That Was Rough

I auditioned for Comic Strip Live last night.



I felt like Will Ferrell as Dr. Beaman from an SNL sketch (circa 2000):

Thank God...[ sighing ]

...Whew... [ starts to write on his papers, then stops ]

...Yikes... [ writes some more, stops again ]

...That was rough! [ props his feet on his desk ]

I participated in The Lottery Show hosted by Sherrod Small. Twice a year comics gather to draw a number from a fish bowl. When their number is called they are given an audition date. People affiliated with the club decide whether you get passed to perform on their regular shows, passed to perform on their late night shows, or passed to the garbage. Lately, the auditions have been a little flashier as they take on the form of a contest, featuring a full house, fog machine and panel of comedian judges. I'm told they weren't always this way, so it's probably something special they did for me.

Judges included Modi, Keith Robinson, and Greer Barnes. There were other funny comics and the owners of the club on the panel as well. The set was a fast and fun five minutes, with a nice reaction from the audience. Comedians Helen Hong, Luke Thayer, Gary Gulman , Lisa Harmon and Joseph Rocha were supportive behind the scenes.

Then for intimidation purposes all comics are brought out one-by-one to hear what the judges have to say. It's very entertaining for the crowd, but completely nerve-wracking for the comic. Hats off to Sam Morrill who got over-critiqued last week so they brought him back again this week to do it properly. He had the strongest set of the night.

The good: they said I was funny, I had a lot going on in my set, and I did a good job. Also I'm better than one of my jokes, which I'm counting as a compliment.

The bad: they said I lunge too much during my set. (I can't afford the gym.) They said not to be the voice of an animal in any joke because it's too easy. (Oh yeah? Figure thisssss one out! <--Snake, right? Wrong! Gila monster. BOOM!)

The ugly: I was told that I finished with a weak joke. Sherrod said, "Aw, that's not fair. How long have you been doing it?" Six years. "Yeah, you should have known better then."

My goal of performing at 11:00PM after a long day was to stay awake for the whole process, so mission accomplished. I call it a success.

Photo credit:
snltranscripts.jt.org