Category: Comedy

A Tuesday night show that was also a benefit show for people needing wheelchairs in the third world, I was first up. (There are two open mic audio only clips between this and the previous critique.)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIfKeb4MlOM

0m03s Yes, the MC is Kato Kaelin, he does stand up in LA and is pretty funny

1m04s My face is dong something different with “Igor likes this” because it isn’t getting the big laughs it used to

3m13s The second line with “please” isn’t getting a big laugh like it used to

4m00s I lost the crowd on that one

5m18s That was mean for no reason, I could’ve addressed that better

Overall: A lot of my best punch lines didn’t hit in this set. Some of my jokes come off as mean if I haven’t already established myself as likeable, or if I don’t give a smile right after, so I either need to make sure to smile after every mean joke or I should reorder my jokes so that I’m vulnerable earlier in my set.

This is me doing another comedy contest, this time in Orange County. (There are five open mic sets that are audio only between my last critique and this one.) Before I came on stage, the mic was having issues, so they stopped the show to fix it. This is important to keep in mind as you watch this hilarious disaster

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMS3fnErAPU

0m09s I always get confused with what to do while music plays

0m18s Wireless mic starts going haywire right away

0m25s Great flow stopper

0m31s Good job rewinding to the start and keeping my cool

0m33s And then I go into the wrong opening joke

0m35s That jesus Christ was mostly about me forgetting how I wanted to start, but the mic also went out

0m42s Quitting on the mic seemed like the only reasonable thing to do at this point

0m51s You can see my priceless look of “oh shit, what’s my first joke again?”

1m07s And the cord is stuck

1m20s This concludes my most awkward minute on stage, ever.

2m33s Weird tonality on “fallopian tubes”

3m39s Interesting that “maybe” didn’t get a laugh

4m41s Asking the audience took too long

6m07s It was a big guy

8m30s Not sure I how lost them on three punch lines in a row

8m34s I need to smile at the end of this line

8m37s This is my usual closer but I hadn’t gotten the one minute light, so I kept going with whatever joke came into my head

Overall: The first minute and a half of this tape is worth watching just for the hysterical awkwardness of mic malfunctions. I was definitely thrown off by the super malfunction of the mic (during which I forgot my opening joke at one point) and the tape looks better than I actually felt after getting off stage. (I didn’t place in the top four, and I didn’t expect that I would given my set.) However, this was good practice for reacting to everything going wrong at future shows.

This is me at a comedy contest in LA.

(I moved to LA in early August for grad school, went on a two week vacation and then did a bunch of open mics that didn’t allow taping. I was on stage 14 times between my last performance critique and this one, with 13 of them being open mics. If anyone has an easy way of uploading audio files, I’ll go back and write them up.)

Sorry for the bad camera angle, I couldn’t use my camera and my friend was drunk.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L6rqtgutok

0m10s Based on the reactions I was getting, I decided this is a stronger opening joke

2m50s Two punch lines in a row with applause, not bad

3m17s Nice pause to let everyone finish laughing

4m42s Noticing what’s going on the with the crowd and interrupting the flow can be risky, but it worked this time

6m11s I can’t wait for the day that this joke doesn’t work because I have an actual fan base

Overall: I came in third place out of the nine comedians. I couldn’t have done any of my jokes any better or gotten a stronger reaction. Based on my set and watching the other comics, I thought I had won, so I was already standing in the back getting ready to accept first place when they called me for third. The look of shock on my face must have been hysterical to everyone but me. And it’s funny to me in retrospect.

My last writer’s mic in NYC, I hosted it. (I did a show on Aug 1, but it’s audio only.)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzJCpXE_7ao

0m34s Change my voice more for my friend’s reaction

1m28s This is a new variation of my old joke, I tried changing it from the AIDS scenario to the having her mom walk in

1m45s Move around the stage for the different characters

Overall: I didn’t commit to either act out enough to learn whether it’s funny or not. I think the mom walking in could be good, if I really get the characters going.

Another weeknight crowd:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7v9n_aGkO0

0m29s I think the audience member’s “you should be in porn” comment was sarcastic

1m41s Good job waiting a few seconds so everyone gets the joke

2m36s I can cut out “I wasn’t born in this country” because it’s redundant with “I came to this country when I was four”

3m07s Pause for a second between “get PhD” and “then do what want” as they started laughing

3m25s Get rid of the “help me please” line

3m34s It’s always nice to get applause with a 12 person crowd

3m57s That line didn’t hit because I didn’t make it obvious I was responding to what my mom said

5m36s Admit “that was too far, you’re right” then say something worse

6m02s Don’t do the finger thing, until after “take two” and then do the thing twice

6m22s I think the PEZ characters for morning after pills with alliterated names are hysterical, but it doesn’t seem to be working

Overall: Pretty decent overall, I need to keep tightening the immigrant and the morning after pill jokes