Green Dragon Open Mic
I am on the train to Boston for the second time in a week in order to go to a comedy show. Last week I went to the Comedy Studio, which I am told is the best venue for up-and-coming comics in Boston. Anyway, the set went really well, one of the better responses of the night, but that’s not a big deal considering that Wednesday is a night for established comics to work on new material, while I was trying to show Rick Jenkins my best stuff. My friends Billy and Louis Came, along with one of Louis’ friends from Emerson, and I think they all enjoyed it. Anyway, after the show I talked to Rick about getting another spot in the future, but he brought up two concerns:
1. I brought a notebook up with me onstage. Fair enough. I didn’t look at it once, it was more of a security blanket, but I can understand his trepidation at putting me on a bigger night, since he listened from backstage and has no idea how reliant I was on my notes.
2. My new bit about Would You Rather apparently bears a resemblance to an old joke of a guy named Abe Smith. This is weird and funny because Abe was a senior at Brown when I was a freshman, and he was a very funny improv person whom Todd Goldstein once told me did stand-up in Boston. So it comes full circle. I assured Rick that I didn’t want to appear to be stealing material, but the joke went over pretty well, and I don’t want to lose it all if I don’t have to (it’s about 1.5 minutes of joke). Regardless, I am totally willing to drop it if necessary, and I told hi as much. Meanwhile, I am only going to do the first half of it, since he seemed to take issue with the second part more.
Anyway, I emailed him today, so we’ll see if he gets back to me about it.
Concerning the set itself, I did two new long bits about girls’ nights out and the aforementioned Would You Rather. I tied them together with Smoking Games, which I really need to edit, but both my new bits went well. I am happy about this because, although I like my short jokes and one-liners, I think I want to go in a more story-telling direction, and these jokes are starting to get there. It’s hard with a 5 minute set to get into a bunch of stories, so I am going to stick to starting with a few 10 second jokes and building into more of a story by the end. I hope this works out.
Anyway, I have an open mic at the Green Dragon tonight. I am in no way guaranteed a spot on the show, but I am showing up like 1 ½ hours early, so hopefully Jessica, the showrunner, will have pity on me and my commute. Wish me luck (even though by the time I post this my set will be over).
1. I brought a notebook up with me onstage. Fair enough. I didn’t look at it once, it was more of a security blanket, but I can understand his trepidation at putting me on a bigger night, since he listened from backstage and has no idea how reliant I was on my notes.
2. My new bit about Would You Rather apparently bears a resemblance to an old joke of a guy named Abe Smith. This is weird and funny because Abe was a senior at Brown when I was a freshman, and he was a very funny improv person whom Todd Goldstein once told me did stand-up in Boston. So it comes full circle. I assured Rick that I didn’t want to appear to be stealing material, but the joke went over pretty well, and I don’t want to lose it all if I don’t have to (it’s about 1.5 minutes of joke). Regardless, I am totally willing to drop it if necessary, and I told hi as much. Meanwhile, I am only going to do the first half of it, since he seemed to take issue with the second part more.
Anyway, I emailed him today, so we’ll see if he gets back to me about it.
Concerning the set itself, I did two new long bits about girls’ nights out and the aforementioned Would You Rather. I tied them together with Smoking Games, which I really need to edit, but both my new bits went well. I am happy about this because, although I like my short jokes and one-liners, I think I want to go in a more story-telling direction, and these jokes are starting to get there. It’s hard with a 5 minute set to get into a bunch of stories, so I am going to stick to starting with a few 10 second jokes and building into more of a story by the end. I hope this works out.
Anyway, I have an open mic at the Green Dragon tonight. I am in no way guaranteed a spot on the show, but I am showing up like 1 ½ hours early, so hopefully Jessica, the showrunner, will have pity on me and my commute. Wish me luck (even though by the time I post this my set will be over).
posted by Kent at 10:35 PM
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