Monday, August 6, 2012

My First Show: The Big Comedown

I recently got to do my first couple of shows. One was as the opening act (I don't know what the various spots are officially called) for a showcase in the suburbs hosted by Marcos Lupara. I even was on the poster. There was a poster! And then a couple of days later I got invited to do a charity event hosted by Priscilla Farina. That's awesome, because it's pretty much exactly what I wanted, I've stated that my goal was to perform for a non-comic audience. It's a big deal on a personal level when it's your first show, but it quickly fades.

First off, it's not at all like losing your virginity. If we're going to stick with the relationship analogy, I'd say it's like going from asking someone out, to leaving the house to meet up with them, on a first date. In other words, it's not a huge deal. I went through jokes that I've done at least a few times before. So, once I was up there, it didn't feel significantly different from doing a well attended open mic. Something that was different was that some jokes that did well at open mics didn't do as well at the show. That could be for a bunch of reasons, though.

One thing that was very different was time. My only comedy experience is open mics, so I've been conditioned to get everything out in 4-5 minutes. At an open mic, I go right into it. At a show, I found that I let things breathe a lot more. So, jokes that should have taken 8 1/2 minutes to tell, ended up translating to 11 1/2 minutes. Thankfully, it was a laid back show with a nice producer, so I didn't get any flack about it, but still, that's a big difference. I learned that I should underestimate how much time a certain amount of jokes will take, time-wise.

As far as how I did, I think it went fine. Not great, but not terrible. I got a some laughs, and that's all I could really ask for, really. Bottom line, the shows came and went. I learned a few things, but overall, it was pretty underwhelming. And it should be. One show doesn't make or break you. It's a long journey, so this was that single step that starts it. But, looking back, it wasn't even the first step. The first step started 30 years ago, when I listened to Bill Cosby albums, and stayed up until 1 am on Saturday nights to tape this stand up comedy clip show on AM radio hosted by Len Belzer (Richard's brother). There are some finite moments, but they're inconsequential when taken in context. It's about trends, going out, keep going out, keep working.
 
Along those lines, Peter Byrnes, a comic I know (who incidentally, has a podcast that I was privileged to be a guest on) said something to me that took away a lot of the anxiety that I would have otherwise had about doing my first show. The first show is just that, the FIRST one. If you want to do a show (and most of us do), then at some point you can get on a show, so you might as well just do it. You'll suck and then it'll be over.
 
I don't want to sound like I'm apathetic or ungrateful for the opportunities. Far from it. I just consciously didn't want to put too much stock in the first shows or make it a bigger deal than it needed to be. I had enough nerves just trying to figure out what I was going to do, let alone any of the other issues that could creep up on top of that.

This whole thing reminds me about my last post, which talked about the jealously/self pity issues that spring up sometimes, and how I dealt with them.  Without sounding too "Chicken Soup for the Soul", I'd say that understanding those ugly feelings, and getting rid of them, was key, in my mind, to people being more willing to ask me to do a show. To repeat myself, those ugly feelings are a stink that sticks to you. Nobody wants to be around someone like that. Not that you have to pretend that you never have those feelings, but you don't want to get to a point where that defines who you are, and how you act. Getting over those feelings means that there's less stuff in your brain that could impede what you're trying to do; get funnier. That's all that matters. I think, maybe.

Anyways, yeah, first shows. Done, moving on.