FRISKE: Comedian

When that “thing” happens, you’ll know, right? Right?

I don’t know if this happens to other comics, but there’s this “thing” that happens to me. I can’t tell you what it is, because I don’t know either. I just know when it happens. I don’t know what leads up to the thing happening or what happens post the happening.

You’re thinking, this guy is talking crazy talk. It’s 2am, I’m home from an open mic that went reasonably well for the size of the crowd and the spot in the rotation I went in. It’s something I’ve observed over and over. Just hang with me.


I’ll try and describe in another aspect of my creative endeavors, that also pays my bills. If you don’t know, I’m a cinematographer/editor/audio engineer/designer/trash taker outer during the day. Basically whoever writes the check, that’s what I do.


Let’s use the example of editing a video, which I do quite a bit of. What happens is, I’ll shoot, or be supplied a ton of footage. Some of the footage is clearly unusable, some is questionable and some is gold right out of the gate. The trick is knowing which is which. So, I start putting together a rough cut. A lot of clients don’t understand what that is. They think the first thing you show them should be “Schlinder’s List.” 

 

You show them your work with the explanation, that the cuts need to be tighter, the music is a temp track and the color correction is the last thing that happens. And they don’t get it.

You edit, switch footage around, add some music, tweak tweak tweak and all of a sudden, BAM! What used to be a bunch of seemingly random clips and some audio start to become something. You may not be aware it’s happening, but it is. And it hits you like a ton of bricks, “Now this is something. It’s got what I want. It’s making the statement I want it to make, it’s SOME-THING.” And you feel good. You show the client, they love it. 

So, let’s apply this to comedy. Let’s say you have a new joke that is a minute long. You could’ve easily spent hours coming up with it, trying it at an open mic, failing, coming back home, tweaking, changing the order, picking a funnier word here, adding some tags (a bonus one liner to the joke), trying it again, failing, tweaking, trying it again and BAM! It’s SOME-THING. It’s a joke, or better yet a bit, or best of all a chunk. A chunk is a collection of jokes based around the same topic.


I just described a comic coming up with a bit, honing it in an open mic and getting it to a state that engages the audience. They’re listening to what you’re saying, the words are placed properly, the act-out is perfect, the punchline is welcome, and best of all, funny.

The point I guess I’m trying to make is, as a comedian, as an editor or designer you want the intended audience to appreciate all of the hard work that has gone into your art. And the truth is, they probably don’t. And the more accurate truth is, maybe they shouldn’t care. 

They’ve come to be entertained. Whether it’s a movie, a concert or a stand-up act, it’s your job to do just that. Entertain. Even if you’re not being paid. Sometimes that’s tough. When there’s a small bar crowd that didn’t know there was going to be a comedy show, or a really tough crowd. They want one thing from you, that’s do your job.

I think that’s when you can call yourself a pro, when you do your job no matter what the circumstance.

I’m working on it.
Bobby

p.s. And then there’s those times when you get up and write 8 new minutes that you perform that night. And it kills. Go figure. 

Blurred, getting blurrier

Man oh man. Or, woman oh woman. Or I guess the PC version is homosapien biped oh homosapien biped. Ok, that’s enough, really.

Sometimes things tend to blaze by so fast I don’t even catch that they actually passed me. I’m a pretty punctual guy, if I have a gig, I make sure I’m there early. No waiting on me, no sir.

However, I need a system, iCal isn’t doing the trick.

Or I’m not using it properly could be more appropriate. But it can’t argue back, so, not my fault. I totally missed AND forgot my boxing lesson. That’s been pretty much on Tuesdays at 5:15 for ages. And I forgot it. That’s what I’m talking about. Like Travis Bickle said, I gotta get myself organizized.

2012, the year of “The Hour”

A lot has happened in the last two’ish months. In no particular order is I started a internet video show called “FRISKE BUSINESS”, made it to the Semi-Finals in the 2011 Improv’s Funniest Comic in Texas contest and signed up for improvisation classes. The big one is what I call the year of “The Hour.” We’ll break each down because I know how you are waiting with baited breath…

-FRISKE BUSINESS-
Here’s a really long story, I’ll try to make it short. A good friend of mine is good friends with a girl named Cricket who did an internet video show called The Big D’s Dating in Dallas (check out her blog here), she contacted me about being a guest on the show. I did it, it was fun, a lot of fun actually.

I’d thought about doing a podcast for a while, but this is better, it’s not just audio, it’s video too with 3 cameras. So, I approached the studio owner of Deep Ellum on Air with my idea, we chatted, hit it off pretty quickly, next thing I know I’m prepping for my first show. 

