Category: Performance Critiques

Back in NYC and a small crowd

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ea3jawim0w

0m39s Point to the floor when I say “this” 

1m07s Pause for a second after “that is sexist” 

1m52s Combine this into one question of “what’d you get him for Christmas?” 

2m55s I missed the word “dog’s” between “click a” and “photo” 

5m01s When I do the girl voice, I should have my eyes look up to where I will be standing in five seconds responding to her

Overall: Small crowds are much harder to destroy than large crowds, but it’s a lot less painful if you don’t do well with a small crowd.

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.

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.

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” 

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)