Category: Comedy

This was a bringer show with a good sized audience. If you’ve been following my videos, you’ll recognize a lot of the jokes, but notice how much better a real audience reacts compared to a room full of comics. This is why I’m trying to move away from open mics as soon as possible.

My comments:

First 27 seconds Again, my computer is too slow to edit videos, the quicker I get paid on a consistent basis, the quicker I’ll buy a new computer and edit videos for your viewing pleasure. I really like the introduction of “he’s adorable… and then he opens his mouth” because the audience is already laughing.

0m42s You can’t see it too well from the video angle, but I opened my mouth wide and pivoted my head. I should do this slower and make sure to rotate from all the way to the right of the room to all the way to the left of the room while my mouth is still open, then say “I’m still adorable”.

0m56s I gave the audience a look like “what you don’t think so?” which got extra laughs, I need to make sure to always do this

1m15s I think I can just say “happy new year” and go into the joke, no need to talk about the hangover.

2m12s Watching this video for the third time, I just realized how hysterical it is that I went from being sorry about my girlfriend to asking about dogs…

2m28s I should say “you send your dog to a spa” not “you send them to a spa” because I just referred to kids as well.

2m48s Keep my head up and looking into the audience when I go down to talk to the dog. I looked up halfway into the line, but should do it the whole way.

3m52s Finish the “sweater loving bastard” line but say it in a more low key way, like I’m resigned about the person.

4m12s This joke can be tightened by getting rid of all the extra and simply saying “I got into stand up because I’m an ego maniac who can’t share the spotlight. It was either this or tennis… and I can’t play tennis drunk.”

5m26s More emphasis on “three times”

5m31s Put up one finger for “only works once”

Overall: I think I had a great first 3.5 minutes. I’m not sure what I did wrong with the “recognizing faces” joke, as that bombed completely. I really like that joke (because it’s based on A LOT of truth) but need to rewrite it so the audience can identify with my problem better. I can’t tell if my eyes were looking up the whole time, but I did stop swaying.

Due to the regular host being sick, I got the chance to host an open mic. This was my second hosting experience and I had a lot of fun. I only videotaped my introduction, but I tried to make jokes based off of each comic’s set, and I think it went pretty well. My favorite part was after someone complained I was giving very generic introductions like “he’s really funny”, etc, I started coming up with over-the-top fake introductions for the remaining comics. I think everyone enjoyed it. I also got the feeling that at an open mic, comics laugh more at your jokes when you’re hosting the mic.

My comments:

0m50s Stumbled on words a little.

0m55s More emphasis on “not being coy.”

2m24s Make sure to say “dot com” after “Big Ben Comedy.”

2m44s Make sure to say “dot com” after “Big Fraud”.

2m50s Try “by Bernie Madoff” instead of “by a Jewish securities lawyer.”

3m03s Use a girlier voice for “Let’s go over my place, but we’re not gonna have sex.”

3m40s No need to say “I’m gonna write about this” just go straight to “I’m gonna do stand up about this.”

5m30s Sorry that I attached a bunch of non-joke stuff at the end, I need a better computer to do proper video editing… so if you only wanna watch the jokes, tell your friends about my site and even better, come see a show.

Overall: Good job getting the audience clapping in the beginning and interacting with them. I still need to work on my side to side “swaying” (although I always stop for the punchline) and looking up at all times.

Here is my set from an open mic on January 14th. As always, your feedback is welcome.

My comments:

0m15s Stare into the crowd longer to let the joke roll around. Also, consider moving the “it’s impossible to make a bad first impression” to the end of the entire “can’t recognize faces” segment.

0m27s Not sure if I should continue with the wrong words or stop myself like I did… either way, it’s best to use the right words the first time.

0m37s I keep looking down with my neck and eyes after every punchline. Does anyone have any tips or know any drills to stop this from happening?

0m57s Try putting more emphasis on “makeover”.

1m07s Take a pause between “Ben Rosenfeld dot com was taken” and “by a Jewish lawyer”.

1m21s After “child molester dot com” try saying “but I decided to go in a different direction” instead of “I want to do bar mitzvahs”.

1m32s First “big” should be in the same voice as the previous “big”s, second big should be drawn out “biiiig”.

1m51s Say “five bucks a pop” not “five bucks a piece”.

2m05s Received feedback that I should use the Jets instead, since the Giants at least made the playoffs. The feedback might be right.

2m17s Smile after “American Beauty” so the audience is sure that’s the punchline as this joke takes a few seconds to get.

2m30s Get rid of “I got winded going up the stairs today, I think I should join a gym” and go straight into the joke. This joke may not work because I’m not fat looking enough. Try it once more just in case.

2m48s I forgot my first punch line because I moved them around earlier. More practice needed.

3m17s Make “money” more drawn out like “mo-neeeeey”.

4m22s Other comics suggested I add onto the end of the Eli Manning joke. “He’d only hit half the nails.”

