It’s a comedy bitch-fest!
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com
Why Do We Do This
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It’s a comedy bitch-fest!
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com
I had a decent show last night, and I had a bunch of the other comics tell me how much they liked my stuff, how clever it was, all that. Then, as I was standing outside reflecting on the show, thinking “I guess I really did ok…”, one of the other comics came up and said, “Well, at least you got that over with.”
Now I don’t even remember any of the compliments. Dick.
We did a fundraiser last night, and the show was absolutely terrible. A few of the bigger-name local guys came out to see it… kind of embarrassing. Now I’m racking my brain for something redemptive to try and do.
In your mind, you’re only as good as your last show.
Why do so many comics think there is some kind of nobility in getting up on stage and telling jokes?
If you are emotionally invested in your act… you are doing it wrong!
I just want to post an asterisk on the Larry Reeb bit played at the end of the show. I had a hard time finding a current clip, so I had to use this bit which came from a Rodney Dangerfield special in the early 80’s. Give the guy a little leeway on the hackey material. He has certainly grown past toilet seat humor.
Greg…really, or is this a troll? If it’s your honest opinion, I’d love to know why you think so. I would think if you don’t put at least a little bit of yourself out there when performing, you’re doing it wrong.
The talk about the comedy scene in a small town raised a question for me I’ve always been curious about: How big does a town have to be to support a comedy club? I’ve long bemoaned the fact that my town doesn’t have a place to go for live comedy, and have even toyed with the idea of opening a club myself, but I don’t know that the support is there for a full-time comedy venue. We’re definitely not a city, but not too tiny… maybe a little over 40,000 people in a college town.
about Dan’s comment on open-mic’er tours killing opportunities to do comedy at different venues. That’s true in a lot of cases, but you’re way off on the Beards of Comedy. I take issue with this, because I think if you’re gonna discredit a group of comics you should probably research them at least a little bit first. For starters, they’re not even dirty.
I’ve known the members of the group individually for many years. These aren’t open mic’ers high off the latest comedy club graduation class. They have been together as a group for about a year but all of them have been doing comedy individually much longer than that and Feature regularly. The group performs both at rock clubs, comedy clubs, and have been invited to perform at comedy festivals. They even recorded a professional comedy album last year produced by Rooftop Comedy. A lot of the venues they’ve performed at have had them back several times, which makes the “killing opportunities” accusation even more off base. If anything they’ve opened the doors for other comics to perform at venues that otherwise may not have hosted a comedy show.
You’ll have to ask them about the name of the tour, but if I had to guess, they’re making use of the oft-tried, seldom appreciated comedic device commonly known as “Satire”. If you’d checked out any of their comedy you would’ve noticed it has nothing to do with Beards, hence the irony. I think it says more about the strength of your comedy when you don’t have to market your tour with an explicit “angle” or “gimmick”. The Comedians of Comedy (another satirical name) weren’t composed of Black/Asian/Amputee/Circumcised comics, they were just a group of people that were really funny and original. What’s wrong with following that model?
I’m all for bashing asshole comics, but these guys have worked for what they’ve gotten and put out a quality product. It does no benefit to the state of comedy in general if we’re just gonna bash everyone trying to expand on the boundaries of the traditional comedy model.
I agree with Brian P. If your not invested in your act then you are doing it wrong.
I really enjoyed this show and gives me a glimps at what a comedy career looks like. I am starting mine and also started my own room to get some stage time. It has been a hit and now I am starting a second one.
Carlos: I haven’t listened to myself on this episode, so if I came off as bashing the “Beards” specifically, I stand corrected. I was just mentioning examples of “The [insert plural noun] of Comedy” I’ve seen recently. There’s nothing wrong with following the model, of course, so long as the comics can back up their marketing skills with a good show.
Well, looks like I fucked up. Just got a comment on Facebook from one of the actual “Beards.” I hate listening to myself almost as much as I hate watching my own shows on tape, so I’ll take their word for it that I lumped them in with what I said about open-mike guys slapping a moniker on themselves and doing half-assed shows. That wasn’t my intention, so I should have chosen my examples with more care. Apologies to all the Beards! And anyone with a beard. Or even a mustache.
No word from anyone in the cheeseburger camp?
Greg, I’m not sure about “nobility” but I am very emotionally invested in my act. It took a lot of time and work to get the few jokes I have that are actually ‘good’ and I do, very much invest who I am into each and every set. I mean I’m certainly not doing it for the money.
You know, if more folks think like you do, Greg, that may explain why there are so many terrible folks calling them comedians in my neck of the woods.
God I hope Greg isn’t a troll – this could be fun.
Dave, you pose an interesting question. I don’t know there’s any hard fast numbers. Take Mason City Limits in Mason City, IL as an example. Chris Spreyer runs a club there (Friday, Saturday comedy shows, once per month open mic and open jam sessions for musicians). The numbers on Mason City will blow you away: 2,558 people, 1,041 households and 681 families residing in the city. And yet, he packs that place every weekend. Sells out a ton of shows. Then you compare that to the Funny Bone in Springfield which is about an hour away (pop 116,482 with 200,000 in the “statistical area”) and when I was living there a few years ago, they struggled to fill their room 3/4 of the way full for most shows.
Just a couple cents from here. It’s nice to be back.
Amelia: I’ve worked MCL a couple times, the last time was Halloween weekend (have we met?), and Chris and John are doing a great job with the club and restaurant, especially given the location. The fact that it still exists three years on is amazing. But they do have light weekends. Halloween was one. That’s the risk of trying to do a dedicated room with three shows a week in a town that small.
However, it’s not difficult to do regular pro comedy shows wherever you are without buying a building. I’ve been doing them here in my hamlet of about 20,000 pop. for a few years – one every two to three months – and all but one have been successful.
I posted some do’s and don’ts about this over a year ago, but I don’t remember if it was here or at my site or somewhere else. If anyone’s interested, hit me up at dan@dantessitore.com, and I’ll see if I can find that.
Hey Dan, we’ve not met yet, but I think we know some mutual folks. If you ever get up to Chicagoland on a Tuesday, I run a quaint little room in Oswego.
I over-generalized MCL’s crowds. I should have said that the times I’ve been there, and most of the folks that I know have been there, the crowds have been really good – and all that in a city of 2k people is kinda nuts. I guess it goes both ways – you have a really dedicated fan base or people get fatigued…
Hey guys!
Just got done interviewing the guest for the next Iowa Comedy Festival podcast.
I sit down with author of “The Comedy Bible” Judy Carter to talk about certain aspects of the book, how stand-up comics can parlay their acts into a more lucrative career in public speaking/one-person shows, and what she’s been up to lately.
The podcast will be available on the festival’s website on March 29th, and you can listen to the two previous podcasts at http://www.iacomedyfest.podbean.com if you haven’t heard them yet!
Thanks! Loved this week’s episode, B-Mo.