what's an aubode

Last night, my set at Laughs was probably the most fun I've had on stage in quite a long time. I primarily worked on some new jokes (and reworked some old ones with new ideas). I can't describe what I did or how it worked, but I was just silly on stage. I ended up saying "shit yeah" at one point, and I dropped the f-bomb, but it was a good set. You can listen to the set, f-bomb free, here. Be sure to listen to Adam's intro for me. I like the word tatood. I got an idea to read some of my poetry from college on stage; I'll probably try it at Laughs next week if I remember. Anyway, I have to "work" so this entry isn't going to be very long...

Us versus Them mentality

I went back to the Comedy Forum last night. Despite the fact I haven't been in quite some time, Claire the bartender/waitress still knew I liked coffee. She poured a cup without even asking. Nice. When Jim Stout read the list, I was second in line, following Clayton Champagne. There weren't too many people in the audience, mainly because the big competition was last week and it will probably take a little time to get momentum back. My set wasn't bad, I worked on my drinking material and my dog joke stuff and had a pretty decent time, I got laughs (which is the goal, I think) and worked on a conspiracy idea (no one tells me what I did when I blacked out because its a conspiracy). I hung out for the entire show, which was about 2:15 hours and made it home in time to beat a Homm3 campaign and start a new one (completing the first map before I went to bed).

Work today has been pretty rough, my bosses are expecting quite a lot from me, especially since I'm doing my job and another guy's (because he called in sick again). I did get cookies, though, which is probably the only thing that kept me from walking out the door. I wish the people at work didn't know about my being a comedian. Well some of them; like the ones who suggest material. Every comedian knows what I'm talking about. This one guy keeps giving me the worst one-liners ever. Like: "What's the definition of a partial nudist? Someone who likes to watch other people take of their clothes." Holy crap, where's my notebook. God forbid I loose that gem. I tried to be nice (so it is probably my own fault he keeps bringing me stuff) and was like "that's kind of half-assed, right?" (hey, what do you expect, that pun was LAME). My boss Karen keeps introducing me to big wigs and important-type people and she's always like, "he's a comedian, he went to seminary" and so they always demand a joke. I don't think I've told one yet. Somehow the Animal on Animal porn joke just doesn't seem appropriate.

I'm sick of not living to stay alive

All I want is for you to email me.

needs more pharmacy jokes...

Last night a bunch of people from my work came to the FunnyBone. I don't know most of them as they work in a different department than I do. I did recognize a couple people, but I have never met 90% of them. Yesterday at work, some guy came up and was asking about comedy (and I knew it was coming) and wondered if I would be interested in doing his department's picnic. Imagine, children, families, corporate guidelines (uber clean, I guess) and an outdoor "stage" with (I'm guessing) a terrible PA system. He also kept using the word shtick (which http://www.dictionary.com defines as "A characteristic attribute, talent, or trait that is helpful in securing recognition or attention" or "An entertainment routine or gimmick". I hate that word. It just sounds so hokey or lame. Anyway, not only is the idea of eating it in front of "coworkers" not a terribly thrilling idea, but the guy was offering me work without even seeing my set. I mean I talk about porn and drinking a lot. Not exactly family based. I almost got roped into the same situation for the picnic last year, though I was going to be hosting a karaoke show or something. Thankfully, it fell through.

Anyway, last night's show had a decent sized crowd, I mean the VIP section was pretty full, I'd guess we had over a hundred people, but I'm really bad at guessing numbers... Anyway, Derek, one of the door guys saw my midnight spotlight and requested I do my [animal porn] joke. And I don't think I could do just one porn joke, there wouldn't be enough context to not have a knee-jerk reaction and go "porn is wrong". And I really wanted to work on my dog call back, so I had to do my drinking jokes. So I made a list, pocketed it, and waited for my turn. When the list came out, I was number 8, right after Greg Warren. Greg's very funny and has good stage pressence and for a bit I was nervous that my stage pressence and energy would be a stark contrast to his, but I got on stage and was excited and kind of quick. It felt good, though I didn't look at my stop watch and so I got off a little early (about 45 seconds early). But I split on a good laugh, so I would rather do than that do one more joke, fill up more time and get an average responce. I was on Anyway, you can check out my clip on RooftopComedy. After my set, Rob Durham said that I "followed Greg Warren well" which was a pretty nice compliment.

