pics and stuff

My friend Lisa Kowalewski was at the Showcase Showdown Wednesday and took some pictures. I like them a lot because I don't usually photograph well. These aren't bad. Anyway, here they are; Thanks Lisa!

Magna Cum Nada

Wednedsay was the second Showcase Showdown at the Comedy Forum. I had
six people show up to see me, two of which I expected. My friendsa Lisa
and Mandy from the Columbia College Student Activities Commission showed
up with two other girls. The show was fun, I was second on stage and I
did well; meaning I had fun and I got some laughs. Sadly, I did not win,
and even worse, I didn't even place. Tim Heeley placed third, Bill Davis
second, and Ken JR. won the whole thing.
After the show, Lisa, Mandy, Jackie, Steve (that's not her name, I just
don't remember it) and I went to some bar in Westport and watched this
couple make out on a pool table for like an hour. Also, I almost got
beat up by some frat boy. All in all it was a very fun evening. Thanks
much to everyone who made it out to the show, the weather was horrible,
so it's really cool to have people risk snowy roads for my show.

But at least I'm not bitter...

Lots of people are in town visiting loved ones for the holidays; but
they apparently had to get out of the house last night because the Funny
Bone was packed for the show last night. Yeah, too bad I wasn't on the
list. Last night would have been an awesome time on stage. There were a
couple pros in the house, Danno Sullivan, Andi Smith and Greg Warren
specifically. Things got interesting before the show even started
though; I showed up early, as usual, to write and doodle. Paul Harris
and I are toying with the idea of doing a web comic; eventually comics
started showing up, but at least three of the first six people to show
up after me were new (to the St. Louis club). And somehow (I don't know
how) they all ended up asking ME for the info; when the show starts,
where's the meeting, and so and and so forth. I actually had a dream
last night that Behrens got mad at me for doing that; weird.
Anyway, I was just a little more than jealous that all of these new guys
got to have such a terrific crowd, especially since I wanted the
training for the contest tonight, but being the eternal freakin'
optimist that I am; I looked for a bright side. And here it is; Whenever
I have a 'bad show'; I appreciate the good ones all the more; whenever I
don't get on, I appreciate being on all the more. And so far, nothing is
worse that watching /other/ comics have a terrific audience while
knowing you AREN'T getting on... That's on the same level as just
bombing.

Oh yeah

Before I forget, the feature at the Forum this week was a really nice guy who goes by the artist formerly known as Eric Kirkland. He was very complimentary and very nice to work with.

One Week

Last night ended my three night week at the Forum, and last night I realized that I really like being loud on stage. I was louder than hell during the announcements and during my set on stage; it was a lot of fun. I hope that I can keep that type of energy on stage for the competition on Wednesday.

I got better

Last night’s show was far better that Thursday’s. I shortened my set onstage to Pharm1, Pharm2, Tetris and Phone Sex. The announcements were better, and I got some good advice from Ken Evans, the headliner, about pumping up the crowd before bringing someone on stage (I shouldn’t settle for a crowd’s weak applause, instead I should demand they “make some noise”). It may sound like common sense, but I guess it just didn’t occur to me.

No business like it!

Last night was my premiere as an MC at the Comedy Forum. As usual I
showed up early to focus and BS with Claire the waitress/bartender. I'm
not sure when it happened, but a friend walked in and greeted me. The
conversation went something like this:

Friend: Hey, Marcus, I thought that was your car out there.
Marcus: Hey, Friend. How's it going?
Friend: Good, what are you doing here?
Marcus: I'm MC-ing this weekend.
Friend: Really? Because they told me I was MC-ing this weekend.
Victoria Silvstedt: Hey guys!
Marcus and Friend together: Hey, Victoria.

