So if stage time is road to becoming a comedian then I will have to speed to get there. If most people would do 3 open mics a week I would do 3 a night 3 or 4 nights a week.... from 50 miles outside of NYC no less. Eventually I couldn't stand the open mics anymore. I wanted real stage time! So that was the beginning of the barking and bringing and interning phase. I was lucky with all the work if I got 3 sets in a week. I so wanted to get into booked shows and get in front of real audiences. I used to complain.... How can you get good at something or learn anything 5 minutes at a time???

Well you can. I'm living Proff. In the end a good showcase set has been more helpful in getting me work than some of the great sets I can do that are 30 mins long. I am lucky that I have the balance of working in the city and doing 6 to 10 minute sets and on the weekends featuring at clubs. This became very obvious to me this week. A club I perform at had a showcase of top headliners. These comics play the road but the best road show. Foxwoods, Vegas, the Borgatta etc. Each and everyone of these comedians a amazingly talented and successful. There were 11 of them. Most of them didn't do well it was a packed house of mostly older middle aged people. Most of the comics were 40 or older men. It was the perfect audience married middle to upper middle class couples and married people. Yet comic after comic tanked. Some took it on the chin others made quips at the person who asked them to do the gig. One comic blamed a friend for being there who he said was a jinx because every time hes at a show he bombs.

The MC started the show by saying we got 11 comics to put on so lets start the show. So the first comic had to open to a non warmed up room. The only non headliner was my friend Chris this was to be his challenge. He went up and since he was starting a cold room he truly struggled in his first 5 minutes some jokes hit some didn't. People were ordering food and getting their drinks. He took the bullet.... then about half way through he did a joke that hit hard and got them back. He had a solid set from then on. He got off stage and he walked over to the table in the rear of the club were I was. I looked defeated. I told him that for the first comic of the night he should be very proud of himself. He had to do the job the MC is suppose to do and he had nothing to be ashamed of. In hindsight he might have wanted to do some crowd work first I don't know if he has those skills yet I think he most likely does, he hosts all the time.

The big shots went up and folded one after the other. There were a few exceptions JJ Ramerez had a solid set. He works the clubs in NYC and is used to doing 10 minutes and he did crowd work and he had a great set. Some of the comics bailed on their sets. If after 4 minutes they saw the audience wasn't loving them they had enough. I was there just to watch that night. I sat there thinking I hope a woman is going up there. I knew If I could get up I would have a great set. They were my target audience.... middle aged with kids. A woman comic name Kira S went up about number 6 she not only opened the room wide open she destroyed. She is an LA comic and although she headlines all over the US when in LA she performs showcase sets. Its 7 minutes in LA most nights she told me. She did 10 and it was non stop KILL. The next comic a magician jumped the stage after minutes. Al Lubel went up and had a fantastic set.... they loved him. Then the show closed out with two comics performing at the same time. One would do a rant and the other would follow with his jokes on the same topic. It was good but I have seen one of the two comics do a headliner set at a major club in the city and he was a fraction as funny as I know him to be.

Headliners have the luxury of the long set. They can establish a rapport and take there time grabbing an audience. They also have the advantage that the audience many times is there to see them and that is why they came. Seven or so of the 11 headliners tanked.... having to limit a set to 8 to 10 mins.

For now a good showcase set is very important to me. I have been asked to do some major auditions in the past two years and a showcase set isn't just a best of..... its a set that lets an audience get a true sense of your comedic style and point of view. I think that it should have killer opening joke that establishes who you are some kind of arc and a strong and memorable closer. Anytime I have been passed at a club it wasn't because I just did a killer 30. No they gave me a guest spot and I had to kill in under 6 minutes. Contests are the same way except you need several of these short and strong sets. Al Lubel had a great set .... when he appears on TV they give him 6 to 8 minutes.... he has perfected his short set and that's why I think he did so well.

When I was fortunate finally got passed at a club in the city ( I did a tight 5) I was now able to do more sets in a night and in a week than I ever before. I was like a person who had been starving and then was now at an all you can eat buffet. I gorged myself with stage time. I was doing as many weeks 20 or more sets. I often worked 6 nights a week. I was working from early in the evening to the wee hours of the morning. This is my fast track . This is my gym. I figured I'd work and write and work and work. I have to say it really has made me a stronger comic. It also was insane. I forget I'm only flesh and blood and too much of anything is never good. It took me becoming so run down to see this. I knew it in my head long before I got sick. I often blogged about it. I knew it and yet I didn't slow down..... I was addicted to it. Cutting down seemed in someways like giving up the race. Like most things if you do too much you get diminishing returns. I should have learned this long ago from being a full time mommy and never getting much down time. Live and learn ....sometimes the hard way. I'm stupid that way.


So tonight I had a feature spot in South NJ. It was at a club and was 75 miles away. I was booked to do 30 minutes. I planned on getting there and using the 45 minutes before the show to center myself and prepare. My brother called from California and I took his call. I know my material I will be fine I told myself. It was an upsetting call but I was able to lock it up and go up and have a really great show. I would say it was a kill I wish I taped it. It was a fundraiser for breast cancer and I had a party up there. I absolutely felt more comfortable on stage than I have in ages. After the show people came up to me and were very nice. I even got a few new myspace friends out of the night. A few people said that I came off so relaxed so at ease someone else used the words confidently funny. Wow that was a great feeling.

I am so glad I took a break. Its a day later now and I just got back from the same club. I was asked to do 25 instead of the 35 the night before. I decided to cut my Costo bit. Unfortunately the entire lead in to the joke is a call back to my closer. I had a horrible headache and it was subsiding as I took the stage. The club was half filled and the audience was sitting away from the stage. I found it hard to connect at first. I cant say I did as well as the night before but it was a solid set. I never got in the zone and for some reason I was having trouble following the set list in my mind. I zigged away from the set I was doing to do something spontaneous an then found myself further ahead in my set. I mentioned my sons name on one joke that I do later in the set and his name is the punchline in a later joke. I had to invent a 3rd child. I wasn't focused. Its strange because the night before the pressure of a big room and a long drive getting there and my brother calling me didn't effect me at all. I'm grateful that my material is tried an true and was able to make up for any control I might have lost and pull off a solid set. I did get thrown early on by a killer joke landing soft. WTF.
The night before an applause break tonight just average laughs. I am addicted to killing and often anything less feels like a let down. I like that feeling of leaving the stage and feeling .... and that's hows its done! Tonight I left the stage feeling I'm glad this is done. So the journey continues.

This week I will be performing at Comix on Tuesday night. The show starts at 8pm. It will be the premiere of the pilot I did for Howard Stern TV called Falling in Love with Mike Bochetti. It is going to be an amazing night. Jay Nog wrote and directed the show . After the viewing of the show we will performing stand up... The Comedians performing will be Mike Boshetti , Jay Nog , Emily Epstien ,Laura Nickforchuk and myself. It was so much fun filming this pilot and cant wait to see the final cut. I will be doing my showcase set at one of my favorite clubs in the city. Sunday and Monday nights I will be working honing the set to get it just right and hope to do as many shows as I can to get this one just right.

check out my website at www.robinfoxcomedy.com