Before the show (man, if you tried to timeline one of my blogs, I bet it'd be hard, I jump around a lot...) I was at Starbucks. I left work early to go through my audio recorder WAV files on my computer and write down all the premises I had on there. I took them to starbucks and wrote them out in paragraph form, and I think I see potential in a couple, which is exciting.

No more typey typey, you typey typey to me.

I am pushing the morning forward the choice is yours & mine

on giving up and self destruction

Even in the Future nothing works!

Last night I was at the Bistro. Stevie P was hosting, Adam Lough, Mikey Manker, Chris Teague and Clayton Champagne were in attendance and I had already lost in darts to Sarah the bartender. I learned something last night, or at least conciously thought about it. You can never make a set good before you get on stage, but you can definately ruin one before you get on stage. And I'm pretty sure I did that last night, I just gave up before I got on stage. The crowd wasn't exactly attentive, and I guess I just didn't feel like trying. I did some jokes, even tried the call back I was so excited about (funny thing; for a call back to work, people must have heard the first part...) and when I got a phone call on stage, I took it. I've seen other comedians do it before, sometimes with success. However, these guys had at least 1 or 2 advantages: they're more experienced than I am at being quick on stage, and they were crazy or energetic. Anyway, my energy was definately not there, and I almost feel like I didn't "respect the stage", which in my head sounds like some weird buddhist idea of the stage being a living entity (like in anime cartoons, where they have the spirit of the forrest). Anyone see Princess Monanoke?
Moving on...
John Garrison was quoted in an article about stand up comics. One line in the article says "...they [new comics] need to learn that there is more to comedy than being funny". I like that quote. I spend a lot of time going to clubs and a some time writing (granted, I should write more), but I spend probably 90% of my waking hours thinking about comedy. I mean it kind of sums up what I'm doing in this blog. If I can be as lame as to quote my first post, "The following entries will contain lessons I've learned, both on stage and off..."
Tonight I am on the list at the FunnyBone. I invited a bunch of my coworkers to come see me, and left passes on their desks last weekend, so one or two people might come see me. They might still be looking for MCs, so I'll probably try some more "tested material" unlike last time, especially if I have people there to see me. I wouldn't want to do new stuff that potentiall sucks and then have them say "we thought he'd be funnier", you know? Then again, depending on what I come up with in Starbucks, I might slip in a new line or bit.
In completely unrelated news, if you click on my map you can see someone in England has checked out my blog, and someone apparently in the middle of the ocean (now that's a good wireless connection). If I could get someone in Africa to visit and someone in South America, I could say my blog is Worldwide. Come to think of it, I guess it's Intercontinental, or at least International. Neat.

K same 9

Last night I got to do another Midnight Spotlight at the Westport FunnyBone. Alex Raymundo was headlining and between one of the shows asked if I was going to go on stage. I gave my standard reply (the same one I gave to James Sibley and a lot of other comics) "I don't think so, but I don't say no to stage time". After the 10pm show, one of the waitresses found what might have been vomit, and I said I would clean it up for a spotlight. I was only half joking (meaning I'd love the spotlight, but didn't want to piss anyone off). Anyway, Matt said I could do one, which was awsome because my friend Christina "Latina" Rios came by and saw me on stage.
One thing that's been on my mind lately is: who am I on stage. I mean, some of my favorite St. Louis comedians have very developed personas on stage, and to me it seems all of my sets are different. Some days I'm high energy, somedays low. It's not consistant; and I don't know how to get that kind of experience. Stagetime is extremely important, because you can see if jokes work and learn how to write/rewrite them, but it also helps you learn who you are on stage. Some guys don't find out who they are until after they go pro, some guys change their entire persona after they're established (like George Carlin and Richard Prior). Like all things, its frustrating not knowing something, but that's what's cool about learning. That moment where something snaps into place and I go "Ahh!".
Oh yeah, I came up with a silly idea for a call back to a joke today. I don't want to type both jokes just so I can illustrate the callback, but I'll work on it tomorrow and (likely) the rest of the week.

