Learning to be a Professional Extrovert

Last night I headed down to Laughs on the Landing. Since I'm in an Improv class I decided to head down to their open jam. I only knew Warren Arnold (who lead the show) so I was a little out of my comfort zone. Especially since the few people I didn recognize from the Beginner's class were actually experienced and on at the Beginner's class to refresh the basics. There were a total of 12 people who got on stage throughout the night, and I think we had 3 audience members, which made it more like a class than anything. That was a big relief, since I'm not very comfortable with Improv (hence, why I am taking it). Anyway, the night got over around midnight, which is really late for me, but it was pretty cool, and Warren said I did "fine", which is way better than how I thought that I did...

Check out my MySpace blog for jokes on which I'm working.

Visit RooftopComedy.com. Watch videos. Laugh. Feel warm and fuzzy.

I’m sick of not living to stay alive

Applied Sciences

Last night I got on at Lloyd and Harry's. And the place was packed! Brian Dowell went up right as I showed up; and had a good set. It seemed to me that the crowd would be "easy". I was hoping to get some good laughs from my new Disney joke, but I rushed through my entire set, and so I didn't get the laughs that I was hoping would come. One thing I know off stage is that there is a difference between being excited and talking fast (fastly?). On stage, however, I can't seem to grasp that idea, and usually when I want to express excitement, I go Full Throttle. Sometimes, I'm able to keep everything in check, and I know that makes for a better set; but applying what I know, that's a different story altogether.
I'm at the Bone right now, mooching internet from the Conference center; I wasn't on last week, so hopefully I'll get up tonight. I'd like to get one more chance at the Disney World stuff tonight; and maybe my Spanish stuff, I want to add to that...

Check out my MySpace blog for jokes on which I'm working.

Visit RooftopComedy.com. Watch videos. Laugh. Feel warm and fuzzy.

Get it on. Right on. What do you want?
I wanna get it on. Right on.

Late fees

I missed talking about Monday, yesterday.
I'm working on a bunch of stuff about my highschool. I went up at Lloyd and Harry's and opened by saying I didn't want to do material, just wanted to tell stories from school. That didn't work too well, so I busted out some stuff on Disney World. Since I hadn't planned on doing "stand up" I was already cursing, so my set was pretty blue. But I got laughs at punchlines and I'm kind of excited about my Disney World stories (about how I went once when I was three, and didn't get to go when I was eighteen).
I'll be posting that stuff on my
MySpace blog soon, maybe.
I didn't get up at the Bone last night, so no new experiences to talk about there. Tomorrow's Thanksgiving and so no show at the Landing...

Visit RooftopComedy.com. Watch videos. Laugh. Feel warm and fuzzy.

LYRICS

Excitement is the key

Friday and Saturday I got to host at Laughs on the Landing with Todd Link and David Graham. Friday's show didn't go as well as I had hoped, Bos told me to do between 10 and 20, so I did about 15; but it didn't seen like the audience was with me. Saturday I decided to try a good 10 instead of a decnet 15; I went up with energy and excitement and had a much better set. As an emcee the one thing I want to nail down is bringing people to the stage; I always trip over words and it's annoying. It's dumb because it's not like there's a certain phrase I have to use, just "Please Welcome" or "Make some noise for..."
I suppose it'll come with time. Usually, I get better after the first show, which sucks because Laughs only does two on the weekend, so I don't have much time to reap the benefits of experience...

Check out my MySpace blog for jokes on which I'm working.

Visit RooftopComedy.com. Watch videos. Laugh. Feel warm and fuzzy.

Wesselschmidt did it again!

Last night's crowd at the landing was tough. I tried too much new stuff in one set and did the joke about cancer that I am working on. Not surprisingly, it didn't really go over. I'm not sure if I can fake the enthusiasm and goofiness needed to sell the joke. I'm emceeing at the Landing this weekend; will probably stick to the rehearsed jokes and save the new ones for Monday.

I ran my cancer joke by some other comics at www.RoadComics.com. You can read what people have said (and what I replied) here.

South for the Winter

Last night was one weird open mic. The crowd started out alright, but then about 8 people showed up late, sat in the front and kind of threw off the momentum of the show. The first 6 to 10 people or so didn't have too much going against them, but it seemed that about after that, it was like iceskating uphill. I started my set (I went up about 12th) with my brownies joke, did my lightening joke, and talked abit about Disney World. I'm working on some new jokes, and as much as I didn't want to try them in front of such a rough crowd, I figured I wasn't going to kill even if i pulled out my 'A' material. Anyway, I got actual laughs and could tell that the audience was paying attention, so that felt good. Yesterday I talked to Jeff Jones from the Loony Bins and got booked for December 6th through the 9th in Little Rock, AK. I'm pretty excited about it, especially since I am working at the Landing this weekend, and possibly in Milwaukee December 14th through the 16th.

Check out my MySpace blog for jokes on which I'm working.

