2011 Comedy Goals Revisited

On January 1st, 2011 I posted my comedy goals for the coming year. Since it’s the last day of the year, it’s time to go through them and see how I did. Black text is the original goal and bold text is how I did.

Performing (2 out of 7 accomplished):

• Get on stage 700 times
  I was on stage 753 times
• Do 25 road gigs
  I did less than 25 road gig
• Perform in 5 sketch shows
  Performed in zero live sketch shows
• Act in 12 web videos
  I acted in 6 short films/web videos. It’s closer to 12 if you count that some of the videos were cut up into multiple shorter videos, but I don’t count it.
• Perform “How To Find Your Passion” for 24 audiences
  Did the speech less than 24 times
• Kill for an entire set that is at least thirty minutes long
  Killed for 50 minutes in a 54 minute set, and had a couple of other great long sets, so goal accomplished.
• Do two feature spots (45-50 minutes of show) at the venue where I did one feature spot last year
  Did one feature spot.

Learning (2.5 out of 4 accomplished):

• Take an acting class (or 1 on 1 coaching)
  I’ve been getting coached on acting for most of the year.
• Take two improv classes
  I took one improv class. (I was scheduled for a second, but had stand up gigs get offerred and had to postpone.)
• Take an advanced stand up class
  Took two advanced classes.
• Become an expert at Apple Final Cut and Apple Motion
  I got good at Final Cut but am completely lost in Motion.

Commercials (0 out of 3 accomplished):

• Go on 104 commercial auditions
  Did way fewer auditions .
• Get 8 commercial call backs
  Got fewer than 8 call backs.
• Book 3 commercials
  Did not book 3 commercials.

Producing (.5 out of 2 goals accomplished):

• Continue producing a weekly show
  I had a weekly show until the end of May and then started a bi-weekly show in November.
• Have an average attendance of fifteen audience members
  The average attendance for these bar shows was less than 15.

Writing (4 out of 10 accomplished):

• Write every morning
  Did not write every morning.
• Create 24 new “A” minutes (aka write 240 minutes of stand up and throw out most of it)
  I have about 24 new good minutes from this year. Possibly more.
• Get up to 25 minutes of killer standup, 35 minutes of solid stand up, and 50 respectable minutes
  The response to the material still depends on the night, but I can do 25, 35 and 50 minutes comfortably.
• Write 52 sketches
  Did not write 52 sketches.
• Film, edit and post 15 sketches
  Did less than 15 sketches.
• Enter five film contests
  Entered one film contest.
• Write first draft of the “Surviving SCU” script I outlined, then rewrite it twice
  I wrote and rewrote this screenplay multiple times.
• Choose a show and write a spec script
  Did not write a spec script.
• Write 52 blog posts that are not performance critiques
  Did not write 52 non performance critique posts.
• Write a performance critique of every set within ten days of the performance
  I wrote a performance critique of practically every set.

Traffic, Marketing and Financials (.5 out of 4 goals accomplished):

• Average 2,500 unique visitors a month to the blog
  Averaged 2,100 unique visitors a month
• Earn $13,500 in entertainment and motivational speaking related activities
  Did not earn $13,500
• Find a 10-20 hr a week job with health insurance that pays $500 a week
  Found a part-time day job, no health insurance though.
• Have my ebook downloaded 10,000 times
  Less than 10,000 downloads

TOP 10 GOALS (from the 30 above) – 5.5 / 10 accomplished

• Get on stage 700 times
  Yes
• Get 8 commercial call backs
  No
• Build to 25 minutes of killer standup, 35 minutes of solid stand up, and 50 passable minutes
  Yes
• Choose a show and write a spec script
  No
• Perform “How To Find Your Passion” for 24 audiences
  No
• Write first draft of the “Surviving SCU” script I outlined, then rewrite it twice
  Yes
• Take an acting class (or 1 on 1 coaching)
  Yes
• Film, edit and post 15 sketches
  No
• Kill for an entire set that is at least thirty minutes long
  Yes
• Become an expert at Apple Final Cut and Apple Motion
  Sorta

Overall: 9.5 / 30. I felt good about my accomplishments for the year until I went through this list. I clearly didn’t do as much as I set out to do but I did an okay job with my top 10 goals.

2012 Goals Coming Tomorrow.