(end scene)

I ended up MC-ing the show, which was fun but it was like talking to a brick wall; although brick walls don't whisper to their friends that "that guy sucks"... Ok that didn't happen, but it was a rough room. The feature was Eric Kirkland, who I introduced as Kirk Lachland because I went to school with Kirk and I was very flustered from my own poor set. Rule number one of MC-ing is "Don't mess up the announcements". That includes the comic's names. Whoops, strike one. Between comics, I forgot to plug the karaoke after the show. Strike two. Thankfully I got Ken Evans' name correct, however I did forget to plug the Happy Hour Drink Specials at the end of the show. They should have just beaten me with a stick right then and there.

Bizarro-world

I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but I'm pretty sure that I got
sucked into some sort of black-is-white, up-is-down alternate reality
Bizarro universe type thing. Let me explain: I've already explained how
a guy at Gene Lynn's called and wanted me to do a show Thursday the 18th
(today, infact). Well at 3-ish yesterday, I got a call from Jim Stout
who offered me a spot to MC 5 shows this weekend at the Comedy Forum
(including Thursday the 18th (still today) ). Since I am not a super
hero with the ability to actually exist in two places at once, I chose
the Comedy Forum gig, because it's what's called a block date (more than
one show in a block of time) and the Gene Lynn's show is an isolated
date. I feel like I might be flaking out or screwing over the guys at
Gene Lynns, but in my defense I asked that the guy call me back after he
looked at my website to make sure he still wanted me on his show. In
anycase, I hope I'm not burning any bridges here, but I've been hassling
the Forum to give me work for months.
Exhibit B; Attractive women-type folks hung out with me last night.
Seriously, this doesn't happen, if you want proof, dress up in camo and
follow me around on any given day. I karaoke'd last night until 2am (I
never stay up past 11, even on weekends, such actions are unusual for me
(unusual - synonym: bizzaro). Special thanks to Christina and Carrie for
hanging out and not complaining if I spelled their names wrong.
Exhibit C; The crowd at the Red Sea actually paid attention. I did
another 10 minute set, omitting my bachelor party jokes and some of my
roommate jokes. Also, (and I'd call this one of the signs of the
apocolypse) Cuttin' T at the Red Sea actually told jokes. Seriously he
was funny as hell. Loud as a harrier jet, but funny. He probably did 20
or more on stage, and he was pretty good.
In anycase, last night was a blast, and I'm probably going to be paying
for it today at work.

Bruce Bruce = Bruce²

Last night. The Funny Bone Staff (that sounds like a weapon you'd find in Diablo II) were quite busy with a professional show with Bruce Bruce AND an amateur night. Jeff Urin and Gabriel Kea pan-handled free passes to the general public, which increased our audience size dramatically. The amateur show was in the Back Street Jazz Club, I haven't done a show over there for years (in fact, the first show I ever did at the Funny Bone in the Jazz club in September 2002, I still have that tape). About the show; it was rough. We were warned by the waitstaff that talking needed to be done outside, because vocals carry very well in the club, so comedians who wanted to converse needed to do so elsewhere so as not to disrupt the acts and audience. (That's the same basic speech the audience usually gets). There was a table of non-comics who wouldn't shut up, they had conversations among themselves and even tried to "help" the guys on stage. Tried, and failed. I wasn't on the list originally, but I was added. I went up second to last, before Kevin Patterson and after Jeff Urin. I went up with a list in my pocket, but I don't think I used it. I honestly don't remember. It was fun though, I got a couple laughs, drank some coffee and was home in time for Futurama and Family Guy. The coolest thing of the night was getting a call from a guy at Gene Lynnes. The gentleman, Rob I think, is having a show Thursday and John Garrison gave him my name.  Rob wanted me to come down to audition (to make sure I have material and was fairly clean), but I was already at the Bone so I told him I would be unable to. I told him I worked clean, so that wouldn't be much of a problem and then I realized I have media on my website, so I informed him he could check out my material there. I was pretty happy because now the website has been used by someone wanting to get me on stage. As usual, it was a good night, tonight is the Red Sea, next week is the Comedy Forum competition and Thanksgiving. Comedy and napping, I can't wait.