the bubbles tickle my nose

My internet home is down again, so I'm back to risking my day-job in order to record my comedy adventures so that future generations can learn from my mistakes. Wouldn't it be cool if in the future, the only thing that survived survived the next World War would be MarcusIsFunny.com ? Think how screwed up the world would be if it based
itself on my teachings. Anyway, Gabe Kea was hosting at Laughs last night and he let me go up first (I'm determined to mastert he cold crowd). There was a decent crowd, including some Arbonne ladies (there was a cosmetic convention in town). They sat up front, so they were the only ones I could really see, and I'm not ashamed to say I tried to play to them for most of my set. I had fun on stage, doing about six minutes. I went up tried working on material about my dad's mustache, and got a new line I like, and I did Braille menus at McDonalds thing.
Having my internet down really sucks, because not only does it limit my blogging abilities, but my website email is set up in such a manner than I can check my inbox from a website (like Hotmail, I suppose) but I am unable to compose email without adding my account to an email program (like Outlook). I could do that at work, but then I wouldn't be able to sync up the two programs so that I had a complete record of emails I send to and recieve from bookers (ok, video game forums). Anyway, I'm probably heading over to Fairview tonight to watch Jeremy Essig, Andi Smith and Arvin Mitchell. Oooh, I just got an idea. Email me pictures of you with no hair. Wear a bald cap, photoshop the picture to remove hair or whatever. It'll be like a contest, only you're already a loser for participating! Kidding. Anyway, emails pictures to contests@MarcusIsFunny.com. When I get internet back up, I'll do something with the submitted pictures.
Stay sweet,
Marcus

Mama Say Mama Sa
Ma ma Cu sa

they say "Lou uh ville"

I took off yesterday and today to go to the Comedy Caravan to do a spotlight in hopes of getting some MC work. I get pretty anxious about being on time, and with the threat of a speeding ticket or traffic jams due to accidents, I left St Louis probably around 10:00am and got into Louisville, KY at about 2:00pm (turns out I crossed a time zone). Needless to say I was early. To kill time, I hit a McDonalds near the club (I'm beginning to think they shou;d sponsor me, you know?) staffed by the slowest most apathetic front end workers I've ever encountered. I don't complain while at a fast food restaurant for fear of them spitting in my food (or worse) but I'll openly gripe on the blog. I'm fairly sure those employees don't 1) have have internet access and 2) read.
Anyway, I killed sometime at the local library reading Comedy Writing Step by Step by Gene Perret. It is copywrited 1982, and is the best comedy-writing book I've encountered (if you want to write for Bob Hope or Phyllis Diller). Something tells me I missed that boat. Anyway, I killed some time reading, and then took a nap in my car. Eventually it was show time, and I met Roy Bean who was running the show for the night. He gave me the low-down and was pretty cool. The Caravan was switching it up for their Tuesday show this week; by that I mean, they didn't do the show in the normal showroom. Like the Springfield comeptition, they held it in the actual bar-room. By show time, the room actually looked full (of about 30 people). Having performed in front of worse crowds, I wasn't worried. I went up first, after Roy who did a good three minutes on why Hitler is better than George Bush (you had to hear it for it to sound appealing, but it was very sarcastic and ironic). In anycase, being a bald white guy following a bald white guy who speaks highly of Hitler is weird. Clearly, I had my work cut out for me. The mic wasn't the greatest and it went in and out throughout the show (so I wasn't the only one affected) but it was frustrating since I something was "on the line". Granted it wasn't a competition, but I felt like I could have had a better first impression. Other comics I talked to, though, said I did well. I ended up meeting a guy from Indianapolis, Phil Kijak who was showcasing also, and I met Vince Martin. I got some more leads on clubs to contact (I need to get on that) and learned about the joys or riding Grey Hound Buses to shows across the country. I left after the show and drove back to St. Louis, stopping only for some Waffle House (where I saw a guy on a horse, the waitress said he was a regular!) and gas. It was a cool trip, I plan on contacting Julie (the lady who does the booking) today or tomorrow. I didn't get to meet her after the show (which Roy said was not uncommon) so I don't want her to forget me.

