getting rocked as opposed to rocking

I held off on writing about the Bowling alley show in Lincoln because I didn't want to come off as whiny. The show as a whole was good, Ryan Swaar, a guy named Ted, Joe Lehnig, Gabe Kea, myself and Chris Spreyer performed for about 80 or so people. Joe stole the show and absolutely destroyed the room. And then we had an intermission. Gabe went up and did well, and then I went up; I heard a lot of dead silence during my set, though Joe told me the people in the back were laughing and I couldn't hear them. Comedians make a lot of excuses for why a set wouldn't go well; so here are some
-the PA sounded funny to me while I was on stage
-I wasn't in the right "Mind set" as my friend Matt from Colorado would say
-Following Joe (who's a little darker and a little dirtier) was harder for a clean comic (though Gabe did fine)
-Gabe brought me up, instead of the emcee, so that might have thrown the crowd
-I didn't close on the right material, though that wouldn't explain the first part of my set
-gypsies, I blame them for about everything

All of those things are excuses, which can happen, but I put a lot of stock in my comedic abilities, so I shouldn't really let them affect my thoughts on the show. To be honest I don't think I've ever been THAT down about a set, and so I was really hoping for a strong set tonight at the Bone. "You're only as good as your last set" I've heard (I don't really believe it 100%, maybe about 55.8%). I did a new line or two during my Sober bit, and have some faith it will turn into something good. My set wasn't the stellar performance I would have hoped for, but I got some laughs and was under my time, so I'll optimistically call it a win and move on. I've decided I need to start writing more/again. I've gotten lazy so I bought some new pens (dollar-fifty each) and threw away my old ones because I hate writing with them. In truth, I hate hand-writing anything, but I don't like typing during "free writing" so I guess I have to suck it up and just get to it.

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

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Three for one sale

My ipod broke yesterday so I had to go to the Mac store to get it replaced today and was unable to write about last night's show at the Forum. The crowd was smallish, around twenty to thirty people, but they weren't too rough. My set went alright, and both David Beck (the feature) and Dan O'Sullivan said I did well, which is cool. I was under the assumption that I was just filling in for one night there so I didn't think I was emceeing Friday's shows. However, I called today to make sure and Al said I could come out tonight, so I got to perform tonight too.
The first show tonight was flat-out amazing. I got applause breaks, had a great time, and during my PANTS joke, some lady in the front row was so startled that she knocked her drinks menu and schedule into the air. I finished the joke and then apologized to her (priorities: Jokes first, manners eventually). The second show tonight was drastically different, we had fifteen people, so I kept it real conversational and got audible laughs. Both David and Dano did well, but they were both joking about the strain that an audience that small can put on a comedian. David gave me some ideas for my Sam's Club DVDs bit, and Dano had some really cool things to say about me; that my stage presence has really evolved and that I'm doing really well. He was very complimentary of my hosting, which feels even better than the audiences' reactions. I'm doing a one-nighter tomorrow with Joe Lehnig, Gabriel Kea, Ryan Swaar and Chris Spreyer in Illinois, so I won't be able to finish out the week at the Forum. I'd love to keep working with David and Dano, but I'm looking forward to the bowling alley. Hopefully it will be a good show, or at the very least I'll get an interesting story to tell.

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

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the good, the bad, the moderately average

