Baby Steps

So I performed at the ComedyWorks open mic last night, as you may have been aware of. I'd say there were about 40 or 50 people there including a small handful of friends. Here are my thoughts on the evening... in exciting PRO and CON point form!!!

CON - I didn't do as well as I wanted to. Not saying that I bombed or anything, but I thought I'd be better.

PRO - Most of my biggest laughs came towards the end and I finished pretty strong.

CON - It was my first time on the stage there and two things threw me off. Firstly, the mic stand sucked. Maybe it was just me and I haven't learned how to use them yet, but it took a while to adjust it to my height and it kept slipping down while I was doing my set. Eventually I just said "Screw this thing" and took the mic out. By then I was already flustered and it made me skip over a joke. Also, the lights were a lot brighter than other ones I'd been in front of. I could see the first row and a couple side tables, but that was it. Overall, I don't think I was ever really comfortable and it effected me the whole 5 minutes.

PRO - I tried out some new material that went over well.

CON - I tried out some new material that really did not go over well.

PRO - I think I've figured out how to adapt to a crowd. They seemed picky (my friends said it was a tough crowd, I kinda disagree) and didn't react to what I thought was a great joke. And that led into an extended bit on the same topic. If a crowd reacts poorly to that again, I could just skip over the bit and go with something else. In fact, I'll probably expand on this whole point about "bad crowds" and "playing to the crowd" in another post.

CON - I cracked noticeably at least once because I stumbled over a word during a new joke. I hate cracking. Ruins the deadpan.

Overall, it was probably okay for the first time at a new place, and for trying new material, and for being only the second time I've ever been on stage with a paying audience. I didn't quite live up to my expectations but that's part of the learning experience.