Tell me I’m wrong
What’s hard about being an open mic person is you’re going to these nights where you’re listening to each other over, and over, and over. And you’re doing the same jokes over and over. I’ve heard all of person A, person B and person C’s stuff. Person A’s material is good but their delivery is awful. Person B’s performance is fantastic but their material is so bad. And then there’s the inevitable Person C - and this is their first night doing stand up comedy.
I don’t see a lot of people listening and I don’t see a lot of people sticking around and listening to others and then talking to each other afterward. Everybody’s so tense - I have taken to sticking around after my bit and personally hijacking other people and engaging them in conversation. I find one thing I really liked about their performance and tell them so and inevitably it’s quid pro quo. It’s true, I’d rather hear what I’m doing wrong or what’s not working than get a compliment. I mean really, do I want a pat on the head or do I want to get better? But I think as I get to know others there’ll be less ‘that was great’ and more ‘your joke sucks’.
Friday January 4,2008