I’ll admit, this show is for me, and if anyone else gets a kick out of it or benefits from it all the better. My goal is to book people I respect and people I want to learn from in comedy. The guests so far have been great including Jason James, my friend and mentor, Dean Lewis and Paul Varghese. I like to support local comedy and I think this is a great way to do it. If anyone has a show to promote I freely plug it on the show.

The great thing about the show is, I plan very little so it doesn’t take up a ton of extra time. I like flying off the cuff like that and trying to fill an hour. It’s been harder though to stop at an hour because I’ve found the guests so interesting. I think we’re averaging about an hour and a half.

I have no idea what’ll come of the show if anything, but if it stopped today I’d be happy just because of the things I’ve learned from people I respect. 

-The Funniest Comic in Texas 2011-
So, I’m proud to say I was a semi-finalist in this years Funniest Comic in Texas put on by the Improv. Hundreds tried out, 60 were chosen. In a fateful coincidence my show was December 21st, smack dab in the middle of an insane amount of tooth pain I was having. 

I have my parents to thank for quite a few things including hereditarily bad teeth and gums. Starting around December 16th I’d been to the dentist 6 times in two weeks. I’d had some work done and was on pain killers. But it got to the point that the second they wore off I was in a TON of pain, again. I called the dentist again on the 19th, went in, they asked me to come back the next day, the 20th and 4 (FOUR!) dentists worked on me. 

They gave me more pain pills. My whole jaw, mouth and teeth were sore after two root canals in one day. Fun. I emailed the peeps at the Improv, I thanked them and told them my situation and I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it to the show. 

They gave me an option of doing a later show for the semi-finals on the 27th. That shows that they’re good people to offer something like that. I thought about it, but honestly I didn’t think it was fair to have my slot moved. Not that I think one night would’ve been better than the other, the competition was fierce each night.

I thought I might as well do it on my assigned date, show up and do the best I could. Well, that was a mistake. I don’t know why drugs and big shows clash with me. I’m not a pill popper, but my last two big shows I was hopped up on drugs.

My set wasn’t great, it was okay at best. But I was a sweaty mess, my timing was off, but I was glad I went and glad I didn’t take the later show. It was done. There’s always next year. I’d also like to say that Cris Lehman won the title of 2011’s Funniest Comic in Texas and he rightly deserved it. Just seeing him win and his face (he didn’t think he’d won) was great. The guy is truly appreciative and worthy. Check him out if you get the chance. 

—Improvisation classes—
I’ve fought the idea of taking improvisation classes for a while. Some comedy buddies of mine ended up going to Second City in Chicago. They’re there right now taking improvisation and comedy writing classes. I’ll admit I’m jealous. 

However, during my interview with Paul Varghese he praised 4 Day Weekend’s classes in Fort Worth and suggested taking their classes. 4 Day has a great reputation and their shows are regularly sold out. So, I’m signed up with my buddy Byron Stamps. I’m actually excited about it now because it’s another comedy card in the pocket that can be taken out and used when needed. 

—The Hour—
Comedy is nothing without making things happen for yourself. Believe me, you’re a liability in comedy until you’re an asset. The club doesn’t need you. You’ll realize that means you have to kick in the ‘business side of showbusiness. It’s not a game of someone else doing something for you, it’s about making things happen for yourself.

Open mics and comedy clubs are just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a finite number of slots for weekend gigs. There’s a seemingly infinite number of comics fighting for those spots. That means sometimes you have to make yourself a spot. That’s the reason the Laugh Mafia was formed. We were new, hungry for time and thought the best way for us to get more than 3-5 minutes (that’s what you usually start getting at first) was to put on our own shows. We’ve done four now to near unanimous praise by our fans. That’s a great thing to say we’ve accomplished.

Comedy is about pushing harder, because if you aren’t, there’s 50 people graduating a comedy class or improvisation class that month, along with people who bypass the classes and just start doing comedy. Fifty may be an exaggerated number, but I would say it averages out to that annually. Expectantly, a lot of people come and go quickly in this business. People realize quickly, it’s not an easy thing. Starting off you have more bad sets than good. It can be disheartening, but the strong survive. It’s a fight to keep your face seen to the people that can give you time and more importantly that they see you’re working hard at getting better.

It’s a game of never being good enough, at least in my opinion. If you’re not hard on yourself and push yourself to get better, I guarantee you no one else will. Even if you get to the point of having a manager, if you’re not going to work at it, no one can convince you to do it.

So, the hour. A headlining comedian will do an average of 45-60 minutes a show. The most I’ve done so far is 30 minutes. Everyone that has headlined said there’s a huge difference from middling (30 minutes) to headlining (45-60).