During the meeting at the Comedy Forum tonight, Al Canal had me slated to go up second following Landon Meyer who was emceeing (Landon and I are doing a show on my birthday in Quincy, IL with Kevin White by the by, which I amd really looking forward to). I had a couple guests coming late, though some didn't show up, and I asked Al if I could move to a later spot if that wouldn't mess up the flow. He said I could emcee the second half of the show if I wanted. I did wanted.
I found out I was going up after Brian Dowell so I told him I expected the worst/dirties set imaginable and he said he might "oblige" me. And he did. Very much so. My set was alright, it can be hard following a blue set with a clean one, but I wanted the challenge, so I didn't mind. My set didn't go extremely well, but I know the material is funny because I did the same set last night and it worked really well. Janine and I talked about that for a second, she said it was one of the few times the audience didn't react in a positive manner that she didn't get depressed or down about it. I completely agree. The crowd was a little light, and had to sit through some pretty unusual stuff, though nothing as unusual as a Mormon being brought to the stage in a dog cage, who proceeded to tell really dirty jokes about pigmies (that happened a week or two ago). At one point, between two of the other comics I did my skiing jokes, and it seemed to bring the audience back to attention, which was cool. It felt like I actually did something as an emcee, instead of just "give it up for that guy, and keep it going for this guy...". Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of "give it up for that guy, and keep it going for this guy...", it moves the show along, but sometimes an emcee has to get the crowd interested again. Quick remarks about guys coming on stage or going off stage are a my favorite way to see that done, but I'm not think-on-my-feety enough to do that yet.
At the end of the show, I grabbed a schedule from a table and told the audience about some of the shows coming up. Dan O'Sullivan is headlining this week, and Dustin Diamond (Screech from Saved by the Bell) will be there in late September. It might have been that, or it might have just been my lucky day, but as I was leaving, Al Canal asked me to emcee tomorrow night. I said I would love to, and am pretty excited about it. Yay me.

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

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Not today, Karma!

Tonight, one of the comics went over his time by a lot. I was waving around the lights and he asked how much time he had left and what the lights meant. I said "Bail" kind of loudly and feel a little badly about it, but he was way over, and that's kind of disrespectful to the other comics, both those on the list and those not. That being said, I went over by twenty seconds, which is roughly 1/5th of the minute-thirty the other guy went over.
I don't mention that to be a jerk and call the dude out, but to contrast that jerky-action of mine to how my set went; in a word-amazing. I tried a new joke out about my trying to quit smoking and it worked well, and I added a line or two to the Mia Wallace bit (and even modified it on the fly) and it hit well too. After I got off stage, Joe Lehnig said "Give it up for Marcus, he was surprisingly funny".

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

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I live my life like there's no tomorrow

Great closing show

Last night's show at Fairview Heights was pretty good, especially for a Sunday night show. I got through my set without any problems and got the announcements without forgetting or blanking. The strangest thing that happened, and I can only assume a wire in my brain got crossed or something was when I brought Clayton to the stage. I just finished his intro (I just said clubs and colleges) and I almost said Jeff's name. it wasn't until I saw Clayton's hair in the shadows of the audience that I realized HE was next, not Jeff. I guess if I would have been thinking it was Clayton (like I should have been) I would have given his Miller Light Tour credit in his intro.
Nobody would have noticed I'm sure, but it was funny enough I had to tell Jeff and I had to write it here so I don't forget...

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

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A full Fist

This is my 500th post on the MarcusIsFunny.com blog. It's kind of cool, in a nerdy kind of way, I guess. First show to night was rough for me, I was told later that a bunch of people had to move tables, so there was some confusion and so I didn't have the audience's full attention. Second show was a poler opposite, I lit that stage on fire. The crowd was extremely responsive, and with the exception of my "Advice" joke, I was very happy with my set. That joke hasn't been as consistent this week, which may be a phase, or it might mean I need to take it back to the drawing board. During my PANTS joke, I kind of spit a bunch of, uh, spit out of my mouth. I looked at the microphone but I don't think I got anything on it. I also wiped my lower lip and think I found it all. That's kind of gross and not the usual thing I mention on here, but since it doesn't happen much AND it's the 500th post, I'll allow it. Anyway, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's show. Hopefully, I'll be able to get out another 500 posts.

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

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My Name on a comment card!

