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Performance Critique 12: Jan 22A

This is my set right before the showcase. I decided since I had time to just get on stage anywhere so I wouldn’t be as nervous before hand. I always feel more at ease if I’ve already done stand up that night. (I almost always want to do a stand up a second and third time in the same night for real audiences, but rarely get to do so.)

0m12s The host did some bit about hating Russians because he lives near Brighton Beach (a heavily Russian part of Brooklyn) so I decided to riff off of that a little. No matter if I have a set to practice or not, I’m trying to be in the moment of the room. I should’ve waited two seconds after saying “I was actually born in Russia” to let the tension build a little. And I was born in the USSR, I didn’t invent that fact just to try to get a cheap laugh. 

0m23s If I decide to go with a more “screw you” persona on stage, this could be a good line to start with a real audience. “Hi, I have an important show coming up later, Please don’t laugh at my jokes, so I could get my bad show out of the way.” 

0m32s I’m not sure if I should do one slow head turn from one side to the other, or dart back and forth like I just did. 

1m37s More emphasis on the word “own” 

3m15s I keep having an occasional word stumble happen… I need to figure out a way to play this off better and not ruin the flow. Or stop stumbling on words. 

4m07s Pause between “that takes” and “tubes”. 

4m12s This “shitty wall” is due to the fact that this open mic is in the basement of a Mexican Restaurant. Yes that’s how desperate comics are for stage time in New York City. 

6m01s Stretch out the words so that my head can turn the 180 degrees while I’m still talking. This time it only got 90 degrees before I was done with the sentence. 

6m14s Never say something is “new shit that’s gonna bomb at some point” even if that’s what you believe. One of the pro comics I know says to pretend that your new joke is your best joke and deliver it with that confidence, otherwise you’ll never know if the joke is any good and it can become a self fulfilling prophecy of sucky joke writing and telling. 

6m37s Say “Big Ben Comedy dot com” in a more Mr. Moviefone type of voice. 

6m50s I’m still experimenting with the last punch line. I’m not sure if “Big fraud dot come was already taken by…” should end as a) A jewish securities lawyer or b) Bernie Madoff. 

6m58s My favorite part about this terrible venue is how something always falls apart. I’ve been here three times. The mic stand broke twice and the mic wasn’t on another time. For some reason having an equipment malfunction is hysterical to me.

Overall: I only had one little minor word stumble and felt pretty comfortable on stage. Although there weren’t many laughs at this open mic, a few of the comics were smiling often.

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