Category: Performance Critiques

This is back in DC.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMCPBMR5Oj4 

0m29s Kill the good looking Tom Cruise joke 

0m54s Throw in an “I get it” after the “Halloween costume” and try to reword it a little bit 

1m27s Previous comics and his friends made fun of him about this, so I called back to it. I’m not just picking on audience members for no reason — although the bigger a group, the more they love it when someone in their group gets picked on, when its in fun at least 

2m02s Add “and 30 seconds to escape” 

2m12s Get rid of the abandoned warehouse line 

3m19s Good job giving them a second to breathe 

3m53s Need more emphasis on the word “enslave” 

4m44s This whole joke should be tried much shorter: “I make decisions by playing rock paper scissor. I was a paper away from being a brain surgeon. And I was a scissor away from cutting myself” 

5m38s A little more energy on the “if you __” scenarios 

6m42s This was one of the best reactions to the “eat bros before ho’s” line 

7m20s Good job using the audience’s input to keep my joke going 

7m58s Decent call back to end it

Overall: I’m glad the call back is working to end the joke. And the newer jokes need to get tightened as usual. This is of course a lot more obvious after watching it.

This is the third and final show of the night.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2ljrzwMTYE 

0m04s I have know idea what she said as my first name, but it definitely wasn’t Ben 

0m34s I’m not smiling enough 

0m48s I should’ve kept doing the facial expression for an extra second 

1m00s I’m not “enraged” or as “energetic” with this joke as I need to be, the tubes joke isn’t a laid back dead panning joke 

1m40s I like how my little unoriginal retort got a big laugh 

2m06s Keep the hand a second longer 

2m12s Pause a second after “isn’t really laugh” to build up suspense 

2m16s I didn’t smile enough after the line 

3m20s Don’t stutter over words 

3m34s I don’t remember why I decided to get all distracted with people sitting back down and why I said I wanted to drink so bad after 

4m58s Better to start the sentence with, “Have you noticed how…” 

5m33s I’m explaining saw twice, I can get rid of the whole “survive a psycho’s boobie trapped abandoned warehouse” line 

5m57s You can see the waitress drop the checks as I’m in the middle of this last joke. This killed any momentum I had going as the minute after a check is put on a table, everyone stops listening while they figure out the payments 

Overall: This wasn’t a great set but got a couple of good laughs. I was too laid back and didn’t say my jokes with conviction and emotion. It also didn’t help that the checks got dropped in the middle of my last joke.

This was the second show of the night, and I barked for this one.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E6JWk3C7MA

0m14s The guy before me was being vulgar with the ladies in front and they were enjoying it. I learned during his set that they worked for the PTA, so I came up with my little add on. 

1m00s Interesting how I don’t get the big laugh until I throw in the facial expression 

1m47s Turned a little too far to the left side of the stage, I should turn my head not my body 

2m25s Interesting how the dog joke isn’t working as well as usual 

2m36s But the little joke at the expense of an audience member still works 

2m58s Interesting how “puppies for yuppies” gets the big laugh, it usually doesn’t much response 

3m35s More emphasis on “unemployment” 

4m45s Don’t ask if it’s Saw, say it in the beginning 

4m58s This whole first date can be tightened 

5m07s I’m not delivering this emotionally enough, the delivery should be like “here’s an awesome crazy idea” 

5m47s I think a hyena is dying in the back 

Overall: This was much better than my first set of the night but I’m not sure why most of the dog joke didn’t’ work.

I did 3 shows in the same room (with different crowds) this night. For this first show I was the first comic up after the MC. The MC did 6 or 7 minutes of jokes but didn’t interact with the crowd much. 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68lIj5XTie4

0m32s I didn’t deliver “for blind people” in the right tone 

0m52s You can see the waitress still taking drink orders, this never helps audience engagement 

1m18s There was a lot of talking that wasn’t drink orders that was distracting me 

1m32s I’m rushing through my jokes and swaying. This is what happens when I’m not doing well 

2m36s If the crowd doesn’t laugh at all to my “you must love sweaters” line, then the set will bomb. I usually use this line as a baseline to what the maximum response I could’ve gotten for every joke is. 

5m07s This was me catching myself not to say “third date” twice while I was in the middle of talking and it led to a lot of stumbling and bumbling 

6m18s Ask the question more like I’m talking to one person, not like I’m doing standup 

6m32s I didn’t deadpan “snuggle head” the right way 

Overall: This is as close to bombing as I’ve done in a while. This is also the reason why everyone hates going first. The big lesson I learned here is that if the host (or the hosts and all comics up to you) hasn’t done their crowd work, you have to do it for them because the audience isn’t ready to just sit back and listen to jokes yet. By crowd work, I mean asking the standard “Where are you from? What do you do?” questions that almost every host does with a bunch of tables up front at the start of the show. See here for more on how to be a good emcee.

This is the place where I bark for time on weekends. I don’t remember how many people were in here but it wasn’t more than 12. 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTHoE4womg8

0m04s The MC needs to pause before saying my name 

1m37s I messed up the word order, it should be “if you get up here and start making out with me while I’m in the middle of my jokes, I’m looking at you” 

1m56s I could’ve interacted with his overly enthusiastic “Yes I do” a bit more 

3m11s Don’t use the word “care” twice and say “dog dies” not “killed” 

4m27s I purposefully skipped the “if the two of you can survive a psychos booby trapped abandoned warehouse” because I was running short on time 

4m49s I didn’t pause long enough after my explanations because I was rushing to not go over my time 

Overall: Something was off and I didn’t get as good a response as I would have liked. It’s possible they weren’t warmed up / drunk yet as I went early in the show. More likely my delivery was off or I lost them somewhere between 0m30s and 1m30s. I’m not as conversational sounding as I am in other sets.