The new hot thing the last week, other than everyone having a doctorate in international affairs from the school of bomb everything or the university of war sucks maaaaaaaannnnnn, was to do a review of your last decade. It was quite the decade for me personally…I guess it should be, if your decade was just “meh” maybe you drink some coffee or get a life coach or something. I got married, had two kids, moved, lost family members and got old, but let’s focus on comedy.
I started the last decade off winning the Semi-Pro division at Go Bananas in Cincy. I was told I was the first out of towner to do so, but I know it’s been done since. I’m sure there is a marble statue of me somewhere. I also started doing longer sets that year, like for real longer, not just new comic “Sure, I can take your money and figure it out!”
I quit smoking altogether so in other words, I can’t go to open mic comedy anymore. Too many human cigarette breaks in a 22 person show. That and with two kids, you need to have time to leave the house. Oh and writing new jokes more than once every six weeks would help.
I got to open for Colin Quinn, who was one of the nicest big names around and he actually liked my set (at least he said he did…wait, was he just being nice?). I also found out J Medicine Hat and Jim Wiggins passed. They were two comics that helped me out a lot when I first started. Wiggins told me about tricks regarding where to focus on the crowd and timing; Medicine Hat took me on the road to the Virginia Beach Funny Bone early in my “career” and told me to lighten up a bit and look like I was enjoying myself. I guess I can act after all!
I also passed the feature showcase to be able to work clubs, but I’m still waaaayyy down the lists and to be honest, haven’t really pursued gigs now that I have a family. My son wakes up at 3 am now and my daughter has cried when I left for shows, so that’s a great way to ready to make strangers giggle – exhaustion and guilt, let’s go baby!
I don’t know what the record for telling people when your next show is knowing they won’t come, but I am sure I was close in the last decade.
I started running a monthly show (it used to be an open mic weekly – never again) that just hit the four year mark. Check me out at Rehab Tavern every 3rd Friday at 8 pm in Columbus.
I got to do a bunch of roasts, debates, even a sketch/improv show, try out for a commercial for Wal-Mart (they didn’t announce a last place audition finisher, but it was surely me) and even hosted Ultimate Sinner on Sirius/XM channel 38, Ozzy’s Boneyard.
I’m sure there’s something I’m missing, but my son, as mentioned, got up at 3 am yet again, so whatever. Comedy and stuff. Yaaaayyyy.