As Seinfeld said, “You’re the entertainment for the evening. The crowd has been warmed up and now it’s up to you to top off the evening. You have to learn pacing, timing and control on a whole different level.” I’m paraphrasing a bit there, but you get the gist.

So, I told myself, my goal this year is an hour. I don’t have the date yet, but will let you know. 

Scary? Yes. Exciting? Yes.  

The last week, Memento Style

3:00am, right now
I’m sitting here typing while listening to Seinfeld’s “Comedian” in the background. It’s my pep talk when I need it. And I need it. 

Today we buried a cat, not ours, just another feral cat whose demise was sad and gruesome and let’s leave it at that. 

Later in the day, I hit Home Depot, avoiding Drunk Plumbing guy at the store who mislead me last week to what I needed to fix a plumbing problem. I”m not saying I’m a genius plumber, just this guy may have been too hammered to properly help customers. Plumbing problem solved. 

Next up was a video spoof of Don Corleone aka The Godfather. It’s promo for our next show. You can see the video here. Fun stuff.

Now back to Saturday. I’d actually planned to chill with Lori, but a text said I’d just scored 2 gigs that night. If you’re a new comedian getting started, just know you get a lot of gigs at the last minute. Weekend gigs are comedian gold. 

So, I was booked to do the Back Door Comedy Club at 8pm and 10:15pm Saturday night (there’s a Cure reference right there). 8pm show, bombed. 10:15pm show, bombed. The crowd wasn’t into me AT ALL. Everyone bombs and I’m no exception. But, here’s the deal. I’ve done weekends at Back Door before and I’ve bombed then too. So, I was determined to NOT BOMB, and still did. Twice in one night! ARRRGGHHH! I thought this club and me are cursed not to work together. 

So, I’m talking to a comedian buddy whom I respect, Craig Coleman, afterwards. I told him I bombed and he told me, they can smell the desperation on you. Click of the light going on. This is true. Newbies take note. Audiences are smart (most of the time), they can smell a hack premise, something that doesn’t click and yes, desperation.

I’d become so wrapped up in killing the room that I was desperate for their approval that I wasn’t “even in the room” doing my material. If you’re just starting out, or just curious about comedy, just having something on paper that’s funny is only one piece of the puzzle. It’s so much more. Inflection, timing, tone, facial expressions, act outs, hand placement, eye contact, mic stand placement and more go into making a bit work. One of those things being off can derail the whole performance. 

That’s why it takes so long to be great. There’s a buttload of crap comics, a lot of good comics out there and a few great comedians. The saying is true; “If it were easy, everyone would do it.” Amen brother. 

Another lesson learned. 

Let’s talk about “being in the room” for a second. Dave Reinitz, who’s a comedian and booker for the awesome Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank, CA told me after my performance, “be in the room and you’ll be tons better”. This was another light bulb moment. I’m in my head way too much while performing, usually a whole joke or two ahead instead of being right there, right then in the moment. When he told me that I think it improved me on the spot. I owe him for that. I also owe him for putting me on their roster and offering me spots when I’m in Burbank. That’s been one of my highlights in comedy so far. 

So, do yourself a favor and be in the room. I’m telling myself that, but if it helps you, please go with it. 

So, Friday, I did a spot at Taste of the Islands, which is a Caribbean restaurant and bar which also does comedy. Another note newbies, comedy happens in a lot of places, not just comedy clubs. Some good, some bad, some horrible. Taste can be either. I had a pretty good set that I rated at 80%. If you’re wondering I haven’t had a 100% set yet. There’s no mathematical reasoning to the percentages. I just base it on how my performance was and how the audience reacted. Each show gets put on the calendar with a percentage. The day I have a 100% show, I’ll let you know. 

Thursday night I did a gig in Fort Worth with Dean Lewis, Oliver Tull, Byron Stamps and Lis Eno. We did a show to 4 people. Four. Thanks World Series. But you know what? It was one of the funnest shows I’ve done. We all hit hard and those 4 people laughed, hung out, talked to us, thanked us, asked us when we’ll be back and I gained all of them as facebook friends. That’s what I call a Win Win.

Since we were in Fort Worth and Hyena’s open mic was going, Byron and I decided to drop in and do another set. Good set, only a couple of civilians in the audience, the rest were comics. 

I’ve got to once again say thanks to Jen Kober, check her out here. She’s the first comedian I featured (middled) for and she gave me this advice which I’ll always remember, “It doesn’t matter if there’s 8 people in the room, play it like there’s 800. Those people paid their money for a show. Give it to them.”

