Matt
Concept for the blog: a mix of show recaps, audio of performances, jokes, etc.
ever read "One L" by Scott Turow? it's about his first year at law school. i'm thinking this could be a sorta "One L" for comedy.
p.s. roller coaster show last nite. i wound up doing 12 mins at end. some rough but some good. crowd had been devastated before me by some really bad comics.
Brian
Yeah, I loved one L and referred to it all the time my first year of law school (I went to Fordham Law, at night--graduated but never practiced.) One great thing about Turow's book is he constantly portrayed his own inadequacy and feeling that he was not up to the task.
Glad your set was good. Daniella said you killed...
[next day] I did the open mic last night, went up with nothing and found some absolutely great stuff. Actually thought of it as I was walking to club, but didnt work on it, just spit it out and it was really centered and coming from just the right place. Great thing to do for me. I think I rely too much on the writing, and can get buried in it, instead of being free. Going up with nothing gets me past that, ends up helping my delivery on the prepared material too.
Matt
Stage time is the key. I'm so much more comfortable now after doing just a few sets in front of people. I know my strongest material that I can use as go to stuff and then I play around with new stuff. I think the key is to combine off the cuff style with written stuff so it seems natural. It all depends on what you're going for though...Steven Wright sticks to straight written stuff and it's great, ya know?
Brian
I agree with you about Steven Wright and Demetri Martin too. Mitch Hedberg as well. I guess I am going for a more personal, less purely observational thing, because I think that's where my more original thoughts lie, you know. I tend to do better by realizing the ways that I am ridiculous as opposed to the ways the world is rediculous, if that makes sense. You seem able to stand back and comment on the world in a natural way. Maybe it's because I spend so much of my day creating imaginary exterior worlds and characters, that I am finding the sort of more internal thing more exciting at this moment. b/t/w/ this sort of back and forth would be good for the blog/book I think. Do you?
Matt
yes, def good to include these emails and kinds of thoughts in the blog. plus the conversational style of emails translates well to the web.
I think the personal style works well for you. people relate to that easily too. i'd say stick with what feels natural for ya.
I'm still trying to figure out my angles...i'm seeing that some of my material is winding up in that the hedberg/wright absurb style (e.g. i'm opening up an inconvenience store...it's only open sundays from 5-6am and everything's out of stock), while other stuff is a more bill maher/hicks observational style (gay pride parade, etc.). makes for a strange mix but i think there's a way to blend 'em both together and have it work.
