Category: Performance Critiques

This is me back in NYC for the first time

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhaTfv9UDdA

1m02s Pause for another half second before “Igor loves this”

1m20s The “fooooood” line has been missing a lot lately, I want to cut it but can’t figure out another way to make it believable that I’m actually Russian before getting into the heavy accent

2m04s I’ve learned I need an extra pause there for the rest of the crowd to “get” the joke

3m42s Although it worked, I should try “doctorate” instead of “phd” as I say “phd” earlier in the set, and using different words that mean the same thing tend to extend jokes and laughs

3m53s Cut the adoption, pro choice and adoption agencies lines

4m31s You can’t tell my voice going on the tape, but it was

4m49s I missed saying “I don’t even know how to spell it”

5m26s Take a pause between “attend” and “high school”

7m09s Cut the “own girlfriend” line

7m40s It’s not a good idea to do three “mean” jokes in a row, I need to separate the suicide, new years and ex on the street

Overall: Decent set. Not surprisingly, the material I’ve been working on in LA also works in NY but there’s some specific lines I need to cut asap. And it’s good to be back in NYC.

This is a charity show at a bar that was raising money for wheelchairs. I wish I could find the link, as it’s a great cause. There are around 20 people in the audience.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXF5fppcdTY

0m15s Before my intro, the MC requested badass music for his walk off stage, as some slow song came on when the MC came on after the previous comic, so I commented on it

0m50s I could’ve done the Igor face better

1m13s My delivery is off, as I shouldn’t get so many “awwws”

2m34s No need to pause between “float in boat” and “fail math”

2m48s I was overly ready to say “what’s funny about that” and it wasn’t spontaneous enough to get a full laugh like the previous two times

3m24s Point at myself when I say “jewish people” not when I say “bar mitzvah”

3m58s Try going from “my mom tried to boast about my comedy career” straight into her talking

4m15s Take out “am”, it should just be “I pro choice”

4m22s I need a better response, or no response to what mom says

5m49s That got slightly awkward, I should’ve peer pressured him into a high five like I did when I MCed the previous show

6m05s What possesses someone to yell it out?

6m43s Don’t yell it, but still be excited

7m18s I might do it again

7m32s Acknowledge that saying this is messed up, before doing the act out of it

Overall: I did well but I was getting too many sympathy “awwws” throughout the set. I think this was because I wasn’t dressed as nice as usual, so I actually looked pathetic. If I look good, then people laugh at my misfortunes. If I look bad, then it’s just sad. I also need to work out a couple of lines towards the end of the mom bit. Otherwise, my material is working more and more consistently.

This is at The Ice House Main Stage for an audience of around 80

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hur5z-EKSxc

0m50s I didn’t scrunch my eyebrows like usual, that would’ve gotten an even bigger response

1m08s Say “yes” in a question format, like “yes?”

1m11s Stumbled on a word there, no need for “have”

1m59s Not sure why I said “when I” twice

2m19s I find I need to wait a couple of seconds for “they’re not all drunks” to hit

2m55s Second night in a row that happened, I was ready for it this time

3m59s I thought “that failed” would get a laugh, might as well cut the line

4m22s No need for “make wrong choice line”

5m02s This is the best this joke has ever worked

5m12s I thought medicare would hit stronger, a few more trials and I will remove it

5m57s Maybe try “I want to change that” instead of “it needs to change”

6m25s The tubes joke has stopped working, and I can’t figure out why, it used to be one of my best jokes… I’ll try rewriting it a few times, but it’s looking like it might need to be retired

6m44s At least jdate still works

7m13s This could be a good time do something like “got your nose” or other facepainting / clown thing

7m43s Could’ve ended stronger

Overall: This was a great set and it’s interesting to me how all my newer material works much better than my older (and more tested material). The tubes joke either needs to be redone or completely retired because it’s not working. Also, some of my newer jokes are one line too long, or in need of a better last line.

