Standup Comedy on the Sidewalk

I had a successful open mic last night! Hooray!!!!!

It was a weird one. The space where the open mic usually takes place is a restaurant a few blocks from my airbnb. But the restaurant's back room was booked last minute by a group of 25 paying customers, so the comedians were promptly kicked the fuck out.

Never to be kept down, the intrepid comedians set up the microphone and amplifier on the sidewalk, where we proceeded to accost total strangers and passersby with our dick-jokes, embarrassing stories, and racial observations. 

But, in spite of all that, and going up very last, I actually had a decent set? One joke in particular went over well, in which I talk about how a subway patron started throwing up on the platform, but he had strangely wise-looking face. 

The biggest take away form that success was that I did a big, but simple and fully fleshed out act-out (sort of). It only lasted a couple seconds, but it was unexpected and right on the nose. 

I've heard of comedians who will look into mirrors to practice their act-outs, just to make sure that their body is in line with what their brain thinks is going on. As a person who has listened to a lot of comedy on road-trips or in headphones, I think I have a tendency to rely overly much on the material. The "writing" aspect, if you will. The other part for me is to make sure that I utilize my physicality and perform the act-outs in a fully fleshed out and simple-but-effective way. 

Big lesson learned, and something to take going forward for sure.

See you tomorrow!

-Jon

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