Another thing to newbies and the curios, here’s the definition of a typical show. 
MC, he/she starts the show, does about 10-15 minutes.
Feature (also called Middling) does about 25-30 minutes
Headliner does about 45-60 minutes. 

Of course there’s a ton of variations of that.

Wednesday was Hyena’s open mic in Dallas. A good set, got on early (thanks Patty) and got home in time for Seinfeld. 

Seinfeld brings it full circle. 

Again, this is all mostly for me, if you benefit from any of it, send me $3.75 to my address:
IRS
Austin, Tx. 
c/o Bobby Friske’s past due taxes

I need to start peppering these posts with pics…

 

And so I said, “Not this year.”

Again, disclaimer for spelling, grammatical errors and any other thing that would make you go “this guy didn’t do well in English.” Just don’t ask Mrs. Childress to back up your theory. 

So, I’m not going to Vegas for the World Series of Comedy this year. I made the call, talked to Joe Lowers (the organizer) and told him not this year. I passed. As soon as I said it, I felt relief.

Why? I’ll tell you.

Here’s the deal, there were three main factors in passing: timing, money and readiness. Let’s address these shall we? (Again, I’m typing out loud, you get to come along for the ride if you so wish.)

Here’s the deal with the World Series of Comedy, hereafter referred to as the WSOC (it’s an acronym). There’s two ways to get invited to compete. One was to win a satellite competition at a comedy club sponsoring the event. They had about 12 of these across the country. However, they didn’t have one in Dallas. The other option was to enter for the main event in Vegas. You enter and submit your best 5 minute video. If I remember correctly I submitted around late January or early February. Then you wait ……and wait …………………………..and wait.

They announced the winners on August 22nd and the contest is September 19th-24th. So, that’s basically 1 month to prepare, make reservations, flights, hotel, juggle real life work (see daytime stuff that pays the bills). When I got the news I was in, I WAS GOING, no matter what. Then, after the excitement of being picked wore off, I started evaluating. I’m an analyzer, I can’t help it. 

You may be thinking it’s a no brainer, GO! Yeah, I thought that too. So,  I emailed a couple of people that competed last year to ask them if it was worth it. One said yes, the other said no. I don’t want to go into their reasons because they were personal. Armed with that and advice from a couple of close comic buddies who’ve collectively been in the game for over 20 years I came to the conclusion I wasn’t ready this year. 

My ego was ready and I think I’ve got a handful of good bits. However, if L.A. taught me anything it’s if you’re not ready and blow it, it’s much harder than laying low, honing and getting better.

The key here is, along with the actual competition, there’s events all week, the most interesting is a meet and greet with bookers of comedy clubs all over the country. They’re also judges in the competition. So, if you blow it, you blow it in front of your potential employers.

Again, up until L.A. I was impatient, ready to conquer the world with my awesome comedy, let’s speed this up shall we mentality. Nine days later I realize why this takes time.

I just celebrated two years in comedy and not to toot my own horn (ok, TOOT TOOT), I think I’ve been very fortunate for someone just two years in. I’ve been very lucky to have had places like the Improv call me to perform, not the other way around. I was involved in the creation of the Laugh Mafia and performed 3 shows to great crowds (although see my previous post about the last show). I made it to the Funniest Comic in Texas wildcard finals and have got to feature for touring comedians and get paid doing it. Crazy!

But, there’s so much more to do here locally. 

If you’re reading this and you’re a comedian and you think I’m crazy, please do go prove me wrong and make it quicker than others. It CAN happen. Paul Varghese was headlining after 1 year. I love a good success story, IF the person deserves it. He does.

There are some people that are naturals the first time they walk on the stage. For others it takes time to perfect. It only took Ellen DeGeneres 4 years to make it to the Carson show AND get invited to sit with Johnny. If you know your comedy history, you know that’s amazing.

So, as Joe, the founder of WSOC reassured me, I wasn’t the first person to enter, get accepted and pass, and he asked me to register again next year. IF I make it next year, at just 3 years in, I’ll be more ready.

I now know that it’s not total BS to say, It’s an honor just being picked. Because it is.  

What just happened?

Long, rambling, incoherent words coming. You’ve been warned.

In the last week the following has happened: Our Laugh Mafia show, my second anniversary in comedy (the 26th) and out of the thousands that entered The World Series Of Comedy, I was one of the 101 chosen to compete. It’s a wildcard spot, but to say I’m honored to even be chosen is an understatement.


That’s a lot happening if you ask me. Oh, you didn’t ask me. 

