I noticed during this past weekend’s performance of some of my comedy, that I was comfortable in front of the crowd. Prior to this I would be making a conscious effort to keep my mind on just getting through and hopefully not getting stuck or lost in my material.
I credit this experience to being more prepared than ever . I had practiced the monologue for over a week, starting each morning with a run through of the whole five parts (five of my scripts). So that when I was introduced and came out to start I hadn’t been doing any last minute run thru of my material or anything. I knew it well enough that it wasn’t going to be an issue. I did have a minor glitch that had me caught for a moment but it was unnoticed by the crowd and I elected to drop a paragraph from one of the monologues to continue without being noticed.
But what I discovered in this performance was that I was playing more. I mean I think I was entering a point of comfort that felt like I was working the room with my comedy a bit.
I’ve decided that because the key to this success was being better prepared; I’m going to continue practicing whether I have a show or not. And my next goal is to always be ready to do a show, like the opportunity I had a week ago when I was at an open air concert and was being asked if I’d like to do some stand up. I turned it down thinking I wasn’t ready. But I will always be ready now.
The other big thing that I find has really helped me, is the knowledge that peoples laughing or not laughing, isn’t a measure of them enjoying the show. I took a comedic workshop last year by a comedian Chris Moleneux. He made that statement in his teaching and when he did I thought “yeah maybe”. But then I was watching a comedian a month or so later and realized I was really enjoying this guy, but I wasn’t laughing. It really helped to establish that truth for me. And I don’t have a fear that is generated by not hearing laughter of my material.
So my goal to get myself on utube will happen soon. I had this show recorded by a friend, so that will happen in the next few days I hope. And my next goal? Always be prepared, you know, like a boyscout. ;-)