Visit RooftopComedy.com. Watch videos. Laugh. Feel warm and fuzzy.

the Brownie method

I've been writing more and talking to other comics lately. I've been pitching premises and jokes and I still haven't gotten a recognizable joke. I was writing with Joe Lehnig and Keith Cissell, and Keith said that one premise I had would be really good in Six Months. Six? Months? Last night I hit Lloyd and Harry's and tried a couple new jokes, but they didn't go anywhere; one is about my highschool. But I used to do jokes on the same topic, so I'm having a hard time not telling them the way I used to.
I think the problem is: none of my high school experiences seem weird to me (even though I went to a religious all-male boarding school). I'd kind of like to tell the story the way I do my Dominoe's Brownies joke. If I can get it to that weird/rediculous level, I might be happy.

w00t

Thursday was my first visit to Laughs on the landing in a couple of weeks, so I was really excited to get on stage there, especially since I had a new joke or two I wanted to try out. The crowd was kind of weird, and some people talked through a bit of my set, but I had a chance to shut them up without cussing, which I thought was good experience,
I've been writing about my high school experiences lately (I lived in an all male religious boarding school, and I tried out a couple of things. I also tried a new bit about my mom passing away from colon cancer. It's a very touchy subject, and I'm not entirely sure my family would approve, but I'm not being a jerk in the joke; or at least I don't think I am. Those people talked through the setup, so I didn't get any reaction at all... but I didn't get groans ot boos, so I consider that a bonus of sorts.
Anyway, the show was alright, and we had a bunch of new/fresh(?) comedians. Also, I got booked for next weekend (the 17th and 18th) there hosting. I'm excited; it should be a pretty good time.

straight ticket communist style

Whenever I check my email, I only have about 5 minutes before the people at Panera kick me out for not buying anything. That's why I am not often able to blog in my free time...
Monday night I emceed the Lloyd and Harry's show, and had a good set. I remember doing my Education Major jokes and Mike Howington was like "I like those, are they new?", to which I confessed they were not new, I just haven't done them in a while.
Tuesday (last night) I went up at the Bone; the crowd was small, but every responsive. Dano Sullivan emceed the show, which may have had something to do with it. My set was really good; and I got some cool advice from Gabe Kea on my email joke. I closed on it, and laughed at it myself after I delivered the final punch; and Gabe said it's too funny to do that. I don't need to "trick" the audience into laughing on that joke, and I shouldn't rush them by trying. It was cool advice, so hopefully I'll remember that next time I do it. I lead into the joke differently too, putting it after my [Nervous] and [Advice] bits. I usually put that at the beginning of my "bad with ladies" chunk, but I like it in the middle/end.

Check out my MySpace blog for jokes on which I'm working.

Visit RooftopComedy.com. Watch videos. Laugh. Feel warm and fuzzy.

My grandma was there

Yesterday, I got a call from Ryan over at Mason City Limits. He had called last week to see if I was available to come up and fill some time on their weekend shows. Sadly I was not, because of the private party I was doing. Well, yesterday, Ryan said that Henry Phillips was headlining at MCL and he would likely be running late. So they called me.

Yeah.

I said I would be glad to come by: I left work at about 4:00 or so, and dropped by my condo, grabbed my GPS and my book-bag (but strangely, not my Index Cards, which arrived in the mail Wendesday. I left those at home). Anyway, I was about 50 miles into Illinois when I noticed the temperature gauge on my car getting a little close to (and then a little past) the red line. I turned on the heater full blast (to pull heat away from the engine) and pulled over at the next exit that had a gas station/convenience store. One of the clerks there was outside smoking and helped me a bit with my car, she ended up calling some dude (her brother, or boyfriend, I don’t know…) and gave me some ideas. It was a call to my dad, though, that told me what I needed.
-Get Engine Coolant,
-Put said Coolant in the radiator.
-Be careful. If radiator is hot, steam will come out of cap.
-Steam can hurt.

and so on…

Anyway, I lost about 40 or so minutes getting my car fixed up (but it worked for the rest of the drive to Mason City) and I made it on time for the show. I had a bit of time to jot some quick notes (remember how I didn’t have my index cards?). Chris Speyrer hosted, Ryan did about 10 minutes, and then I went on. Chris brought me on as the “feature” which was kind of weird, but I did about 23 minutes and had a great time. The crowd (which consisted of about 50 people) were pretty vocal with their laughs. When I was finally off stage, Chris said that was the best set he had seen me do.

Nice.

Henry said he enjoyed it too, which really felt good. One of the best parts, though, is that Ryan video recorded my set. He said he’d get me a copy, so I should have something to play around with on my new Mac and post to my website (and my MySpace). I’m kind of excited because I got the Mac so that I could video edit and made a new demo tape. Now I’m going to get to practice. The set from last night might not be perfect for a promo package, but it is something to learn how to edit. And as a nerd, that’s all I need.

Check out my MySpace blog for jokes on which I'm working.


Visit RooftopComedy.com. Watch videos. Laugh. Feel warm and fuzzy.

One little chap then had a mishap Broke off his horse's head
Wept for his toy then cried with joy As his young playmate said