Month: December 2009

This is for a crowd of 5, 3 of whom were German

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaCN-qS3MCY

0m29s When it’s a small crowd, I try to not start with a joke right away

2m12s Figures the Germans would laugh at the jdate joke

3m03s Good usage of Igor

3m09s Try “dignity drop” instead of “standards drop”

3m45s He brings up a valid point: I can’t do the sweaters joke when I’m in a sweater

4m20s Smile and laugh between doing 3 announcer bits

4m39s I need to laugh when I say this, not dead pan

5m14s Great response on the car starting line

6m50s I didn’t need to do the hand motion the last time, I should stop it as soon as I get a laugh after silence

7m45s Get to the legos quicker

8m20s The “gotch your nose” line needs to get funnier, and don’t explain it after

68m56s Don’t say “oh my god” for two responses in a row

9m11s Get a better punch line instead of “attend… high school”

Overall: Considering it was a very small crowd, I did well. I got some big laughs while other jokes missed. I need to fix the parental neglect and the neuroeconomics jokes. I also need to deliver the dog joke better.

This is the Sunday writer’s mic

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0LqU6bsB4I

0m35s Doing “Igor likes this” in a normal voice worked

0m48s Raise my hand for this line to make it obvious I’m the announcer voice

1m39s Deliver “stunning creature” in a more low key manner

1m45s If you can’t see, I licked my lips on that

2m06s I just thought of this one on the way over

2m21s Do this question in a different voice

2m43 I could get half the sentence and say “I only wanted to become a professor for the hour of stage time”

2m59s That was a great improvised line, I need to remember to use it

3m14s Cut 125 new heights ave

3m47s I delivered both lines wrong

4m18s Say the brain region quicker

4m28s I need a stronger ending instead of “attend high school” and “where do I get that alcohol test”

Overall: I did well for an open mic. I need to tighten some of the newer jokes, and the psychologist joke might need to disappear. Also, the “I guess community college doesn’t cost 40 grand” line is a keeper.

This is the 10:30 show, there’s 7 people in the audience

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPOjqPn5CX4

0m11s An audience member was asking where the bathroom was, so I helped them

0m45s That was improvised

1m15s I was more than a minute in to my set before I started actual material

2m20s The “when you’re 16, 3 months is long term” made me laugh during the rewatch

3m15s I haven’t told an actual joke in over a minute

3m50s I love how this turned into a discussion about his drink

4m08s My second joke of the set! And it’s one I haven’t down in ages and didn’t intend to over do again, but it felt right

4m34s Good instincts, as it worked well

5m12s Good job of acknowledging the interruption and then bringing it back to the actual joke

Overall: I did more crowd work than actual jokes, had a lot of fun, and got lots of laughs. I know if this was a 15 or 20 minute set I would’ve done great with the rest of my material because I was in no rush and had already won them over. This is how I need to be every time I’m on stage. It shouldn’t matter if it’s a crowd of 7 or 700. I need to stop worrying about which jokes I’ll have time to do and just be fully in the moment. If I only do two jokes in 6 minutes, it’s okay.

This is the 8:30 show

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImIFCSUx7LI

0m14s The MC was talking about a breakup that just happened

0m59s Make “Yes?” sound like more of a question

1m25s If you interrupt a comedian to ask “is it obvious I’m drunk”, you’re drunk

1m50s I haven’t done this joke in a while, after last night’s set, I decided to go a few days without doing Russian family material

2m24s Take a slight pause after “it’s a rent a pet”

2m44s This the new part of the dog joke

3m46s Instead of “got your nose” I should try “then her nose fell off”

4m20s They replied “17”

4m58s I should say “use protection” in a more downbeat way

5m22s I can’t get the delivery right on this joke

5m42s I should try “you wanna get with the hottest person there” instead of “hottest girl there” so it’s more inclusive

7m30s The premise and solution could be clearer for this joke

7m41s Good joke by the MC

Overall: I managed to more or less lose everyone but the three drunk girls. I should’ve done a little more crowd work with the other audience members, or at least looked in their direction more often. Even with that, the new version of the dogs joke is working pretty well.

This is the 10:30 show

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MWvKnRWOlE

0m18s I’m trying to open with a quick crowd work joke or two

1m14s Try doing “Igor loves this” without a weird voice

1m21s No more “you smell nice” line

1m28s Bad setup to this joke, I haven’t replaced the “fooood” line yet

2m13s This is the weakest response this joke has ever gotten

2m53s Bad attempt at crowd work here

3m40s If they weren’t feeling the first three Russian family jokes, I shouldn’t do more of them

4m16s I just came up with this add-on, it worked this time, but it might be going too far, even for me

5m32s Again, I should have gone into a joke that didn’t use a Russian accent since the previous Russian stuff wasn’t working

Overall: When more than half the crowd is in college, and you start the set with “what is this high school night?” you’re gonna be working harder to win them over. The first joke went over fine, but the audience wasn’t feeling the Russian family material and I kept going back to it. For shorter sets, I need to be more aware if a topic that I have lots of jokes about isn’t working so I could go into different jokes faster.