Our Laugh Mafia show was a lot of fun. This is a blog of honesty so I’m going to admit a couple of things. I don’t think that was my best set. I think it was okay, I don’t think I killed the room like the great Dean Lewis did.

Dean was a pleasure to watch from the side of the stage. If you’ve ever wanted to be a comedian, I highly recommend taking his class. It’s worth it. If you saw the show, you know he knows what he’s talking about. I’m glad to call the guy mentor and friend. If you want to take the class email him at: comedyworkshop@yahoo.com. 

I attribute my feelings about my set due to a few things.

1. I got way too wrapped up in promotion, interacting with our fans, emailing people, promoting, promoting and more promoting. I also got wrapped up in making T-shirts and DVD’s by hand no less this time. I thought, we’re only doing 20 T’s and 20 DVD’s so I”ll do them myself (with my girlfriends help).

I kid you not when I say start to finish each shirt took 30 minutes and each DVD took an hour. That’s 30 hours of time I could’ve focused on writing and tweaking material. It’s all about learning from mistakes and what I learned from this show is I’d rather kill in front of 100 people than do okay in front of 350.



2. I’d been fighting off a cold for almost two weeks. I thought I actually might go hoarse the night of the show. The whole week before the show I was taking Dayquil during the day and Nyquil at night. I was very loopy during the show. I literally was on the side of the stage watching Dean and for a second thought I was dreaming. I was that out of it. To say it was a blur is an understatement. And I think my set suffered.

I had people come up to me after the show and say it was a great show and that they really enjoyed my set, which I appreciate. I just didn’t, and don’t feel that I gave as much as I could. I’m saying this because I think know I can do better. Out of the three shows we’ve done at the Eisemann I think this one I was least prepared for. I don’t think that’s fair to myself and especially the people that paid $15 for a ticket, got the baby-sitter, the valet parking and drinks which makes it a fairly expensive night for a lot of people. 

“I just wasn’t good.” - Jerry Seinfeld, on the documentary “Comedian” after having a bad set. I can relate brother. 

I’m telling you these things because I promised to be honest here, to myself and to you, the thousands (ok, three) of readers I have. This post is more for me and you can come along for the ride.

3. Material. This show I did 26 minutes. If you don’t know my style, I’m what’s called a “storytelling comic”, some people do one liners or short setup, punchline jokes. I just prefer to do it story wise. It’s what feels right to me. Also, if you’re wondering, yes, everything I talk/joke about is true. I did a bit about my mom getting botox from her vet, sadly true. I really cut off my childhood sweethearts toe with an axe, I busted my mom having an affair while my hair was on fire, I raised a sheep in FFA and I was mic shy until working in the deli at K-Mart.

Why am I telling you this? I dunno. Like I said at the start of this blog, I”m going to ramble.

Up until Byron and I went to L.A. I thought this whole process was going way too slow. Now, I’m grateful because I know that I need this time to hone my material, time to get better, time to do shit gigs, perform to 4 people at 1:30am and wait 4+ hours to do 3 minutes. It’s a process and it rightfully takes time. If you see a comedian on TV or a headliner coming through at the Improv just know they’ve trudged through some real tough times, crap gigs and just a generally large amount of BS to get where they are. Even if their comedy isn’t my cup of tea, I respect the hell out of the person for sticking with it.

Comedy has a built-in system that weeds out the wimps, complainers and people who don’t want it bad enough. It’s a good thing. There are exceptions of course, people who skirt the system. But for the most part it’s a just system because you gotta believe in yourself and your material and be tough as nails. There’s PLENTY of great comics out there that haven’t been discovered yet and may never get discovered because they don’t have “All 3”. That’s the desire, the delivery and the material. And still that may not be good enough.

It’s tough, but like Maronzio Vance, a great comic you should check out said, “If you ain’t in it to go the distance, get the F&%# out. You’re wasting your time and mine and more importantly you’re taking up stage time. Get out!” Harsh, but true.

There’s a great mini-series documentary on Netflix called “Circus”, that follows a season of the Big Apple Circus. It’s reality TV in the realest sense of the word(s). If you watch it, you may see there’s parallels to being a comedian. They have a saying “You have sawdust in your blood.” It means that you were meant to be in the circus. I’m not sure what comedy’s equivalent would be yet. I think it would be something like, “You have to have a mic in your hand.” That’s the best I’ve got so far. 

Panic? Not me. Wait….let me clarify.

So, I’m back from LA and fully engulfed in the madness that comes from putting on a Laugh Mafia show. It’s a H-U-G-E undertaking, way more than you may think. Promo, production meetings, interacting with friends and fans, asking, pleading, begging them to come to the show. Designing posters, flyers, images and bombarding every promotional outlet like the news channels, the local talk shows, newspapers, the Dallas Observer, etc. All the while doing other shows, open mics, trying to work during the day to support my comedy habit and of course spending time with my girlfriend.