Louie Louie

Oh man, am I tired this morning. Or I was tired. I just poured my cup of
hot coffee and it's already waking me up. Of course I spilled some on my
hand, and that woke me up quick. Last night I had dinner with my Dad and
my brother, Darin, at the LoneStar by the Dierbergs on Olive. I had a
medium rare bacon and mozz cheese burger. It was one of the single
greatest burgers I've ever had. Afterwards I went to the Holiday Inn in
St. Peters for the Louie's comedy night that John Garrison does. I
showed up and took a seat with Tom Shelton. One of the comics scheduled
third hadn't shown and John offered me some stage time. John MC'd the
show, and Tom Shelton followed, then Bill Davis, and then I went on. I
haven't done done more than 5 minutes really since my time in Fairview
Heights, so I was a little worried that I would need to rely too heavily
on my cheat-sheet. During some of Bill's set, I grabbed my notes from my
car and basically duplicated the order I used in Fairview Heights. I
added the new Monestary joke that I wrote recently, and it seemed to do
ok. I hit the record button on my camera right as Bill Davis walked off
stage, and John gave me the "clubs and colleges" intro, I think I may
have done around 8 to 10 minutes. I'll need to watch the tape of course.
John gave me the light while I was in my Tetris bit, and I finished with
my jokes about working at a pharmacy. A couple of times, I've done
Tetris and I get an applause break at the end, I'd like to know how to
sucker that out of a crowd without it being to noticeable. Some people
will throw in an extended pause, kind of like an "I'm not starting back
up until I get some recognition" and some people will blatently just say
"come on" or something like that. I don't think they mention that in any
of the books I've got...

Another google entry

I am bored at work and so I googled my name, just to see what number my website would be, and this entry came up BEFORE MY WEBSITE

Google "Marcus Robinson" #49 http://www.ccis.edu/directory/expand2.asp?UID=801&lname=Robinson
It's my old info when I was a Residential Assistant at Columbia College, it's atleast 11 months outdated, moreso if you count the phone number, which changed in May of 2003 to 573 875 3650...

I can't think of a title right now...

I think I'm a little bitter. And I'm not sure if I have the right. Last night, we BARELY had a crowd at the Forum, but we had a show anyway. I suppose I should be grateful for that. It is a common known fact(heck almost a universal truth) that the crowd size is directly proportionate to the degree of dificulty of achieving laughter (ie smaller crowds are harder to get laughing). There are exceptions to the rule; because if there weren't it might sound like I know what I am talking about. I did almost all "new" material and I can't say I brought my "A game"; meaning I probably didn't really try. It's easier to "try" with bigger audiences, because it's more exciting, and when I'm more excited on stage, usually I have a better show.

I guess the root of my bitterness is that I feel like I am trying hard; but I also feel like I don't have time to try hardER. With a roommate, a job, a new condo, and a severe addiction to video games and cartoons, sometimes I just don't feel like I have anymore time. There are shows other times during the week, so say other comics I talk with, maybe I should just make some sacrafices and take the advice Chad Huff gave me. He said it was the best advice he had ever heard, "Don't think of comedy as a job".

Back to the Forum, last night Monray Griffen showed up, and while on stage he depantsed and did 80% or more of his time with his pants around his ankles. With this act he showed the crowd that he was going to be presenting some "shocking" or different ideas. So the rest of his set, people weren't as surprised when he would say something graphic or bizarre. Because they weren't so shocked, I think they were more prone to laugh. Then again, they may have just been laughing at the fact that he was in his boxers on stage. Just a side note, the girls in the front row faced the floor and the back of the club for the rest of his set.

The Red Sea was normal this week; small crowd, I ended up doing my set to one dude in the front row. I got to work on the wording of some of my jokes, but I didn't get the honest reaction I wanted, because of the small crowd theory. I was up until midnight, but surprisingly I am not that tired today.