This is my last show at Caltech. Unlike the first two, I chose to headline this one and had my good friend come out of comedy retirement to MC. Of course, he wound up doing 18 minutes before I got on stage, so the show was going for 2+ hours when I finally got on stage. I recommend watching Jay’s MCing video which I linked above, as it’s pretty funny.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZRnNIP_nFA

0m18s No need to point out they want to go study or that it’s a long show, especially when it’s true

0m34s I asked Jay to introduce me as “Professor Ben”

0m50s I like the Professor Ben stage name but I don’t like starting jokes about the name, it might work better in the middle of my set

3m18s That was spontaneous, but I now expect one random laugh on this line

4m14s I need a response to “son businessman”

4m43s Get rid of the “unless he make wrong choice” line

4m48s I need a response

5m13s Fallopian tubes hasn’t been working at all lately, I might need to retire it

6m06s Get rid of this joke

6m39s All 3 lines of “what’s a nobel prize?” should be cut

7m13s Try making an orgasm face after “this feels incredible” to build up more tension before “god I hope this works”

7m39s The person I addressed it to was at least 75

7m59s It’d be better to say “I guess Caltech doesn’t have a class on pulling out, that’s a liberal arts class”

9m04s I was proud of the “did attend high school”

9m18s This was a 75 year old woman who the MC tried to peer pressure into drinking

9m39s Cut this joke

9m50s And this one

Part 2

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9TVOiDX4HE

1m02s Make a bigger motion with my hands on that act out

1m33s The first line of dogs worked much better yesterday

2m40s That’s not even true, this is an example bad thinking by me. Just cause a few jokes haven’t hit in a row, doesn’t mean the audience wants to go home, it just means a few jokes haven’t hit. I need to change my attitude on that.

2m47s As proven by a good laugh right here

4m03s Make it “I guess I’ll date you for another week”

4m17s No need to say that

4m30s It would definitely be cool if comedians could run onto the stage with high fives like wrestlers do

4m58s Nobody laughing at what I learned today is funny to me

5m09s I knew it wouldn’t work here

6m42s I wasn’t planning on doing this joke either

6m54s These two follow up lines need to be cut, probably the whole joke should be cut and I should just find another joke where I can use “in Russia, she would’ve had to wrestle a bear” as a punch line

7m06s The audience member got me good

7m51s I had decided to get rid of jehovah’s witnesses and myspace, but got such a good response for jdate I tried it anyway. Jehovah’s and myspace is now officially retired.

8m15s Finish the sentence then tell them they look like they need it

9m35s I’m pretty excited we did the actual pro wrestling high five thing

Overall: I had a lot of fun being on stage and 20 minutes is the longest I’ve done in a row in a long time. Even two hours into the show, the audience was good and attentive and I can cut a bunch of jokes just from watching this tape.

This is an open mic in a hotel bar

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R0_vORvDH8

1m09s I tried tightening my dogs joke to go straight into the better part, I think the key is starting with “it bothers me that” because I’ve previously tried going straight to “we love our dogs but not enough…” and it hasn’t gotten any response

2m32s I love when people block the camera

2m45s I didn’t have enough time to go through all my Russian stuff, so this wasn’t setup right

3m05s And the punch lines didn’t work as well because of it

3m38s The prison and cigar-o parts need to be taken out

3m58s Someone said “this is a real stage”

4m11s That was mean but funny, and true

4m32s It will be strong if I say “I guess I’ll date you for another week” instead of “we”

4m44s Not a bad suggestion to add “Igor loves this” to the end of that joke

5m28s This is a bad habit to think aloud about what I’m gonna do, but luckily I only do this at open mics

Overall: The first couple of minutes went very well and it was all material that I’ve been reworking. Some of the later stuff didn’t work as well and will be taken out or rewritten. I’m in the process of culling a lot of my jokes and only doing ones that really work, so there’s a lot of experimentation going on from show to show.