It’s a lot to keep track of, not to mention the fact of trying to get material ready, but I’m not complaining, no really, I’m not. That’s really the charging of the batteries. I like the fact that it’s hard to do something like this, it should be. We take pride in putting on a great show in a great venue and making it an event, not just a comedy show. I think our fans would back that statement up.

People have asked me (and also asked my girlfriend Lori) if I get nervous on stage. It’s a complicated yes and no answer. No, I don’t get stage fright like someone who’s afraid to speak in public, I got over that working the K-Mart deli and pushing “8 fine pieces of chicken for $2.99”. Of course that was before I got fired, but I digress.

The panic of filling the room comes not only for the reason of I like to look out and see every chair with a butt in it. But to be honest, to pay for the room, the promotion, the filming and the production team is stressful. We gotta fill the room to pay everyone involved.

It’s more of the nervousness of, has everything I/we (we being the Laugh Mafia) been put in place? Did I forget anything, any body, did I do everything I told people I’d do and did I most of all do it while not screwing anyone over, intentionally or not. Very important.

Then you hit the stage and nothing else matters. It shouldn’t. A great comic, Tom Wilson said, “You’re at work, the stage is your office, the mic is your tool.” This is the profession you’ve chosen. It doesn’t matter if you’re not making money at it yet. You’re there (hopefully), I’m there, and it’s time to go to work and have some fun. That’s the goal. 

That’s the nervousness I get. Now, I do get butterflies on occasion, but that’s usually when I’m trying out a new bit for the first time. The butterflies are fuel though, it’s exciting, you’ve written something that people may love, hate or a little of both. And for the record I usually have one or two bits that I perform at the Eisemann that I’ve never done before. Stupid? Maybe, but I like it!  

Two nights ago, I had one of my top 3 worst sets ever. Who’s fault was it? Well, the audience was a college crowd at a college bar, loud and drunk. Guess what? It’s my fault. A great comedian can work any room. Case in point, when I was in LA I went to a Chocolate Sundays show (an urban show) at the Laugh Factory, A white guy went up and killed the room. Nothing too crazy there, but a local comedian was telling me a couple of weeks before that, Ron White, came in on Chocolate Sunday and killed the room. 95% Urban crowd and he kills the room. That’s what I’m talking about. 

The whole process exhausts me, I love it, I hate it and every other feeling in between. And I wouldn’t change a thing.
BF 

Everyday is the weekend in L.A.

This is long. Take a break in the middle and get a chi-latte or something…

Man, I should’ve kept up with this daily, but I didn’t, I couldn’t. Time is not linear in L.A. It’s a blurry time continuum vortex sucking sound of time. I got home exhausted.

Before you think I’m going to complain and moan, I’m not. This trip was EXACTLY what I hoped it would be: filled with great comedy, meeting a lot of people, getting up on stage and seeing how the whole system of comedy works in L.A. Success! 


Day 4-9 are a blur, literally. I went up a handful of times total. If I recall correctly, there was The Comedy Hole, The Comedy Store, Marty’s (“Hi, I’m Marty, welcome to Marty’s. Sorry, inside joke. Go there and you’ll know), Flappers (more on that in a second) and  a couple of others I can’t think of right now.

Who did I see perform you ask? A LOT of comedians, some you may know, some you may not. But here’s a partial list:

Deon Cole
Theo Von
Erik Griffin
Maronzio Vance
Kevin Shea
Jay Phillips
Esau McGraw
Al Madrigal
Chris D’elia
Corey Holcolmb
Aaron Rewards
Tony Baker
David Arnold
Donnell Rawlings
Bobby Lee
Sebastian Maniscalco
Boogie B
Ian Edwards
Jennifer Michelle Singleton
Samuel Conroe
Joe Fox
Jimmy Dore
Bresha Webb
Greg Proops
Todd Glass,
Josh Adam Myers
Kevin Shay
And I’m sure I’m forgetting some.

Besides networking, what else did I learn? I learned that there’s people there who want to be famous no matter what. Actors and actresses think they can short cut success by doing stand-up. And it’s awesome to see because comedy is the great equalizer. It doesn’t care if you’re short, tall, fat, black, white, asian, male or female, if you’re not funny, you’re not going to make it. There’s no editing that can be done in the editing room to make you funny, live, in front of an audience. And you know what? That makes me happy. Not to be mean, I just like the fact that comedy isn’t racially biased towards anyone.