I got to say that Mable, she's the bomb

What? You want to give me money? Better email me.

one 17

Tonight, after loosing some more cash at the Casino, I headed over to the Bistro, where I lost a couple games of darts and performed infront of 8 actual audience members. I started out just talking about my Easter experience and the mustache my dad grew. I did some porn jokes (the mustache looks very 1970's porn-ish), some drinking jokes (tried that new blackout-endorsements-challange order, liked it) and did some other stuff. I was on stage for about 17 minutes and never felt uncomfortable. I didn't force anything, and I really played with my voice, almost screaming a few parts to get emphasis out there. Stevie P "planted" a few jokes for me, and half requested/demanded "The Joke" which I closed on. I drank some soda, watched Chris Teague, Adam Lough and Clayton, and hung out for a bit. Then I came home and downloaded the new Heroes V demo. I had the best results with this server. Dorks, you can thank me later. I'm off work tomorrow and heading to Louisville, KY for a show at the Comedy Caravan. Wish me luck.

warm and tingly

I was hanging out in Westport with Rob Durham, Andi Smith and James Sibley. James was very cool to talk to and had some very interesting stuff to say; about driving long distances to places, sleeping in your car, bookings and cancellations and stuff like that. And he convinced Jeff to let me do a spotlight along with Brett Clawson. My set consisted of my [endorsements] [blackout] [Up 2 the Challange] [Phone Sex] and [Tetris] bits and I got off stage at about 4:30 or so. I liked how my up 2 the challange joke followed the blacking out material, though I think if I put blacking out before the endorements bit then do the challange, that would flow very well. Anyway, I got decent responce from the crowd, and though I can't get the audio off of my recorder to prove it just yet, my voice was really good. I emphasized the right points and I think my "energy" was right on. Hopefully I can post the audio tomorrow or so.

cash in proximity to my oral cavaity

I like going on stage early.
I like going on stage last.
I like going on stage during the check drop.
Why? Because usually it's harder. When going up early, the crowd might not be ready or primed. They could be cold, or unsettled. If you're really funny, that won't matter. When going up last (typically in an open mic) the audience could be tired, drunk, still upset at an edgy joke a previous comic did. If you're really funny, that won't matter. And going up during the check drop is hard because typcially each audience member is trying to figure out how to screw the other people in their party by not paying all that they owe. OK, here being funny doesn't always help, because I've seen pros loose audiences here, but they usually can get their attention back.
Last night I mentioned that I like going up first. I really feel that I am a solid opener. Adam put me up first tonight, and sadly I didn't live up to my expectations. I'm really working on the [Up 2 the Challange] bit, and I want my [Walmart Returns] bit to succeed. I think both of those could become "perminent" jokes which is exciting. Anyway, my set wasn't bad, but I really wanted to start the show off with a bang. Peaks and Valleys, I know, peaks and valleys.

Kevin White and I were talking about delivery and one idea came up that I really need to keep in mind. Don't concentrate on what you want to say, concentrate on how to say something so that the audience relates/understands. I mean this; if you concentrate on using a specific phrase, you might not realize the audience isn't into your joke about Ultimate Fighting Championship. If you know, however, that your audience is a little worn out, you might need to be more excited about being there with them. Suddenly the UFC is getting the attention it deserves.
Anyway, I'm off for the next couple nights unless the Marcus-phone rings and Commissioner Gordon or Police Chief O'Hara need a laugh.

