Goin Strong

Since Saturday I've had a very interesting comedy schedule. Here's a little diary of it all. Warning: I will name drop a bunch of comics.

On Saturday
I meet fellow comic Jen Dziura to talk about comedy over food at a place in the East Village called Dojo. We seem to hit it off pretty well and talked about many different thing indeed. I convince her to go to a 12:30am show at Gotham Comedy Club where we end up seeing Lenny Marcus, Robin Montague, Russ Meneve and Dwayne Perkins. Great show. The crowd was huge. It was 12:30am on a saturday and the place was packed. I was surprised that the staff at Gotham recognized me and knew my name. My ego rested at proper size.

Sunday
Went to the Pro Shop at Sin Sin. I got there late so I missed the great talent of Mizzes Rachel Feinstein and Karith Foster. Eric Kirchberger was on stage when I walked in and the audience was loving him. I noticed that Ms. Dziura was there in the audience with her boyfriend. I had mentioned the show to her and quite pleased that she has come. I sat with the comics and watched them go over there notes. Well only Ophira was. Dan Newbower sat patiently waiting to close the show and Blaine Perry waited at the bar for he was next. The show ended with a Lukewarm response to Mr. Newbower's set which was surprising to me because the first time I saw him I howled. I was happy he was there because I had been wanting to give him more stage time. The audience got strangely sensitive toward the end of the night and took it out on Dan. Fuck 'em I say. Afterwards, I chatted outside with Jen, Ophira, Dan and Elon until the luscious Rachel Kramer Bussel came over with some cupcakes. I ended up walking Rachel to the L train and riding out to Williamsburg with her (I was meeting a friend). The surprise of the night was James Smith an Australian comic on his way to Montreal for the festival. He was brilliant.

Monday
Ripple Bar. Ripple has become a difficult crowd. They still like me though. Maybe because they liked me before they were jaded. The regulars seem to think the show is about hating the comics now and they intimidate the new audience member's from reacting. Mr. Larry Bailey was strong as usual. Ray Rivera was first. Lukewarm response. Then my friend Josh Grosvent. He did not have his guitar which he usually uses and did straight stand up. That's when the hatred really started. Needless to say he was a little shaked afterwards. Then a gentle named Remy got up and played with the crowd a bit which they loved but then he started his material and they stared at him. That's when I realized that audience had become arrogant and expected the show to be about them the entire time. The wanted continous crowd work and nothing else. Elon went up and did crowd work and some material. He did quite well. Then Roger Hailes closed out the show. He committed to his ideas and premises and the crowd eventually came with him. I took the train back with Mike Cotayo, Josh and my friend Chanelle and we talked about what the deal is with that room now. I said the room used to be great, but now that its commonplace, people take it for granted. It was confusing for us because it was like a couple fighting. The audience wanted something else and we wanted it to be like the good ol days. Indeed. The only real laughs I got were at the end when I thanked the audience at the end for "making this a Stand Up tragedy Show. I know a lot of you were waiting for my to poke out my eyes. Fuck you." They laughed. I still regard it as a bomb.

Tuesday
Jen Dziura calls me saying she has tickets for the Daily Show and do I want to go. FUCK YEAH! Wem meet up at 3:30ish and wait in line for 2 and a half hours (This is after Jen had already been on a waiting list for 6 months). They open the doors and herd us into a small holding room. Quite claustrophobic indeed. On the way in, I notice Todd Levin and salute him. He salutes back. After a 20 minutes wait in the holding room, we are let into the studio. To watch the show. Drew Fraser warm up the audience. He is the warm up man. Every TV comedy taping I've been to, he is the warm up man. When I went to see Premium Blend and the HBO tapings, he was there. he introduces Mr. Jon Stewart who take and Q&A session and riffs with the audience for a bit. Jon Stewart simply is fucking hilarious. the show begins. Quite a surreal post modern experience. Even though we are actually i nthe studio with the real Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert not far from us, most people end up watching the TV monitors hanging from the ceiling that show was is going to be broadcast. It was realer to us to watch the TV even though were were at the real event. Also, there were no bad seats. Everyone had a clear view on Jon and the TV's were far away enough that he looked the same in person and on the box. Interesting indeed. Tv was realer than the real. Only in 2005.
I ruch to Williamburg afterwards for my show. Feeling good about some material i had written that day we start the show. I get a few laughs but nothing special. I regard it as a bomb. However, Dante Nero, Karith Foster, Benari Poulten, Susan Prekel and Roger Hailes destroyed. I think it was our 2nd best show there. The audience could not get enough of Susan Prekel. They would have followed her into the bowels of Hades after her set. HADES!

Wednesday
The Cobble Hill show. It was intense. The crowd responded well to most of the comics. Particularly, Dan Allen and James Smith who I thought would have not been well received by an all black crowd. The previous show could be considered the "Chitlin Circuit." So the space was actually double booked with our comic and theirs. I went on last and completely tanked. I went over like the Hindenburg full of anvils and the Weight Watcher's initiation clogging party during a hurricane in the alps. The only other comic who suffered the same fate was Michelle Buteau who was unlucky enough to follow Roz G who ripped that audience a new one. I bombed. Benari showed up at the end of the show and we walked outside because I didn't want to have to face the audience. Dan Allen and I drove back to Queens and talked over a late night Diner Dinner.

SO I bombed/tanked/died three nights in a row. Lovely.

I hope the government doesn't google the word bomb and end up at my door to ask questions. Still, it would feel better than last night.