Just a thought for you. Dressing nicely is not just about what you look like to others, or looking good or better than the audience. Dressing for a performance is about making a statement to your audience.

Dressing in clean and well put together clothing tells your audience that you value them enough to actually care that they don’t have to close their eyes not to be grossed out.

If I see a comic on stage looking like a bum, it’s like that comic constantly screaming fuck you at me. Not very pleasant!

And that’s incidentally also why it works great on the ladies. Dressing nicely when going out with them is like you are constantly saying “I care about you” to them. So you can be a complete asshole and be forgiven if only you dress to impress. On the other hand if you go out with a woman and look like something the cat dragged in it’s like constantly saying “you are so not worth it”. Guess what: you don’t get away with half the shit you could get away with.

So much for the sartorial rant. Keep making my week!

Thanks, Phil

Just a thought B-Mo, but have you though of merchandising an official BTB Hawaiian shirt ?

Maybe with a brick wall pattern, and depicting 2 dragons breathing flames into microphones on each side?

I know I’d buy one…

Just looking for people’s opinion on an issue. I’m a college student, and I just started a stand-up comedy group on-campus. Unfortunately, there are no comedy clubs for that are less than an hour away, so we’ve been performing at open mics at this bar after Americana Blues acts.

I know, I know any stage time is good stage time, but this crowd is just a bunch of drunks who don’t even seem to be listening to what we have to say. And the owner is more concerned with the blues band than developing young comedians and shutting the crowd up for us.

I’m debating whether we should go back there, because I know bombing is normal for starting comedians, but not when the audience isn’t giving you a chance to begin with. My question is: Is it completely true that any stage time is good stage time?

Darnell: Its true that stage time is important but working for audiances that are continously distracting could do more harm than good. dont get me wrong, its great training for hecklers. But you cant really guage how good your material is with an unresponsive audiance. You started by saying you have an on campus group, you might want to consider trying to get the school to give you some space, maybe even allowing you to use the auditorium or theater one night per week. well theres my two cents.

Darnell: Following music is tough. See if you can’t do the opening slots when people might be less drunk and willing to pay more attention.

For me what I wear is about getting myself in a frame of mind. I suppose I dress smart casual – smart jeans, jacket, no tie. A couple of times I’ve went up without a jacket but I dunno, somehow, I felt, unprepared. When I put even just a little effort into it, it feels much better. I also like to think the jacket smooths them for the absolute filth about to spew.

Oh, and because I’m too lazy to check if you mentioned this on the show. Did anyone else catch the PBS documentary about comedy? it was like a six part series. I got the dvd, and i’m gonna watch it when I get the time. it looks really interesting, because I don’t really know my history of comedy and am interested in it.

Not to flog this topic to death, but I agree that too many comics seem to go out of their way to dress like bums, like they’re too cool for the room. Kinison could pull off the trench coat because of his act. Rick Shapiro can pull off the junkie male prostitute look because he was a junkie and a male prostitute. But most guys who try that shit just look like douche-bags.

Anyway, B-MO, here’s a topic you’ve probably already done: A comic buddy of mine told me recently that in order to move up the comedy food chain, at some point you simply have to put the cart before the horse and say you’re a feature (or headliner) even if you haven’t actually done it yet. Then you have to be prepared to turn down offers to work lower spots. Waddya think?

Must.verbally.bitch.slap.guy.in.the.front.row.wearing.bowling. shirt. with. dragons.again…

“Nice shirt, Goodwill having a sale??

— Dennis the riffmaster

Must.verbally.bitch.slap.guy.in.the.front.row.wearing.bowling. shirt. with. dragons.again…
“Oh look at you, thinking you’re so clever, did you ever ask yourself how many dragons had to die for that fashion statement? No wonder Puff has a smoking habit, you drove him to it, by ruthlessly murderin his family. ‘oh’, you might say ‘oh, it wasn’t me who killed them, I just bought it. At target, or bestg buy.’ Well, you supported the sale and exploitation of these rare and noble creatures by buying it. Didn’t you? Didn’t you?! Fuck you man, I want my kids to grow up in a world with dragons. And Unicorns, and like, dwarves that aren’t just pissed off short people, romping around in their custom made business suits, trying to live a normal life, but magical mining guys who septuple team princesses. And you shit on that future with your greedy lust for dragon made bowling shirts. Bowling isn’t even a real sport! You realise this right? It’s a hobby at best Jesus. You probably drive an S.U.V too, don’t you? Don’t you?! You know what, I can’t do this set with this jack faced scrote hole in the room. Security! Seriously, he’s out of here or i don’t perform the rest of this set. Do you understand me? Dylan? Dylan do you understand me.”

-Sando the…it needs work guy.

Brian will have better input on this, but most folks I know move up 2 ways:

1. They said they could feature even though they hadn’t and refused to open.

2. They were on hand for some manner of emergency screw-up.

I started featuring on Tribble gigs which really don’t count. It’s pretty much as low as road comedy goes, but I was still scared to start featuring. Just say you’re ready. The pace of a feature set is much easier than opening. Material that I’ve opened with to sort of an “eh” reaction has killed when I featured, probably because they were primed and I was able to relax.

Dan and Patrick,

Thanks for the advice. We went back this week and the crowd was a divided. Half of the crowd was there for the comedy open mic and the other half were at the bar (loud as usual) and eventually left.

We’re trying to work out some spots in our school, but until then I hope the bar spot gets better. It looks like we’re getting more college students to show up for the open mic every week. I hope we pack the place with college students eventually and drive out the disrespectful jerks.

Sadly, our hometown open mic here in Des Moines closed down this past week. Due to a smoking ban here in Des Moines and the rough economy, Billy Joe’s Pitcher Show had to close its doors. I recorded the show, and here is my last-ever set there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M4y-aum8nA

We do have a new home now. I am going to be co-hosting Comedy on Court in Downtown DSM with my friend Jerad Cherniss. It will be a fun-ass show! Tell me what you think of the clip.

It was popular.

the most important thing to do Dennis, is find out more about this Ice House. Is it a real house made out of ice? Does it store ice? What’s the deal with air plane food? If you can’t dazzle them with the sheer brilliance of your crews comedic onslaughts, why not bring in some form of gimmick? That way the show will have a hook for people to remember it by, and then, even if you’re fair to middling, later on people will be all… remember that show with the roulette wheel that would pelt the audience with ice if it landed on a black in the third doezen? That was novel. Silly audience, novels are for reading.

Well, you get the idea.

Also, taking the best of the openmicateers and doing a couple of hang out/chill rehearsal times could be really helpful. I know comics are all “I practice by myself in my room, alone, to calm down.” But, any performance discipline can use a bit o’ dramaturgy, even if it’s peer driven.

Okay, roulette wheel and gimmicks in general are often awful ideas. Sometimes it can be fun to do a night where everyone has to have written a bit on something.

But seriously, working through your act with an audience who can actually critique it is really useful. It’s a pretty trusted idea in almost every other form of performance practice.