Category: Performance Critiques

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.

This is the Sunday writer’s mic

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0LqU6bsB4I

0m35s Doing “Igor likes this” in a normal voice worked

0m48s Raise my hand for this line to make it obvious I’m the announcer voice

1m39s Deliver “stunning creature” in a more low key manner

1m45s If you can’t see, I licked my lips on that

2m06s I just thought of this one on the way over

2m21s Do this question in a different voice

2m43 I could get half the sentence and say “I only wanted to become a professor for the hour of stage time”

2m59s That was a great improvised line, I need to remember to use it

3m14s Cut 125 new heights ave

3m47s I delivered both lines wrong

4m18s Say the brain region quicker

4m28s I need a stronger ending instead of “attend high school” and “where do I get that alcohol test”

Overall: I did well for an open mic. I need to tighten some of the newer jokes, and the psychologist joke might need to disappear. Also, the “I guess community college doesn’t cost 40 grand” line is a keeper.

This is the 10:30 show, there’s 7 people in the audience

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPOjqPn5CX4

0m11s An audience member was asking where the bathroom was, so I helped them

0m45s That was improvised

1m15s I was more than a minute in to my set before I started actual material

2m20s The “when you’re 16, 3 months is long term” made me laugh during the rewatch

3m15s I haven’t told an actual joke in over a minute

3m50s I love how this turned into a discussion about his drink

4m08s My second joke of the set! And it’s one I haven’t down in ages and didn’t intend to over do again, but it felt right

4m34s Good instincts, as it worked well

5m12s Good job of acknowledging the interruption and then bringing it back to the actual joke

Overall: I did more crowd work than actual jokes, had a lot of fun, and got lots of laughs. I know if this was a 15 or 20 minute set I would’ve done great with the rest of my material because I was in no rush and had already won them over. This is how I need to be every time I’m on stage. It shouldn’t matter if it’s a crowd of 7 or 700. I need to stop worrying about which jokes I’ll have time to do and just be fully in the moment. If I only do two jokes in 6 minutes, it’s okay.