Overall: I really need to figure out a way to keep my eyes and head (chin) up at all times. I think I’m gonna remove the subway surfing joke because it takes too long to get to the semi-decent punchline. And I’m considering not using the women like gyms joke. My “not being able to recognize faces” (which is true, my girlfriend had to make a PowerPoint of what her friends look like) needs to be written clearer. I need to polish the website name joke because I want to end all my real performances with that joke as a way to get people to remember my website, go to it later, and start to build a following.

Here is my set from The Velvet Lounge, a nice little bar down in Williamsburg. They have free stand up shows every Monday night, I highly recommend checking it out if you’re in the neighborhood. This was a booked spot and had 5 audience members (I think the crowds will grow, this was the show’s first week).

My comments:

• Audio/Video: The conditions were less than ideal so I apologize for the sub-par video. I’m going to read my video camera’s instruction manual before the next time I perform at a non-comedy club.
• 0m09s A previous comic learned that one of the audience members was from Israel, so I said hi in Hebrew (not Israeli!)
• 0m37s Hit “bullshit artist” harder (more emphasis)
• 1m28s No need for “This New Years” before “My favorite part…”
• 2m20s Nice call back to my not fully formed “stalking” crowd work idea from before
• 3m06s I need to develop a better response if nobody in the crowd has a dog or not ask the question if there’s less than 20 people in the audience.
• 3m21s Need a slightly longer pause before “grandma”
• 4m54s Backup to the last few words of the premise if my joke gets interrupted
• 5m53s Try “wear my boxers over my pants” as one of the 3 crazy signs
• 6m10s Kara, the host, introduced me as “probably from Jersey”, that’s what I’m referring to
• 6m19s Try changing “some of the activities I do like” to “When I”
• 6m35s “Bring home a guy” sounds awkward, change it to “Bring a guy home”
• 6m48s Not sure why the second and third part of the tubes joke didn’t work… would love feedback on this
• 7m10s Great confident pause at the end of the punchline. I need to do this with all of my punchlines.
• 7m27s I tried taking out “the girl who talks about herself non stop for 4 hours” because nobody was laughign at it, but it may need to go back in so that the “still won’t blow you” girl gets a laugh. I think I’m gonna give it one more try without it and see what happens.
• 8m03s Try putting the custom made shot glass line before the snuggle head line. I’m not sure why the snuggle slut material didn’t get more laughs, I hope it was something I did and not because the room was predominantly full of females. I actually thought of cutting the joke short when the first few lines didn’t get a laugh but decided to power through. They may have picked up on this lack of confidence.
• 8m43s Emphasis should be on “money” not on “it costs”
• 9m13s Wait an extra second before “again”
• 9m13s I’m going to try removing the catholic joke, moving the Buddhist joke second and ending on “There’s an online dating website for Jehovah’s Witnesses, called “7am on a Saturday, why are you at my door?””

Overall: This was one of the more fun sets I had in a while. I think this is due to it being at a bar, where I got most of my early stand up practice (The Raven Lounge in Philadelphia). I also like not having a stage or a bright spotlight as it’s easier to make eye contact with everyone.This isn’t a good thing, but I need to learn how to be in the same mindset when at a comedy club with a bright spotlight and nobody to look at. Lastly I need to keep track if the snuggle slut and takes tubes jokes don’t play over as well in a predominantly female crowd.

Here is my set from an open mic on January 11th. As always, your feedback is welcome.

My comments:

• 0m25s Great situational response
• 0m41s Put more emphasis on “three times,” make it sound more ridiculous
• 0m47s For “I hit on my ex girlfriend at a bar before”, add “without realizing it” and emphasize the last part
• 0m58s Don’t move after the punchline “it only works once”
• 1m10s Recognizing friend’s dad should be clearer
• 1m20s Emphasis should been on “to a spa”
• 1m50s Don’t look down, look straight ahead
• 2m02s After “I have a plan” I forgot to say “for people who want to play with dogs but without the responsibility” therefore “puppies for yuppies” fell flat
• 2m08s Use the word “booked” instead of “reserved”
• 2m27s Used the word “watch” twice again. Say “care” the first time and “watch” the second
• 2m32s “Sweater loving bastard” needs to be angrier and more accusative
• 2m57s Voice went flat for “would be considered unhealthy”
• 3m10s Wait 2 more seconds before saying “bullshit”
• 3m18s Ask the jets fan line as more of a question, that I actually want to know the answer to, and consider changing jets to giants for topical purposes
• 3m32s Don’t look down, believe that the line is funny before the audience realizes it
• 3m38s Instead of “how many infants do you know that can” say “how are infants supposed to”
• 3m49s Peyton Manning should be at the end of the sentence. “I’m not sure about you but I don’t want my house built by Peyton Manning.”

Overall: I’m still swaying around too much, I need to stop looking down, and I need to hit my punch lines harder and more confidently. Also, I should consider smiling more and being a little looser. There was some laughter in each of the jokes, so none of them go to the graveyard pile, yet.

If any comic wants me to break down their video, leave a youtube link in the comments and I’ll do a post about it.