turning 3 years old
i was reading an interview with joe rogan the other night and the more i hear that man speak, read his interviews, and learn from him, i respect that dude more and more. joe rogan is most well known for his time on News Radio (ray romano was orginally supposed to play rogan’s character but romano was fired), and more recently as the host of Fear Factor. For those of us that watch the UFC, you know he’s the ‘mouth’ of the UFC and i couldn’t imagine watching fights without his insight.
in the interview with the san fransisco standup blog, rogan talks at length about the importance of open mics and how the open mic scene in any city becomes the heart beat of the comics and of the people that love to watch comedy.
“Lack of open mike nights is what really kills local comedy scenes. The scene in Boston was really strong and one reason it was so strong is because there were open mike nights like every night of the week. They had them all over the place. It was like a great workshop- there were so many places to get up and perform, and so many other comics doing the same thing. Stand-up comics, especially in the beginning when they’re developing, they need a local scene.” Joe Rogan interview, SFStandup Blog, Aug 19/08.
here in winnipeg, the one thing that i am most proud of is being a part of the gigantic change that has taken place in the standup community over the last three years. in winnipeg, there were only a couple of shows that locals could book into and they were being produced by a local comedian, jason beck. beck was instrumental in starting a community of standups and providing them with a ‘scene’ in which they could learn and grow in. when i moved here in 2006 there were only three rooms you could do standup in (rumors, the charly, and the cavern.) from what i gather, 2006 was the year that things really started to change.
i moved to winnipeg in jan. of 2006 and i immediately set out to get back onstage after taking two years off from performing to focus on being a dad (and also because i moved back to the small town i was raised in and in the land of 7000 rednecks, there is no place to perform). when i moved here there was a strong but small improv scene, one sketch comedy troupe that was in the midst of disappearing, and a handful of standups ‘doing it’ regularly. i met matt cohen and john b. duff at the cavern, where they were producing a standup show on wednesday nights. comedy at the cavern really drove me to want to do standup. the cavern, as a comedy venue, is awesome and it fucking sucks.
the cavern feels like new york city. it is small, underground, and has exposed brick walls. it reminded me of a small (stolen) cd shop that i visited while cruising around NYC with tonto’s nephews. the cavern is ‘home’ to alot of people in osborne village and during a comedy show there, you had to make sure you weren’t pissing off the people that lived there. that was the curse of the cavern. it was also the blessing of the cavern. if you were funny, you’d know. the cavern was a place that allowed comedians to really ‘come together’ to support each other because the room was ‘violently real’ with comedians and often i left that room questioning my whole life.
after a few weeks of beers, shows, and meeting with the local comedians, it was decided that more shows were needed. a group of five of us gathered (cohen, duff, ron moore, darcy taves, and myself) and we started up tuesday night shows at the king’s head pub. the shows, the producers, the comics, the sponsors, and the vibe have all changed in the last two years that we’ve been there. we have some pretty die hard followers for each respective nights, and we’ve been able to steadily build on some minor successes that we’ve had in the past. going into season 3 of comedy at the king’s head, we are producing standup, improv, sketch-ish stuff, and an alternative night. it’s hard to believe that we’re turning 3 years old this year. sometimes it’s tough to find the ‘energy’ needed to produce shows. this year, it seems different though. the energy is ‘back’ after having taken most of the summer off to ‘paid shows’ and i look forward to another season of kick ass tuesday nights. we do face some challenges though, and we have to be ready to meet them head on.
often, especially in the summer, we play to empty-ish rooms here in winnipeg. personally, i feel horrible playing to empty rooms. the lack of energy, the lack of anticipation, and the general vibe is a real let down when you arrive at a show and only a handful of people have shown up to it. usually, i’ve worked on my set for a few hours that day, and arriving at a show that no one is at is a real kick in the nards. at least it was until i read this:
“Sometimes real good, sometimes tiny, but I think that even tiny crowds are important. There’s no contagious laughter in tiny crowds, you have to actually say something funny. When you’re in front of small crowds, you see the fat in your material. You see when you’re pandering, you see when you’re saying things that you don’t really believe in. There’s a lot of traps you can fall in when you’re developing material, and one is that you just try to do things that work. Instead of doing something you think is funny that is a direct expression of your thoughts, you’ll just do things that you think are effective.” Joe Rogan Interview, SFStandup Blog, Aug 19, 08.
so, from here on in, no complaining from me. none. more focus on the work, less focus on the ‘poor me’s’. i’m venturing to make this the best comedy year i’ve ever had. this summer has been kick ass for me professionally and i’ve worked nonstop since may. as a comedian, i feel lucky and blessed that i’m able to do what i do. i’m going to continue to do it, but with less whining about it. in the interview that i’ve been referencing, rogan talks about ‘just doing the work’:
“The two most important things are to get on stage as much as possible, and write as much as possible. Get on stage as much as you fucking can, especially in the beginning. The other thing is to record yourself, that’s really important. I’ve learned a lot by going over recordings. A lot of guys just hone their stuff on stage and go “yeah that went pretty well but I’ll work on that part some more,” and then they just do it the same way the next night. If you actually listen to it by yourself you can get a fuckload out of it. You can see little things, maybe it’ll open up a new path in your mind. “Oh I can say that too, oh I can take it in a different direction now.” You really get the most out of the material that way and can get in depth with it.” Joe Rogan Interview, STStandup Blog, Aug 19/08.
so. fuck this blog. it’s time to get to work. what do you say winnipeg? who’s coming with me?
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Any current open mics going on?