Learn From Watching Others

This week I didn't perform anywhere. Instead I went out to see 26 year veteran comedian Andy Kindler. He was a judge this year on Last Comic Standing. Me and the other local comedians ended up chatting a bit with him between shows. He told us how he grew up in Queens and moved out to LA over 20 years ago, and that he moved out there for a reason other than comedy. He said that was good because a lot of comedians move out to LA with a time frame of success, and if they don't reach it by that time they give up.

At the other club in West Valley the big names were Shawn and Marlen Waynes. It was fun to hear Andy tell us of the time he poked fun at the Waynes brothers on Madd TV, something to the extent that the Waynes' brother's were propagating a negative stereotype for African Americans. He said that it was like if his people had created a sit com called Jewie about a stereotypical Jewish boy who carried out "Jewie" shenanigans all day. He then acted out a bit of the sketch for us then told us that the Waynes' brothers refused to perform on Madd TV after that sketch.

As far as the performance, I saw the late show on Saturday night, and I don't think that a lot of the audience knew what to expect from Andy Kindler. His style of comedy is heavy on the self deprecation, and more from the school of Mel Brooks. I enjoyed it, but many of the late show crowd did not. I found out later that the rest of the crowds that weekend were much better, but it was good to see how he interacted with an audience that didn't seem to connect as well as you would expect. He seemed to have a good time making fun of the young girls in the front row who kept texting throughout the show. They walked out eventually, as did the rednecks in the back of the room who didn't seem to get his brand of comedy. You would think people would do a little research on who the headliner was before going out to a comedy show. There were a few die hard fans though, just not enough to carry the energy of a great show. But sometimes the low energy shows bring out the true grit of  a comedian and can show more of the human side of his craft.

Master of Ceremonies

One of the hardest jobs as a comedian is the master of ceremonies or MC for short. It is the MC's job to warm up the crowd for the rest of the comedians on the show. This weekend I was the MC at two different venues. Friday and Saturday I worked the downtown comedy club wiseguys, then Sunday night I worked at A Bar Named Sue. It was their very first night trying out comedy and it showed. The sound system was being tweaked as I was trying to warm up the crowd. It's already hard enough to break the ice with a new crowd so when you compound that with them not being able to hear, it's a going to be a long 15 minutes, but by the time the headliner got up the kinks were worked out and the crowd was able to get into the show.

At the other club the shows were a lot of fun. I was able to see a difference in my energy level fluctuate between shows. When you have a really good crowd it can spark a lot of energy. I definitely feed off the energy of the crowd and visa-verse.  

I think the bar venue will get better. It's also a free show which lowers the expectations of the crowd a bit. Which can be a good thing or a bad thing. It's good to have more venues open up though, they just take a lot of work to get off the ground.

Short Films and Marketing

Many of the local comedians like to get together to make short films. This is the era of viral videos. If you can build a following online you are at a huge advantage over other comedians. Many bookers expect the comedians to market themselves and get butts in seats. Advertising on TV and radio isn't cheap enough to justify running an ad campaign for a $10 a ticket comedian.  Here is a link to a short we made this week, please feel free to help make it go viral.  Birding Short.

Utah is a very tricky market to sell to. There are those who want to watch super clean comedy, and those who don't. It's hard to please both sides. If people don't know who the comedian is that is headlining they don't know what to expect. That is why the clubs in Utah have tried to establish a reputation for clean comedy, so people can know what to expect. That means that the more gritty comedy has taken it's place in various bars. One new venue is opening up that will market to a more broad audience. It's called the Complex. It's located just west of the Gateway mall.

Another newer venue for comedy is A Bar Named Sue. Next Sunday night I will be hosting the show. Blake Bard and Dustin Brock are the Headlining and Feature acts. I'll report back on how that show works out.

Wedding Gig and AA Show.

So my first comedy show at a wedding went over a lot better than I feared. I had never done comedy at a wedding before, so all I had to go off of was other comedians horror stories. I made sure to keep it as squeaky clean as possible. Luckily I was only on the clock for 20 minutes. I kept starring at the grandparents. I figured, as long as they were laughing I was good.

Last weekend was another first. I did a ten minute set for an Alcoholics Anonymous party, to help raise money for their chapter. Needless to say they were all sober, so it definitely felt different from a night club or bar gig. It was a fun show. There were 8 or so comedians on the show, so I'm glad I went up early before the crowd lost their energy. Both crowds They liked my jokes about my wife not talking to me for eight hours after I told her to shut up. That seems like a good wide premise.

As for upcoming gigs, I may have a bar gig lined up for later in the month, and I usually go to open mic nights on Wednesdays. Those are always a special treat.