However it’s a field where being “funny looking”, male or female can help you. So, I’ve got a leg up on the Brad Pitts and Jennifer Anistons (yeah, I put them back together) of the comedy world.


There was so much that happened, some of the funnest was “the hang” with comedians who are better than you, listening to them, watching them and learning from them. Another thing that’s confirmed from an earlier post, every comedian we met was very nice, supportive, happy to talk to you and encouraging.

I gotta stop and thank Jesus Trejo and Brady Matthews. You guys were awesome to kick it with!

If you ask me what the best shows I saw were, well I’ll tell you. It’s really a tie, we saw a great show called Chocolate Sundays, an urban show at the Laugh Factory on Sunday. Every one of those guys were hitting hard, and yes there was a white guy named RT that killed that audience. The host, Esau McGraw was absolutely hilarious.

Being a host out there is different, you do bits in between comedians and keep the crowd pumped. He did just that. Deon Cole, Red Grant, Corey Holcomb among others all KILLED that room. It was inspiring to see. 

The second was a bar, yes a bar, call The Parlor. Its on Melrose and Alta Vista. They have a show every Monday night. It was PACKED. Bar shows are known to be a tough crowd, but the place was SRO, everyone was paying attention and there’s a reason. EVERY COMIC KILLED. All these guys can, and are, headliners. Brady Matthews, Theo Von (yes, that dude from MTV’s Road Rules) and Erik Griffin, just to name a few. All on fire and hitting HARD.

So, here’s the story with Flappers. It’s a newer club in Burbank, it’s a GREAT club. Laid out well, great sound system and great comedians there. They have an “audition”, not really an open mic every Wednesday and Thursday where you can try out and get on their roster. The coolest thing is after the audition, if you want it, the manager, Ray, will give you his feedback.

So, I go on both nights. The first night we didn’t stay for feedback because we headed down to Sunset to see, I forget who. But Thursday I went up at Flappers, we hung out and I got feedback. He asked me how long I’d been in comedy. I said, two years. Then he gave me two pieces of advice, which when said out-loud were very obvious and helpful. It was one of the two best pieces of advice I received from people in the biz out there (the second one in a second). He asked me how long I’d been in town and I told him it was an “educational trip” this first time and he said that next time I was in town to call him and he’d give me a spot! Bam baby! It was great to have someone in the heart of the biz at the very least recognize my potential and like it enough to offer me stage time at a great club. 

The other great piece of advice is from Tommy Morris, talent booker from The Comedy Store.
He’s part of this whole comedy history thing. It was an honor just to meet the guy the first time I went and to see him, I believe, chuckling at me on stage was awesome. Then the next time I was there, he came by and said “hey, what’s up?”. It doesn’t matter that he probably didn’t remember my name, he’s seen thousands come and go. But just the fact that the guy can wade through a ton of bad comedy, find the gems and still laugh though it all, well, it’s impressive. But he said, “You gotta want it bad enough, you gotta get out there and punch your way through.” I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the gist.  

If I’m repeating myself, sorry. I’ve been watching comedy since I was a kid. I would even say studying it because I enjoyed it way more than my friends did. I never thought then that I would be a comedian, but I’m glad I sat and watched. I learned by watching people like George Gobel, Dean Martin, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, yes, even Johnny Carson. He was a huge influence. If anyone ever tells you Carson wasn’t a comedian, just watch him work. He’s the setup, the guy who gives the person sitting to his right the punchline. Watch this clip: http://youtu.be/vsEkR5WFlw0

Plus the whole cast of SNL made an impression on me very early and I’ve been hooked ever since. Same goes for the Carol Burnett show. I defy you to find something funnier than this: http://youtu.be/3qqE_WmagjY

All in all I know I’m forgetting tons and purposely omitting some things, sorry, but some things that happen in L.A., stay in L.A. If I think of things I’ll add them in the next post. 

I’ll sum up with this, if you are a comedian and you’re pursuing standup as a profession, I highly recommend you go to L.A. and see it in action for yourself. It’s a great way to add to your education. Then go to NYC, which is the next big stop.

Keep laughing people. 

Bobby

Day 3: Booyah!

So, day 3 started late, but actually right on time for LA. We got up around 11, I did a little work and then around 5 headed for The Comedy Store, hereafter referred to as The Store (see previous post).

Their Sunday night open mic is really more of a lottery/invite list thing. My connection couldn’t get me on, no biggie, but my other connection is trying to get me on tonight. In fact, one sec, while I text him…

Ok, back. So, every day is a huge learning experience. On top of being on top of your game, it’s all about networking here. NET-WORK-ING. Fortunately we’ve had a great couple of hosts show us around and introducing Byron and myself to peeps.

