Comedy Archives - Page 275 of 298 - Ben Rosenfeld

May 14, 2009May 13, 2009

Performance Critique: April 15

There were about 30 audience members in the crowd. 20 of which were high school kids from England and four others who wound up getting into a loud argument with the host… during my set.

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

0m24s The audience was yelling “next” when the host was up there for too long

0m41s When the audience is mostly male, I won’t open with my “he should be a model” joke.

0m45s You can hear the argument in the background

0m58s I tried being high energy the whole set because it was getting really awkward with the audience that was going back and forth with the comic

1m31s No clue what I was trying to say there, but it somehow got a laugh, eventually

1m48s Try rephrasing to “Sure that’s mean but I’m a stand up comedian, not a stand up guy”

2m37s Get rid of “it’s all downhill after stand up”

2m57s No need for both “that’s your first date” and “that warrants a second date”

3m30s You can hear more arguing, it was about 5 feet away from me. I was trying to be as loud and focused on the kids as possible as they kept looking over at the argument

4m14s Seriously, if you have a high school crowd for me to do a set in front of, email me

4m58s The emphasis on “huge” was correct, but “tubes” was off

6m45s I should try to work the whole “when I tell older people, they don’t laugh, they just think, shit I wish I knew that twenty years ago” into my regular dog joke

7m47s Slightly longer pause needed after “prostitution”

8m55s Not only do I get a loud argument, but I get a phone going off, I love distractions

9m35s I think telling underage kids to “watch out” was hysterical

Part 2

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBb05sGkw-g

Overall: I’m really proud of the way I was able to have tunnel vision and completely ignore the argument between some of the crowd and the host. If you follow this blog, you may be used to a lot of stuff not getting laughs so this is a good set to see a lot of my jokes actually working.

May 13, 2009June 13, 2012

“Born Standing Up” Quotes

I read Steve Martin’s auto biography of his years doing stand up comedy a little while ago and thought I’d post my favorite quotes from it.

“I did stand-up comedy for eighteen years. Ten of those years were spent learning, four years were spent refining, and four were spent in wild success.” (1)

“The comedian’s slang for a successful show is “I murdered them,” which I’m sure came about because you finally realize that the audience is capable of murdering you.” (2)

“I was seeking comic originality, and fame fell on me as a by-product. The course was more plodding than heroic: I did not strive valiantly against doubters but took incremental steps with a few intuitive leaps.” (2-3)

“Perseverance is a great substitute for talent.” (53)

“Despite a lack of natural ability, I did have the one element necessary to all early creativity: naivete, that fabulous quality that keeps you from knowing just how unsuited you are for what you are about to do.” (54)

“Teaching is a form of show business.” (86)

“I concluded that not to continue with comedy would place a question in my mind that would nag me for the rest of my life: Could I have had a career in performing? Everything was dragging me toward the arts; even the study of modern philosophy suggested philosophy was nonsense.” (87)

“Comedy is a distortion of what is happening, and there will always be something happening.” (104)

“Sign of encouragement… Bill Cosby said that early in his career, when the audience wasn’t laughing, he could hear the waitresses laughing, and they saw the show night after night.” (106)

“A laugh forms when the storyteller creates tension, then, with the punch line, releases it.” (110)

“I gave myself a rule: Never let them know I was bombing: This is funny, you just haven’t gotten it yet.” (112)

“Another rule was to make the audience believe I was fantastic, that my confidence could not be shattered. They had to believe that I didn’t care if they laughed at all, and that this act was going on with or without them.” (112)

“Every entertainer has a night when everything is clicking. These nights are accidental and statistical: Like lucky cards in poker, you can count on them occurring over time. What was hard was to be good, consistently good, night after night, no matter what the abominable circumstances.” (139)

“The more physically uncomfortable the audience, the bigger the laughs.” (165)

“It is possible to will confidence. My consistent performing schedule had kept me sharp; it would have been difficult to blow it.” (171)

May 12, 2009May 1, 2009

Performance Critique: April 14

This is back in DC

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8w4WWJ3vTQ

0m23s If a crowd hasn’t been very good before you, it helps to take control of them right off the bat and tell them what to do, even if it takes up some of your time

1m50s I need to emphasize both “huge” and “tubes” not just one of them

2m05s When there’s a big group, teasing one of them will usually get a good laugh

3m44s There were a couple of Asians up front

4m46s No need for the “cause they got no options” line

4m58s I enjoyed the line “what I’m trying to say is that you guys look like you smoke a lot of drugs” even if the crowd didn’t. I cracked up when re-watching this set

Overall: Not my best set. I wasn’t able to keep the audience’s attention as well as I would’ve liked and I thought I had two more minutes to finish off with the better stuff.

May 11, 2009May 13, 2009

Performance Critique: April 12

This is the Sunday feedback mic

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZzpMkd30L4

0m15s I’m trying out a new joke, I think the concept of being mistaken for a homeless person should be really funny… especially if it earns you more money than your regular job

1m20s I don’t think there was a single girl in this crowd of comics

2m40s Not

2m44s This was a call back to another comic. He always says “I love this crowd” when he’s not getting laughs

2m57s 89thandBroke.com is my girlfriend’s website. She requested a joke about it, so I’m trying it out

3m35s I apologize in advance for having to try out 20 different bad puns… on the bright side I’ve cut it down to 3 after this

4m41s Saying you’re doing terribly to a roomful of comics is a guaranteed way to get a laugh

Overall: I tried out mostly new stuff here, and there’s a reason it’s called “new stuff”

May 11, 2009May 1, 2009

Performance Critique: April 11c

This is the last show of the night, the 12am show. I got on right after they paid the bill at around 2am.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUW8f-ZI28Q

0m35s It’s official: opening with “I don’t know if you noticed this, but I am adorable” only works at a bar, not a comedy club

1m14s I started drinking while waiting to go

2m10s Two bill jokes is enough, three is too many

2m27s These girls wound up going out to a bar with me and two other comics after the show

3m21s I like the technique of taking charge when an audience member doesn’t answer by giving them their answer, just gotta be careful not to overuse it

4m08s Don’t say “third date” twice

4m27s The bombing starts….

5m10s Is this Dresden during WWII?

5m28s Not sure why I said that, no more drinking during shows for me

6m24s Pretty painful two last minutes

Overall: Like a relief pitcher in baseball, I conveniently forgot how badly I bombed those last two minutes until I re-watched the video… repressed childhood memories coming up next! I don’t mind bombing every once in a while as it keeps me hungry and motivated, plus it’s good to power through the pain every once in a while. It’s clear I lost the crowd at “love at first drink, huh?” The only frustrating thing about this set is I wound up watching most of the show, and I know I would’ve gotten a much better response if I had gone up an hour earlier before everyone came down from their alcohol high and started getting tired (I still should have been able to keep the crowd’s laugher though)