The camera puts on 10 pounds...

...and makes everything less funny.

As I mentioned before, last class there was someone who taped everyone's set. And a couple days ago I finally got to watch myself on stage. It was moderately painful. I have very little experience performing in front of a camera. (That's what she said.) Amateur, would be the word that comes to mind. To make matters worse, there were only 20 people in the club and they'd all heard different variations of my set for the past month and a half. Since we've all heard each others material several times now, our workshops have taken on the context of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. "Hi. My name is Jesse and I haven't told a joke in 3 weeks." And at the end everyone claps and says "Good job. That was nice."

I suppose the reactions were basically what I'd heard on the audio I'd recorded myself, but it just looks worse when you can tell how terrible the atmosphere was. It looks like someone performing at a real club with no one there and fewer laughs, even for the good stuff. Someone commented on their video "This is my impression of doing stand-up for the hearing impaired."

The one thing I really wasn't happy with was my stage presence. I need to work on that. I can't put my finger on it yet, but I just looked too cautious, like I was trying not to break something. I thought I was comfortable on stage but it doesn't show. I'll figure it out.

And I'm sorry for not actually posting the video, but I'm not nearly ready to show it. I want the first video of myself posted here to be my first show in front of a real audience. Hopefully it'll also stand alone as something I'd be want to post regardless. Once I've got a few videos under my belt, I'll put it up and you can all bask in my humble beginnings.

Countdown to the show... T-Minus 19 Days...