Nascar has a new ad campaign with Nascar Driver Kurt Busch. Their slogan is "Up 2 the challange?" Why don't they just come out and say it: "Drink and Drive: we triple dog dare you. Beer companies shouldn't be allowed to endorse sports, because being drunk doesn't help with sports. Beer companies should have to stick with endorsing stuff that being drunk helps with: like misdameaners and humping ugly people. Their new slogan could be "Miller Light: helping you steal crap from Wal-Mart since 1938.

Think, McFly!

Last night, Adam, Kevin, Mikey and I hit Springfield IL for their monthly competition. There were 13 contestants in all, we four from St. Louis, three from Chicago (Brie, Ken and Derek, all of whom were very funny) and some other locals and drifters who showed up and had the five bucks to enter. There was actually a crowd, which isn't the norm for the Springfield competition (which is held in the bar, a scant few feet from the "dance floor"). It turns out, one of the comics (a gentleman in overalls and a red baseball cap who started his set with about 30 second of pig calls) brought. Yeah, guess who won. Actually, one of the Chi-town comics, Ken tied for first, which he deserved in its entirety. Derek grabbed 2nd and our very own Mikey Manker scored free tickets to this weekends show.
We made decent time on the way home (lets just say if my car had a flux capacitor, we would have gone back to 1955) and ended up taking over the stage at Laughs for an audience of eight. Joe HartMagicBalloons joined us. I was really impressed by everyone's sets (both in Springfield and at the landing). I fely my Springfield set was good, but my Laughs set needed a certain je ne sais pas. Anyway, I got on stage twice in one night, which is a good way to spend an evening. I also got some Arby's, and drank almost an entire pot of coffee in Springfield. The guys made me leave before I got the last cup (4 oz away from a new record. I'll get them next month!).
Laughs is tonight, actually I'll be leaving in a couple minutes because I am typing this at home (work was busy, couldn't blog-tried, just didn't finish). I have to confirm my position at the Comedy Caravan in Louisville next week and then get a promo package together to take with me. I'm super excited about the audition as it should be a good chance to get out and do some networking. Plus I get to miss work (paid vacation is the coolest).

It's got me up and down, I been lost and found, Down in a deep dark hole.

did he just say "Yeehah" ?

Tonight at the meeting, Matt Behrens said he was going to watch the show and scout for possible MCs. Open mics are generally often used for trying new stuff, but tonight was probably a good night to bust out the tried and true material. Too bad that's not what I thought three hours ago... I wasn't on the list originally, so after the meeting, I put together my hypothetical list (you know, what I would do if I were on stage). Then Matt came over and added me to the list, somewhere near the beginning, between Rob Durham and Kevin Bozeman. My set list consisted of my new "up 2 the challange" bit which I've had a lot of fun doing lately and my new Walmart joke, which has what I call a reverse-rule-of-three, my Easter Fool's Day joke, my bachelor party joke, a bit about using an instruction manuel for sex and then some porn material (in that order, I think). I tried to close on my email joke, but went over time a bit so I didn't get through it. Technically I didn't start it, I only got through my "Celebate by popular demand" line, but it's the thought that counts, right? Anyway, I had fun, the crowd was a little stubborn, so I didn't do as well as I had hoped, but that happens. I didn't get to stick around for long as I had to get home, write this, eat a couple sandwiches and go to bed. Tomorrow I am heading to Springfield, IL with Mikey Manker, Kevin White and possibly Adam Lough. The Cocktail Hour Comedy Tour is on the move again. Yeehah.

All of which makes me nervous
Sometimes unbearably so

another 20 minutes!

