Last night I was back at an open mic after a 6 month hiatus from standup. It’s like going back to the gym after a long hiatus. Your brain still knows how to do what you want but your body is out of practice. 2011 was heavy in sketch and improv performing for me and the standup muscles have begun to atrophy. It wasn’t as rough as I expected but it also wasn’t as good as I remembered I used to be. My goal for this year is to deliver my material at open mics with no performance…plainly…no act outs. Let’s save the A-level performance for the paying gigs. If I can get laughs on the writing alone then any performance I put on top of that will be gravy. Some older bits worked. None of the newer ones did. The former high school jock douchebag-type working the door gives me the light. He doesn’t find anything I’m doing to be funny. He looks like he waxes his chest so he definitely knows comedy. I get off stage, sit in my car and listen back to my set on my digital recorder. It’s like watching the practice film immediately after taking off your helmet and pads. I hear what worked, what didn’t and what I want to go home and rewrite. If only there was 2nd mic I could find to try again tonight. Looks like I’m back on the hamster wheel again.
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