March open mics post-mortem
Here’s a quick round up of the open mics that I did in March. I wasn’t actually planning on doing any gigs this month so these are all Brucie bonuses.
Laughter Lab – 5th March (21st Gig)
I began my set with a couple of new jokes that just did not work, I was starting to get that sinking feeling that it was going to be a long night… But as I got into my stronger material the crowd warmed up. There’s a couple of moments here where I’m not even sure why they’re laughing but I’ll take it.
This is my best performance in a while, A) because I was stone cold sober and didn’t crumble at the first sign of adversity. And B) because I was able to look around the room and be in the moment a bit more than usual.
Lewis Schaffer’s Open mic night (22nd Gig)
My second gig was an experience! It’s more of a workshop but you’re not supposed to come in with anything too prepared. You have 10 minutes to talk about whatever you want and Lewis interrupts and asks you questions as you go.
I thought I would hate this format but it was actually really good fun, there’s always questions coming at you so you’re never stuck with nothing to say. The time just flew by and I don’t even remember being nervous.
I’ve probably learned more doing this gig than all the others combined. One of the takeaways was the emphasis on being interesting first, and then you make it funny afterwards. Which weirdly I had never thought about before as I’m so punchline focused when I write material that I just follow the direction the jokes take me.
I won the audience vote, my prize was these eggs, my first ever comedy competition win!
We are Funny Project (23rd Gig)
After bombing at WAFP last month I didn’t want this gig to become my Boogeyman, so I came straight back to try and redeem myself. Unfortunately I didn’t do very well, but that was my own fault as I didn’t rehearse my new stuff as much as I should have done due to feeling quite run down. The day after the gig I developed a sore throat and now I know why I’ve been so tired.
A lot of the comedians had a hard night though so I don’t feel too bad, and a couple of the new jokes I tried still got laughs despite the performance. So I can definitely develop a new bit from this.
The most memorable act was a guy whose first minute of material was taken from Bill Burr’s Netflix special. Then he riffed on some of his own wife-beating material, and then he rounded it off by doing some Patrice O’Neal. It was painful to watch, and the first time I’ve seen an audience have total contempt for an act.