Friday Adam Lough called and invited me to perform in the Saturday Laughs on the Landing Showcase with himself, Gabe Kea and Clayton Champagne. There was no band or anything following us, so Mikey Manker also joined to make the show run a little longer. The crowd was pretty cool, I mean we had like 50 or 60 people in the room it seemed, though we didn't start with that many. Anyway, my set went really well, I had to use my set list (Clayton and I later talked about how calling it a "cheat sheet" was a disservice to performers) but I broke 20 minutes on stage again and I felt that I had a really good set. I'd have to check my audio, but I think I got 2 applause breaks. Anyway, I got stage time on a Saturday, did a pretty long set (for me) and got paid a little money. Oh yeah, and then I got McNuggets. Not a bad night if I do say so myself...

My life got flipped, turned upside down

A Classy move...

Tonight was an awesome night for comedy. There were only 12 or so comedians and I went up 10th or so? The crowd was a lot larger than average, which was true last week also. A bunch of people from Ohio filled out the stage-left side of the audience, and some other people took care of stage right. I went up on stage an immediately forgot what joke I wanted to open with. And so I told the crowd that. Both classy moves in my opinion (I think I said that too). I tried out my Easter Fools joke, did my Bachelor party joke, "Up 2 the Challange" (which I cut the fat on and I really like how it sounds). I did my Walmart bits (including my dream-job-as-the-door-greater bit) (I actually cursed during that too, but it was only the "b" word, so I'm not extremely disappointed in myself). I also did a joke I thought up today at work, while in the bathroom. It's a little edgy and I used the word masturbate, but I think if I use a different word or phrase it won't be so blunt. (You can listen to my set by clicking the link at the bottom of this post, by the way). I ended with my iPorn joke because it segued.well. I had a total blast and made it home to type this and upload the audio. The night was awesome, almost everyone had a great set and we even had the East Side Girls show up and perform some humerous songs.

Anyway, here's my clip.

whoops!

I don't have a lot to say about last night, I didn't get on and I didn't produce very much while writing at Starbucks. At least Janine Brito stopped by, we talked shop, exchanged some fun stories and were generally annoyed by some webdesign class (or something). Anyway, if anyone wants to come by next week and pitch jokes/work on writing/try to be louder than the design class, you're more than welcome. I should work on some writing now, I have some new premises to which I should pay special attention.

oh yeah, and Young Einstein too

Last night the Bistro had a decent little crowd. Adam Lough hosted for Kyle Bandit, Stevie P, myself, Mikey Manker and Clayton Champagne. I cleaned out my old DVR by transferring all the audio to my PC. I listened to a bunch of the random ideas I've come up with and I wrote the ones I liked best down. Going on stage with only a bunch of half-prepared ideas is like loading a cannon with just gunpowder. Even if it does explode, there's not a big band and probably very little to "throw" at the audience. So it wasn't all the surprising when I kind of ate it for about 7 minutes. Somewhere I shifted from my unworked stuff to newer stuff to older material, and around that time I felt like I made a solid connection with the audience. I remember doing my [Easter] joke, which I really really like. That joke is one of the few that begs-to-be-told-well more than most of my other jokes. What I mean is, I like telling that joke, and it seems I have fun with that joke on a more consistant basis.

Insert Text Book-Like Explanation Below

It's such a weird idea: During Easter time, we not only get the Salvation of Christ, but we also get the bachelor party. The Last Supper was the world's first bachelor party. It's Jesus' last night out with all his guy friends before he makes the "ultimate sacrafice" and can't hang out with his buddies any more. I love watching people as they get it. You've seen pictures from the party too, Jesus and the boys all on one side of that table, don't let anyone fool you, that's a stage. But there are no women, no dancers, no strippers. Way to go Judas! And you know Jesus was pissed: what was the last thing he said to the guys? Eat me. My absolute favorite part of that joke is the very end. Easter's way better than Passover, because for Passover all you get is to-keep-your-oldest-brother.
After the show, I hung out for a while and played some darts, I didn't get home until late, and didn't have time to blog so I'm doing this at work, and I have to say, I'd prefer getting paid to do this than doing it when I could be watching Lost, the BoonDocks, Reno911 or any of the 30+ other shows I have Tivo Season Passes for.