Video killed the radio star

Tuesday = Funny Bone Amateur night, most of the time at least. I've been over that a couple of times, I think; Last night we almost literally had an all star cast at the show. Andy Woodhull and Joe Lehnig came all the way from Chicago (Andy's at Fairview Heights this week, I would recommend seeing the show). Andi Smith, a very funny comedienne was in, as was Jimmy Rice and Bret Clawson. Regretably I was not on stage last night, but I was able to work on some jokes and I came up with a couple of tags I like for my Bachelor Party jokes. The weirdest thing came during the meeting before the show; though. Apparently people have complained about the taping of the shows, so effective immediately, Matt said we wouldn't be allowed to video-tape our shows. I'm super relieved I didn't buy a new camera as I have been wanting to do. This will be kind of a setback, I think, because I don't have an audio recorder and I just bought a whole bunch of demo supplies to send out once I get a decent tape together. If push comes to shove, I could always record a Red Sea show, (but the lighting is pretty bad there). In any case, I originally wanted to have a tape out by the end of November so that I could try to pick up some work in the Spring semester, but now I'd almost rather sit on that and wait until I get a really nice 5 to 7 minute tape together.

The Comedy Forum contest v.2

Wednesday, November 24th at 8:00pm CST the Comedy Forum will be hosting it's second competition. The winner will recieve a week's paid MC work at the Forum and will hopefully be added to the rotation of MC's there. Judging is based somewhat on audience responce, so it's important that each of the contestants bring people to cheer them on. As always, admission is free. I'd add more details, but I seriously doubt too many people show, as it's the day BEFORE Thanksgiving.

A nice surprise

I haven't really blogged in a week or so, so I guess I should make up
for it somehow... I know I'll do one NOW!

First off, work is dead as can be, so I am typing this from there; We
didn't have a show at the Funny Bone this week because they did a kind
of political debate with comedians, which I hear was really funny. I
wanted to attend, but I had dinner with my Aunt Millie and Uncle E.J.
and it ran a little long. Suffice it to say the Taco Salad at the Gas
House Grill on Olive was pretty tasty. I highly recommend the place, one
of the owners came out and was more than friendly, and the waitress, (I
think her name was Jen) was pretty attractive. Good teeth. That's two
weeks in a row that we haven't had a show at the Funny Bone.
That fact alone drove me to the Red Sea on Wednesday. I really really
hate to say this, because I risk sounding snobby or stuck up, but lately
I have not been enjoying the Red Sea. To be honest, I have actually been
kind of dreading going there, and have only been going because it's a
chance to work out kinks on new material (wording, timing and such). The
crowds are generally a little apathetic (towards me at least). By
'apathetic' I mean simply that the crowd may or may not be
paying attention, which is one of the major requirements for enjoying a
comedy show. Plus since it's a small crowd, people might be more prone
to hold in their laughter. Bigger crowds are easier because laughter is
contagious, one person laughing makes it easier for someone else to
laught, and like wildfire a room could be filled with chuckles, gafaws
and snorts. Provided the comedian is funny, of course. Or really really
NOT funny.
Anyway back to the Sea: before the show, Paul Harris and I were talking
to the upstairs bartender, Amy, and she came downstairs and saw Paul's
set and my set. I went up 6th or 7th, which is really late for me, and I
was planning on only doing a quick 3 or 4 (mainly new material) and
bailing, but I got up, and the crowd was paying attention, and I got a
laught at one-liner that people really have to pay attention to. Anyway,
I ended up doing more time that I anticipated, but I really enjoyed it.
I'd say it made my day. I drove home and got a decent night's sleep, and
really you can't beat that.
Today (Friday) I got an email from my cousin, Tim. Tim was in the href="http://www.marcusisfunny.com/contest/janken.htm">jankan
contest and wanted to know about the results. So I popper over to
the page to verify I actually did something with the submissions and I
found out I screwed up some of the stuff. The results for a couple
people were incorrect, not that it changed any of the winner's
catagories much. So I fixed the stuff and will re-upload the new page
tonight, after I make some shelves and play some City of Heroes (I'm
almost lvl 27 and have been out of debt for a couple of days now).
Anyway, this is probably the biggest blog I've written, and I honestly
don't have anything else I want to write... There's a contest at the
Forum coming up on the day BEFORE thanksgiving. I'm excited about it,
it'd sure be nice if people came to support me (hint hint).