Category: Comedy

This is me in DC for the second night in a row opening the show for a crowd of around 30

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ZWfknFTtM

0m06s I really prefer not to have someone say “he’s just starting out” as I think the audience starts thinking “great he sucks”, that might be my imagination though

0m18s The MC said he’d be babysitting the crowd, so I called back to that

0m30s What were the odds that two nights in a row a woman would have similar hair to me

0m53s That’s slightly mean of me but hysterical

2m26s I need to do another “what the hell” look after “Igor loves this”

2m41s That was an instant improvisation

2m57s Comedians laugh at this setup, but actual audience doesn’t

4m11s Should’ve waited another half second as the second round of laughs were about to start

5m48s A little too mean just because I said it so fast, it wouldn’t have come off as mean if I said it slower and more low key

7m05s I could’ve added a tag of “didn’t they teach “not interrupting” in 1795?”

8m01s I’ve watched this three times, and I laugh every time at my fake singing

8m22s I should’ve responded “too bad you’re not driving”

9m25s The hand motion worked better this time

9m57s Not getting a single laugh on my first punch line here was a bad sign

Part 2

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ56G36F6Rs

0m54s The whole dog joke missed

1m08s This isn’t a joke to go to after I lose the crowd

1m34s I got them back a little bit, but not fully

1m58s Also not a joke to go to if I’m on the brink of losing the crowd

2m47s The delivery is fine, but if I’ve lost the crowd this joke won’t work

3m14s That was a decent fake joke to end it

Overall: Doing well for 10 minutes and sucking for 3 minutes feels like doing well for 3 minutes and sucking for 10. I did really well the first 9 minutes 45 seconds and ate a big fat dick for the last 3 minutes 30 seconds. I went into the dogs joke really randomly, instead of doing a little crowd work about animals first, so the crowd didn’t follow me. I could’ve still won them back but I structure my set so that the “messed up” or “meaner” jokes come towards the end after (presumably) the crowd likes me and lets me get away with more. If I lose the crowd right before the “meaner” stuff it’s not pretty.

This is back down in DC at All Stars, crowd of about fifteen people

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G12aAJdB9jA

0m11s I’ve left the MC’s intro in here because it’s “unique” and I responded to it to start my set

0m40s Haven’t heard I look like the Brady Bunch before, that’s pretty funny

1m10s Impressive that the intro took over a minute

1m22s Before I was brought up the MC was talking about Skull Vodka for a good five minutes

1m38s A woman had hair similar to mine

2m58s I didn’t even think that was a funny response

3m51s After “are you in an abusive relationship?” I should’ve gone with “I can rescue you”

6m35s Two great improvised lines in a row here, “You can molest me” and “I’ve never been molested… on stage”. I should remember to bring those back for other shows

7m25s Fix the order of the words in the premise

7m40s One too many hand gestures

7m58s This family stuff isn’t hitting as well as the previous

8m43s I was able to bring the crowd back

9m48s Best random audience story I’ve ever heard. I should have gone more into it.

Part 2

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0acBqT2lE0

0m12s I should’ve pushed the CD’s thing, like “don’t talk to him about us anymore, we’re over”

1m24s Good improvisation and transition into a joke

2m18s I should’ve gone back to hitting on the girl and asking if she likes the rhythm method here

2m38s I forced this joke in here and shouldn’t have

3m17s I love how I went for the third part of the joke after I said I was right on the line

3m57s The licking of the lips is really making this joke work

4m13s This was where I would’ve wanted to get off stage, but I didn’t get the light yet so I kept going

4m56s The last punch line of neuroeconomics is new and worked well

5m15s This is where I couldn’t think of a next joke to do

6m10s I’m rather impressed with myself that I didn’t have material for over a minute and still seem comfortable

6m32s My transition was so random that an audience member yelled out “what?” I need to work on my transitions.

Overall: The first 14 minutes were pretty good. I was comfortable on stage, switching between talking to the crowd and doing material pretty  seamlessly. A few jokes didn’t hit but I was able to bring the crowd back without losing anyone. The last three minutes weren’t as strong mainly because I hadn’t planned on being on stage that long, although I was still able to get laughs and improvise. I need to practice my whole set more often so it takes me longer to run out of material.

This is for an audience of 7

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFX2V8F4JhA

0m20s I watched the last two minutes of the comic before me, and came up with a couple of observations to start the set with. This seems to work better than going straight to jokes

1m03s After forty seconds, I go into actual material

2m03s 6 of the 7 audience members were women

3m10s After “we’ll pretend we don’t know each other” I should’ve added “then we’ll meet up around 2am”

3m25s I’m happy the suicide joke is working with women, I was concerned it might not work

3m45s Well that third joke of suicide isn’t working, but that can be fixed

4m36s She said something about pot

4m51s Better response, “I’m not your waiter”

6m25s I think the Russian family joke failed because I mentioned a response of my mom without an accent before getting into the Russian family material, and that confused the crowd

6m31s At least I didn’t go back to Russian jokes after the first part failed

7m30s I should think of different ways of saying “fall in love” so I can keep coming back to it without it getting stale

Overall: I need to be careful about responding as my mom before setting up that she has a Russian accent, or if that occurs, don’t do the Russian accent for the whole set. Also, the first two parts of my suicide joke are getting a strong response.

This is me MCing an open mic with 3 comics in attendance

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

1m21s First time I’m doing this joke outloud

1m37s And it got a couple of laughs, it has a chance of being funny after a couple of rewrites

3m13s Heavy sarcasm on that statement

3m30s This whole joke needs to be delivered sadder, like I’m actually opening my soul

4m05s I should’ve done the “I told my my that joke, she didn’t understand what was funny” after the “PhD dropout” line

4m49s Didn’t sound shocked enough about the fifty bucks

5m05s Ah, good old work-shopping a joke on stage

Overall: It’s tough to learn too much from a three person open mic, but I think my new joke about being jealous of women has potential. Check back on that joke in 3-4 weeks after I’ve worked on it. I also need to work on the delivery of “parental neglect” and “the morning after pill”.

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.