So, we hung out at The Store and checked out the open mic. If you’re wondering how the open mic is at one of the top 5 places in America compared to Dallas, It’s the same as Dyer or Hyena’s. Not really Back Door because I didn’t hear one clean comedian.

No one really killed the room and there were only about 5 civilians in the audience and 3 got kicked out. BTW, there weren’t any working stalls at The Store.


The good news for inquiring comedians is that the scene seems fairly supportive. I mean I’m 3 days in, so I could be wrong. But everyone we’ve met has been really nice, talked to us about the scene, asked us how long we’ve been doing comedy, where we’re from, etc. 

So, after we left The Store, we went to the Laugh Factory, herein referred to as LF. It was Chocolate Sunday night, i.e. urban, let me tell you that these fellas were on FIRE. The whole lineup. 


We got to hang out upstairs where comics hang and also in the VIP room, which was cool. The show was awesome, Kevin Hart came in and hung upstairs for a minute, yup, he’s short like me. It was his birthday, but he took off before the host could bring him up. Donnell Rawlings popped into the VIP room, shook hands and went and did a killer 15 minutes. 


I met Jay Fox who is one cool cat. If you don’t know him, friend him on facebook and check him out. He’s a Dallas boy that’s been in LA for about 6 years. The people who performed were Esau McGraw, Boogie B, RT (white dude who killed), and David Arnold who is GREAT! Search for these people. These are the comics who are hitting it hard.

Also, another great guy is Brady Matthews, very funny cat and really nice guy. Check him out. I did a show with him in Dallas previously and he remembered me and remembered my g-friends name. It’s pretty impressive considering the amount of comics the LA comics meet.

The name(s) of the game so far is: be funny, network, and keep your face in people’s memory that can give you a spot on a show. To use Jay Fox’s words, “It’s brutal out here”, but I think it should be.

If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.



 

L.A. 48 hours in

So, Byron and I have been here 48 hours and the difference between the first night and second were, well, night and day.

First night here we went up at a place called The Comedy Hole. Just comedians there, if you know Dyer Street you know the Hole. Same thing, just with great hamburgers. We then hit an open mic in the Hollywood Hotel, didn’t go up, but saw a Dallas comedian that moved out here, Jay Mandyam who’s a cool dude and also works the door at The Comedy Store.


I’m not going to lie I went to bed the first night on my inflatable air mattress a little dejected. If this is the comedy life in LA, then, um, yuck. There’s gotta be a thousand of these little open mics with thousands of comedians compared to a few open mics in dallas with about 150 people really pursuing comedy. But it’s the big tank, with the big fish and that’s actually pretty cool in itself.

Mark Agee and Tone Bell, both Dallas comics who now call LA home said without some connections you could spend a whole year JUST figuring out which open mics you should be going to.

So, yes, dejected.

Second night we hit Sunset Blvd, home of all things happening, especially comedy and specifically the location of The World Famous Comedy Store, but for newbies you just call it The Store. This is a place started by Pauly Shore’s mom, Mitzi in the early 70’s and it’s where all comedy royalty has performed.

Knowing Jay (see above) who works the door, we also met another person who works there. I don’t wanna mention his name just so he doesn’t get bombarded. But we chatted for a bit, and he gave us the full tour. We saw the room where Kinison and Pryor both stayed. There’s also the famous glass piano coffee table that Kinison used to do coke on and no one will touch. Out of respect or superstition, I don’t know.

Then we saw the room of signatures. This is a room where every comic legend hassigned the wall. Just to know people like Carlin, Pryor, Murphy, Hicks, Burr, Hart, so many names I can’t list, has touched those walls is pretty cool.

Yes, I have pictures, but sorry, I don’t think it’d be right to post them since I googled looking for the pics and didn’t see any. I’m certainly not going to be the first guy to cross that line. If you see me in person, ask and I’ll show you.

Then we sat in the main room for a bit, saw some great comics and then hit the Belly room, saw a couple of friends we knew and called it a night. 

Our goal now is to get on at The Comedy Store, hopefully tonight (Sunday) or tomorrow. Then it’s on to the Laugh Factory and the Improv and anywhere else we can get up. I honestly saw a sign at a CVS that said something about a comedy night, so who knows. Stage time is stage time.

Internet connection is non-existant (goes with the dejected part) so I’m limited to Starbucks wi-fi.

However, don’t think of any of this as complaining. All of this is awesome, to see one of the two places in the world (NYC being the other) where it’s the mecca of comedy first hand is invaluable.

more to come…