Thursday I got in from my trip out East. I had a corporate show that my brother put together. New York Life was honoring one of their "big guys" and Darin wanted some comedy. Myself and Chris Smith did some time for them and my brother was really impressed. My set went really well. I opened with my skiing joke and it worked well. In the middle of my set, I made a joke about how I was glad I was doing well because the guest of honor was an accomplished marksman and was given a unique shotgun. That got a good laugh. It's not like every joke killed. Sometimes no one laughed because a joke wasn't their style, but I still got a bunch of big laughs and a ton of compliments.
Saturday I had a show in Keokuk, IA at an Elks Lodge. Dano, Joe and I did an Elks Lodge once and I was looking forward to this one. When I got to my hotel, I decided to take a little nap. About ten minutes in the phone rang and it was a guy saying the show started at 7:00 and not 8:00pm. No problem, I just cut my nap-time down and headed over to the Lodge. My GPS made me drive down this terrible gravel road, it was pretty annoying. Anyway, I get to the Lodge and meet the guys in charge, then I grabbed a seat and went over my set list. And then a guy came in; he kind of limped. And he and the door guy had a conversation (apparently) about how the guy's new leg didn't match his biological leg's natural color. Awesome. I was really hoping to open with my skiing joke again, and I didn't want to start the night off upsetting an audience member (or the entire audience). So I asked the door guy if he thought that guy would get offended. I didn't think he would, since he was openly talking about it. He probably had a sense of humor about it. I as right, the door guy and I asked him and he said he didn't have a problem if I did my joke about the one legged skiier.
My set went so well. I opened with my skiing joke and did really well. I used a louder voice into the microphone and kept my face visible and concentrated on the pace of my jokes (because I had to fill my 30 minute set). My pace wasn't slow by any means, but it was measured and I was able use my face to dial it up a bit. I had a blast too, I know I started smiling a lot and my ears got red because I was excited. And the audience was having fun too, I heard a guy or two banging on the tables when they were laughing. I call that a good set. When I got off, Paul Frisbee (the headliner for the night) complimented my set. He did very well too, I thought he was very funny. After the show, I watched a little UFC fighting at the lodge's bar and headed back to my hotel. Since I had to work on Sunday, I decided to not stay at the hotel and I drove straight home. I talked to Paul, and he suggested I get merchandise to sell. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, but I haven't come up with any ideas.