Both shows last night at Fairview were amazing; second show I got off stage and Jeff Wesselschmidt said I "put some stank on it". Afterwards we all went to the Landing and ended up at Laughs on the Landing. I bumped into Ken JR and he paid me an amazing compliment. He asked if I was still working clean, and I replied that I was and he said that there was an amazing comedian with some great (dirty) stuff. He said I was funny and that I would blow-up if I was just more "myself" on stage. I will readily admit that I have a dirty sense of humor any day of the week, but as I've said before I want to work clean. Not only is it a kind of tribute to my mom, but it's also a marketing thing. You can get more places clean (like corporate, or working in front of other clean comics). I appreciate the compliment and the thought that Ken had, I really do, but if I ever decide to work blue like George Carlin did, I will without hesitation. But for now, I'll keep it "clean-ish" and try to destroy wherever I can.

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

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Soldier naw give you no break

"Right?" - "No"

Of the more-than-one-hundred people at the show in Fairview Heights tonight, probably no one in the room was thinking about my set while Jeff Wesselschmidt, Clayton Champagne and Jesse Taylor were on stage; not because I had a bad set, I think I had a pretty good set actually, but because they (as an audience) were watching what was in front of them. I on the other hand, was thinking about my set (but not so much that I didn't notice Jeff, Clayton and Jesse having great sets of their own). Anthony, the manager at the club, never told me how much time to do, so I just went up. I did some jokes, and was in the middle of a joke I knew I couldn't close on when I got the light, so I opted to close on my skiing jokes. I didn't get quite the closing applause for which I had hoped, but I didn't get crickets or a giant hook; so it's all good. I said the word "right" a lot during my set, and will probably listen to it (I recorded myself with my OLD DVR) and count how many times I said it. I'm guessing 26... That's what was on my mind, mainly. I used to say "I don't know" after punch lines, and now I'm saying "right" after setups. I'll probably record myself for the rest of the week and post tallies in the blogs just to keep track... Hopefully I can drop the number down or squash the habit.


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Going to bed early

Tonight was the first time I was on stage this week; I wasn't able to go to the Funny Bone last night because I got back too late from my family's float trip vacation. Since I've got a couple of extended-set shows coming up, I'm trying to "dust-off" some of my older material. I did essentially all of my "porn" jokes tonight; my set was alright, but I may have been concentrating too much on remembering how the jokes went to have really nailed my stage presence. No matter; I'm emceeing Fairview Heights this week and just read a bulletin on myspace that Clayton Champagne and Jeff Wesselschmidt are co-featuring for Jesse Taylor. I'm looking forward to that, because I like all three of those guys and they're all really funny.

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

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Even the talkative jerks listened and laughed

I just got back from the Comedy Forum's open mic. The show there was unique, to put it nicely. The crowd was small and quite talkative, so the first half-dozen comics had a rough time with it. I have not been in the greatest of moods today, which usually leads to a disastrous set... But tonight, I destroyed that room, and I'm not being cocky or arrogant. I'm really not one to be mean (especially where people can read it and call me out on it) but some of the trainwrecks tonight were nothing short of spectacular. That being said, Brian Dowell and Andrew Topping had amazing sets as well.

Anyway, I went up without a recording device and without a set list (I really didn't even make a plan on what material I was going to do) and opened with my CT Scan joke. I guess I sold the annoyance of the situation, because the crowd reacted very well. I did a couple of my dating and bad-with-women jokes and then scared the crowd with my PANTS! joke. I also tried a new joke featuring the board game monopoly (which you can read on my MySpace blog). It needs work, but the premise is funny so I want to give it a shot. I closed out my set with some good ol' me-getting-dumped stories and the crowd liked them. It felt good to have a set like that, especially since I was in such a down mood. I'm kind of glad to see that it won't always affect my stage presence.

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

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Make a joke and I will sigh and you will laugh and I will cry

How to follow a dead president

I am somewhat of a masochist; I enjoy the challenge of going up at the very beginning of a show, and at the end (when an audience is tired). Tonight I went up near the end, and the crowd had stuck around so far (they ended up leaving a couple of comics later) but they were still a little less than attentive. I did a couple of jokes and got good responce for the situation. After my shampoo joke, no one laughed, so when I said "Come on, Forum, you're not even paying attention", it was not only true, but it kind of called out the audience and they started paying attention more.

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

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