Popping my Stand up Comedy Cherry....

The Gig...

I never realized how tough it could be.Always said you'd like to do it? Or when you see a bad comic, do you think; hell I could do that?Let me tell you that it really is a different kettle of fish when its time to go up. But despite the pre-show nerves, the last minute run to the toilet to practice your material in the mirror, and the pointless small talk with the other comics (who all seem so relaxed and unaffected by the fact that at any minute they're going to be up there asking for your laughter) in the end it may be heavy and nerve jingling but its also ridiculously rewarding.

Its a big thing to go up on stage and ask some strangers to laugh WITH you, its like stopping someone in the street and asking for money for charity except instead of the street the people have come to a bar/club with a "we've payed in so this better be good" kind of attitude, and instead of money... okay so it isn't the best analogy.

On the plus side most audiences want you to be good I think, so for the first 30 seconds you have them, after that your on your own.

I booked my gig before I even had much material, which put me under pressure. Because it was my first time I needed a routine that I could learn off and not have to interact with the audience too much. Basically, I needed something that wouldn't change no matter what environment I had. In light of this I made 2 decisions that would make or break my act.

Firstly I decided to write a funny (hopefully) song, if it bombed, I had to finish it, if it went well, I had it learned off so I could fill 3-4 mins with some solid laughs. Also I have never played the guitar in public so it did add some pressure but I must say now, in retrospect, that the guitar provided me with a good prop to stand behind and talk to the audience without having to bear myself completely.

Secondly the song was filthy. We were told that the keyword for the night of comedy was going to be "knob", so I said I'd write a song around that theme. If the audience were sensitive I was screwed, luckily every one had a few drinks before I popped up and some of the other comics were very dirty so my song didn't seem so bad now. But as I said being dirty can probably make or break your first gig as you can't wince or cringe when saying anything, if you don't have confidence in the material then no-one will. I suppose you have to let them think that what you're saying has a sense of logic behind it but in a way that's funny to them... But what do I know...?

I'm in no position to give any advice, but to expand on my above point I'll just say, no matter how nervous I was, I tried my best not to show it (even though at one point my hands was shaking when I was singing my song), if you're nervous the audience can't get past that and hear your material.

Now that I'm finished I can look back and pull apart the few minutes I had up there.

One thing I noticed was that my timing was off and I didn't give the audience a chance to settle after any laugh, and the times I did try and pause for a laugh I lost my momentum, for my next gig I'll have to work on it. Also I have to try and work on my guitar playing if I want to keep the funny songs as part of my act!! When nerves kick in one's rhythm can be slightly affected!!

Other negatives I suppose would be cleaning up that particular song and making it a little less obvious and more open to a broader audience, also I need to start using my other material, and testing it as I can't just rely on a few funny songs. But that's all ahead of me.

All in all though, I can take mostly positives from my first gig as I got a great few laughs from the audience followed by a good applause at the end. I'm doing a 10 minute set this Friday and have put more pressure on myself to get some more material to put some more meat around my songs. Lets hope the crowds warm....

See what you think yourself here is the gig that popped my cherry>>>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKu6Ifk4SEY



Things I hate about doing Stand up for the first time:


Nerves-Other cocky comics-Other cocky comics that sucked-Other cocky comics that were really good-The FearPotential- bad audience-The MC-My guitar that wouldn't keep in tune-Constantly challenging the quality of my material-Fear of falling over on stage-Theres more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKu6Ifk4SEY