Monday, February 19th – The Comedy Store, West Hollywood, CA
For the first time in a while, I'm fortunate enough to get up on Potluck.
To my readers who may not be as in the know: Potluck is the employee show at the Comedy Store. There are three sections. First: the open mic, where anywhere from 12-16 comics get up, trying to get themselves in front of the booker so that they can make it into the development system. Next: "Friends And Family," where the employees are guaranteed a spot, and a handful of development comics, former employees, and random pals of the host attempt to snag one of the five to ten available spots. Finally: the Paid Regular portion of the show, where anyone with their name on the wall can come thru and work out material.
I quit working the door at the Store almost exactly 5 years ago, placing me more on the “Friends” side of “Friends & Family.” My former position as a door guy at the Store doesn’t afford me any extra favor with the Potluck hosts, and not for lack of trying on their part. It’s mostly because hosting Potluck is a total crapshoot. You really don’t know who will show up and how much wiggle room you have between employees. The last time I went, both T.I. and Chris Rock showed up. I had a feeling one (or both) of them would try to pop in, so I told the host to pull me from contention. He seemed apologetic and relieved. The least I could do.
Now, because I know that there are no guarantees and that I can’t take that personally, Mondays at the Store are no longer a must-attend scenario for me. So when I do show up, and do get a spot, I take it seriously. This time, I know I have material about my recent trip to Japan to work out. I do it up top just to make sure I get through it with time to spare in the set. It’s still a little wordy, but it gets laughs. Time to tighten, test again, and see if it’s worth expanding after it’s shaved down to the essentials.
I thank Nicole for the spot, hang out for a little while longer, then head home. We’ve got our first WRONG! in Atlanta later this week. There’s a lot to be done before I go.
Thursday, February 22nd – The Atlanta Theater, Atlanta, GA
What we're learning now about WRONG! is what we can afford to do. Where we can afford to spend money and where we wind up losing it. What we need to say about the show to get people in the door. How much tickets should cost. I ran ads for the show that get thousands of clicks, but we have 9 ticket sales, and 8 people in the audience. That is a result that I will dissect later with Tyler and Daisygreen and Melanie. But right now, we have a show for no one to do.
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