Month: September 2009

The midnight show, I got the check spot halfway through my set

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywaYbFdF8AM

2m24s Get something better than “Jenny likes this” or just stick with two “likes this” references

3m05s I love that someone from the crowd said how much it costs, with his date there

5m58s No need for the “good, no one “ohhed”” line

6m27s Pretty funny that I’ve said “oh, that was too far?” three or four times in the set

6m33s This is where the waitress started dropping checks

7m34s No need to apologize

7m51s We did hang out after the show

Overall: I had a pretty good first six minutes before the checks dropped, then I did some decent crowd work without wasting material while people weren’t listening. The morning after pill joke is coming along nicely. Talking “check spot strategy” with other comics, I learned to focus on the few people who are listening when the checks are dropped (usually females on a date because the guy is paying). I now just talk to them until I notice other people have started paying attention again, at which point I go back to actual jokes.

The 10:30 show

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKtF_BY_LTs

1m56s Just noticed that line gets a laugh when I put a big emphasis on the word “Facebook” (which makes sense)

2m16s Get rid of “Jenny likes this” or think of a stronger third punch line

3m02s The “by the way” messed up that punch line

3m44s I need to be more clear that I’m offering alternate suggestions

4m05s Instead of “I’m doing this” make the growling sound

4m20s Get rid of the New Jersey thing

4m59s Good job telling him how my mom is cooler than his date

5m49s Say “I don’t mean to give the game away” more slyly, like I did it by accident

6m37s It’s almost worse when my second to last punch line (“fanbase”) getting a great laugh and then my last line (“huge tubes”) gets nothing than when they both get no laughs

Overall: I worked out brand new stuff in front of a Friday night crowd, which I hadn’t had the balls to do before. The new joke isn’t as tight as it needs to be but it’s always good when a new joke at least partially works.

The 8:30 show

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXCgHaVdmr0

0m18s I said “model” in a weird way

0m40s It’s never good to tell the audience the joke would be better 40 seconds in to a set

1m31s Rewatching the set, I don’t like them

2m56s Pause for a second after asking “do you know how much it costs?”

3m12s Too much stumbling over words

3m34s I made up that line on the spot, but it should be a keeper. “You look like you might know the slogan”

4m21s I need a better “moral of the story”

Overall: Not a great set but I made up a decent punch line on the spot, so it wasn’t for naught.

A Thursday night show

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ACvp2Zaiho

1m39s The laugh is all in the smile after the “when have you ever come first?” line

2m52s This is the first time I’m trying this joke on stage, and it’s getting laughs, but still needs tightening

3m31s Get rid of a bunch of words, so that it’s only “or if we wanna simplify it: Nature’s Draino”

6m16s I like this alliteration joke, but it doesn’t work, time to kill it

Overall: Decent: My new morning after pill joke needs to be tightened up but it got laughs, and my Russian immigrant material is progressing.

This is me MCing

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAd8fAluvqM

0m46s Calling out the obvious drink order situation was still funny

1m58s Pretty funny that I checked if the guy’s daughter was 18 first

2m47s The tennis joke needs to be delivered slower

4m05s It later turned out they weren’t from Cuba, but some other foreign country

5m05s Good call out on her answering for everyone

5m49s Shouldn’t say “cancel relationship” twice

7m05s His explanation didn’t make it any clearer

Part 2 – Additional audience walked in and I had time to do more material

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOjEyXueFtE

2m12s The “cause you know I don’t need that shit” should be in a lower tone

3m16s Good reaction to the crowd’s groan

3m43s Throw in “waitress, can we double check her id?” after the previous line

4m05s Add “which if you got four kids, he probably did”

5m42s Nice call out on “oh, that’s too far?”

Overall: This was one of my better MCing jobs as I was high energy and had a few decent crowd work bits. I think the key to MCing that I should focus on is being much more high energy than I am during my regular set.