Category: Performance Critiques

A Saturday afternoon open mic

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjRwVHJ9T5I

0m30s Good job calling out the sound two people made

1m07s When you do a joke you wrote an hour ago, you’re gonna stumble on a couple of words

1m18s I should’ve just addressed it right away, but the time rewind works too

2m05s I actually wrote the joke with “bitch” to end the joke

2m22s This is a good idea, if it gets quiet after a joke, “let’s have a moment of silence for everyone who died today”

3m00s Pause another second and look around suspiciously before saying “Pronto”

4m51s There’s a reason I stopped doing this joke a month ago

Overall: Decent for an open mic. The best part of the set was the rewinding of a joke because one of the comics blurted something out. I need to be able to handle the order of my joke getting messed up by crowd interaction better.

The Friday night show

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvSC141Ys84

0m54s I should’ve waited for the laughs, they just started laughing

4m34s Don’t say “real” the first time I say “man”

6m06s Good job calling back what the audience referenced earlier

6m49s Good call out on the audience member’s slow response

8m28s Do the handjob motion a little clearer

Part 2

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DqalqA5_Dg

0m56s Say “dangerous” not “harmful”

1m56s I felt I lost the audience at the Plan B joke, so I tried to do a more vulnerable joke, even if it’s not my strongest joke

Overall: I had consistent laughs for the first ten minutes with a couple of huge laughs and one applause break, then I lost the crowd a bit on the morning after pill joke, but I was able to get them back and close strong.

Me hosting my weekly show in Queens, sorry about the terrible video lighting

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41as29gaeRQ

1m48s Make sure the sound works before the show starts next time

3m27s I should be doing more crowd work to start the show to draw people in and at least get them to listen to the other comics

5m04s I should’ve started doing the crowd work earlier and more of it

Part 2

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loPUnzFwTp8

0m05s Should’ve gotten people’s names earlier on

1m10s I was supposed to get the light after ten minutes, it’s nice that I can tell when I’ve done around 10 minutes

4m20s No need for the word “also”

6m28s Address the phone ringing

Overall: I could’ve done a much better job MCing. I didn’t try to talk to people or win them over in the beginning so anyone who was already listening listened and everyone who was ignoring the show kept ignoring the show. For these bar shows, I need to get better at winning over people that don’t want to hear comedy or weren’t expecting comedy.

A mixed music and comedy open mic at a bar in Queens

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoZcPJd5Rto

0m35s Starting by calling out the situation in a bar increases the odds people pay attention

3m09s I should’ve addressed the guy yelling out “babushka” the second time he did it

6m05s At least I addressed the loud talking

6m36s I need to control the room a little better, get back to material in less than 30 seconds

Part 2

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ_faqAb9aU

0m59s Instead of “babies are harmful” say “babies are dangerous”

2m07s Saying “The Goodwill is out of sweaters tonight” is hysterical but really could’ve gotten my ass kicked at this bar

4m22s That doesn’t even make sense

4m48s The guy gave me a fake million dollar bill

Part 3

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k7NXf9QA_k

0m33s That’s a good improv line, I should use that again: “Have you ever held someone?”

3m22s I did 22 minutes before checking my notes, not bad

3m56s Don’t ask him how much time I have left, just keep going until they tell me otherwise

5m58s Good ending, I could’ve pimped my website here by saying “you can help make this work by visiting…”

Overall: I did twenty five straight minutes, which is always hard to do in NYC, regardless of venue. I started out really strong for the first two minutes, especially for a bar, but then I lost some people. I need to work on addressing the situation when people yell things out while not going completely off topic.

I’m up two hours into an open mic

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYIu7x4VvwA

0m12s There were two real people in the crowd and they started kissing as I was getting up, so I decided to start whispering

1m43s My favorite part of NYC open mics is when “A” material gets crickets

3m15s Reword to “babies ruin lives”

Overall: I delivered my jokes the way I would with a real audience. Sometimes that’s all you can control at the open mics.