This is my first performance of any of my material in front of a crowd that was made up of total strangers.  I had been looking forward to seeing what kind of reaction I would get from people who wouldn't feel obligated to laugh at my material.

After my less than kind review in my blog (see "the song remains the same") of my experience at the Green Mic last week, I received the video of my performance which came out better than I had expected.  The volume is very low, so unless you have nice computer speakers or headphones, you won't be able to make out what I'm saying/singing.

I love the expression on the MC's face at the beginning when I don't come on stage immediately.  As mentioned in my blog, I was thrown on stage more than 20 minutes early.  When they called my name, I was panicking, and couldn't get my guitar case unlatched which made me even more anxious.  You can see my face riddled with nervous energy when I finally reach the stage.

Standup comedians are an odd sort.  I don't really consider myself among them, but I am finding myself performing alongside them as it seems to be the only way to put my work on stage in front of an audience.  I just got back from an open mic called "The Green Mic" at a Ukranian bar in the East Village called Karpaty Pub.  The neon sign in the window says "Sly Fox" for some reason, I'm guessing it's the previous name for the bar.  Everyone in attendance either worked there, or was waiting their turn to take the mic.  Nice.  Everyone seemed to know each other, so I'm guessing this is a regular Thursday night thing for these guys.  I read the room and quickly discovered that the acceptable pace for the delivery of comic material in this room is as follows:

1)  Open notebook

2)  Read joke you wrote while the previous comic was on

3)  <Silence>

4)  Wait for it...

5)  Laughter from the other comics as they watch you squirm knowing that you are dying up on stage, but you'll take it.  At least they laughed.

Alternatively, you can shout at the top of your lungs until you simply can't hear whether anyone is laughing.  Ha ha.  Noisy people are funny!  I understand that last week, one of the regulars, when dissatisfied with the reaction to his performance, presented his genitalia as an act of defiance. 

I was scheduled to perform at 10pm sharp.  I was caught off guard when I was called to the stage at 9:37.  (Thanks for coming Vinnie and James, sorry my time got bumped up and you missed it!)  Early?!  Who runs ahead of schedule?!  I didn't even have my guitar out yet, but I scrambled on stage, no time to tune up, strapping my guitar on as approximately half the bar decided my set would be a good time to take a cigarette break.  I was left with a smattering of comics and Dawn, the MC at my stage right (thank you for laughing, Dawn... glad to see someone had a nimble mind) and a gaggle of drunk Ukranian girls who lost interest in me when they realized that they weren't going to be enough awkward silences in my music for them to heckle me.  I think for most people the full on assult of wit, melody, and general guitarish awesomeness was so out of sorts with the predetermined pacing as to cause sensory overload in most.  So I went on, realizing full well that unless I stop after every verse and give the crowd time to wrap their heads around what I had said, then I wasn't going to get a laugh.  It's that moment where I had to decide, "Am I going to play to the crowd and destroy the flow of my songs?  Or will I maintain my artistic integrity and play everything as written, trusting in my material?"   I chose the "integrity" thing, at least for tonight, accepting that this was perhaps not the right crowd for my material.  Maybe it wasn't as impactful as presenting the family jewels, but it was my act of defiance.

 

I use the term "relaunch" loosely, because I never really got off the ground last time.  Much has happened in the year since my first attempt to get this thing going.  I've moved to the beach, I've written a bunch of songs, and am now performing with a stellar improv show called No Filter in addition to my solo musical standup comedy show which I developed under the tutelage of the lovely and talented Kimmy Gatewood.  I composed the theme song for the show which you can check out on my MySpace home page.  You can even download it as a ringtone!  You might notice that while this website is jbtrocks.com, the myspace page is myspace.com/jbtrocksme (note the added 'me'.)  Unfortunately, plain old myspace.com/jbtrocks is already taken by a Viking woman named Jenny.  For now my page on MySpace has a bit more content, but this page will ultimately hold all my archives of live shows, exclusive music tracks, etc.  As if I didn't have enough to do already, now I'm maintaining two more websites of tragically similar content...

Okay, believe it... No, don't. You aren't even ready for the bombs I'm about to drop. Comin' at ya straight from Downtown Manhattan, the Center of the Universe! You don't have to like me, but you'll like my friends. I work with brilliant comic actors here in New York who are gifted improvisors. As often as humanly possible, I will be bringing you sketches, improvised scenes, rants, and witty banter as well as original music. Just to be honest, I'm all into this now, but I'll probably get distracted in a few weeks and this whole thing will probably just wither and die. So if you like it, better give me a shout to keep my feet to the fire. Oh, and yes ladies, I am single. Available for outcalls. Disease free. $250/hr. $1000/evening. (Donations only.) I accept Paypal.