One of the hardest things to do in comedy is read the crowd. They don’t give you surveys before you get up there. I did a show once booked by my pal Steve Sabo that had a list of the local mall, strip club, redneck town everyone there made fun of, etc. It was nice, but I was probably too new and undisciplined to remember my own set, let alone add new info. It would’ve been like when Al Bundy taught Kelly sports trivia on Married with Children. Every fact she memorized pushed another nugget of info out of her mind like how to open doors or walk up stairs.
Add to that the fear factor. I was so nervous and focused on not forgetting my material, I honestly don’t remember looking anyone in the eye for 3 years after I started. Figuring out you can improvise or actually judge reactions was a nice bonus, especially because I recorded my sets on a 2004 tape recorder that sounded like someone was communicating with a kidnap victim in a trunk through a Rally’s drive thru mike. I played a set for my buddy once on that five dollar recorder and I had to explain what I said after each line. I’m sure he really enjoyed it.
Of course, sometimes there are external factors why the crowd isn’t digging your set (it’s probably your fault as a comic – 99% certainty). Example: doing a show with 21 TV’s showing the opening round of the NCAA tourney? Not smart. I did that. Didn’t go well. The other big unknown – what is the makeup of the crowd? My last show was for Art History graduate students. My next show is for the Central Ohio Tractor Pullers. (whispers loudly) I don’t think they will enjoy the same jokes! Or my all time favorite reason – the emcee makes it tough. I did a 50th wedding anniversary where right before the show started, the host mentioned a family member that lost a long and hard fight with cancer, wiped some tears away, then handed the mike to the first comic and said, “Go get ’em.” I’ll give away the ending – the set didn’t go very smoothly.