Your senses are gone so don't you hesitate

Does anyone actualy Yahoo anymore?

too wiped to type

Last night I was lucky enough to get to perform at the Grizzley Bear in Soulard again. There are two specific dates that I especially like performing on: one if my birthday (September 8th) and the other is April Fool's Day. I did perform on my last birthday, in Fairview Heights, and according to my blog I performed at Wash U with Janine Brito and a bunch of others on April Fool's 2005. I performed at Fairview on my 2004 birthday as well, and then since it was a Wednesday I went to the Red Sea to do a set there. Anyway, about the Grizz. There were a few more people than Friday night, and we had a different MC. A guy named Arthur from the Union Station Improv did about 10 or so before me. One thing that threw me is he brought me up as Scott Robinson (obviously a cross between my name and Scott Derenger's). I didn't know how to correct him without sounding like a jerk, so I didn't say anything. And later when I did my Ferrari joke (and say "www.Marcus'sFerrari.com") I think people might've gotten confused. Anyway, I did about 15 minutes with some jokes I didn't do Friday and had fun on stage. I missed most of Scott's set because my only highschool classmate, Matt, called while I was on stage and I didn't have my phone on vibrate. How embarrassing. Anyway, I ended up on the phone for a while and after the show headed over to Westport to see Dan Chopin and Greg Warren. I forgot to mention this on yesterday's blog, but I gave Christina and Jenny a ton of FunnyBone passes to hand out at the shows and they said they have away a bunch at the Volleyball tournament they did Saturday afternoon. It'd be sweet if people showed up with my tickets since all my coworkers are bums who have "families" and "children" and "responcibilities". Anyway, this blog is about 28 hours late, but I was too wiped to type when I got home last night. I'm working on emptying my DVR right now which includes sitting though about an hour and a half of my random thoughts from the past three months. You don't even want to know the weird crap that's coming out of this thing. Which is why I might make a list of the tracks and what they say. If you think that'd be funny to read, email me.
Bistro tomorrow, Bone Tuesday, I might head over to Fairview Wednesday, and Laugh Thursday. GabeKea.com

all three performers were bald!

Last night I performed at the Grizzley Bear for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with Scott Deranger and hosted by Thom West from 105.7 The Point. Scott wasn't feeling very well, and when I asked how long I could do (I was hoping to 10 to 15 or more) he said if I could do 15 that could be cool, and if I felt comfortable, I could go longer. We only had a crowd of 20 to 30 people, but they laughed very vocally so that made them seem like a bigger crowd. And I felt pretty comfortable, and ended up doing over twenty minutes on stage. I remember looking at my watch and seeing I was at 15 minutes and thinking, "I still have my [phonesex], [pharmacy], [med studies], and [tetris] jokes left!" The crowd got a little cold for a couple minutes, but that at the end of the middle of my set (does that make sense?). I was maybe about 60-65% of the way done (so about 13 minutes in?) Anyway, they were a little cold but I got them back, and that was an amazing feeling. There were about three or four "distinct andience groups", and I they all seemed to have their favorite jokes, but everyone loved my Sam's club Tetris joke, I got laughs between the first three stanzas and laughs all through the last two. But they groaned my "bloody mess" closer. And not being able to close on a groan, I did the blackest thing about me, though I changed up how I'm doing it. It didn't matter though, they groaned that too. So (and I'm somewhat proud of this) I retold a one-line joke that Thom told before he brought me up. "So a baby seal walks into a club"...

I had a blast last night. They're doing a show tonight as well, and my buddy Dwayne Ingram will be opening for Scott. Special Thanks to Jenny and Christina for putting together the show and letting me perform. Click on their names to learn more about Team in Training, the fundraising program sponsoring the comedy events and participating in the St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg, FL on April 30, 2006.