Show # 19

Show # 19: Brainwash, San Francisco, CA. Last night was pretty damn awesome! First off, on the way down there, I got a call from my Uncle Gary and basically got booked to do a show for the Wolcott family reunion in October. So that's gonna be awesome! I'm going to have to come up with a LOT of really clean material now. Also, my friend Amber joined me on the comedy trail last night, which made me enormously happy. Charlie Ballard was hosting for Tony Sparks, which was different, but cool. I love watching Charlie. He, very good naturedly, makes people as awkward as humanly possible, and its hilarious. But Tony was there, and he even did a set. And my set went pretty well. I was next to last, and there only about 15 people left in the room, but I got some pretty good laughs. So yeah, another good night, I guess. Seems a little repetitive, if you ask me. Later.

Favorite line of the night: "I have rule. I never fake my stutter, or my orgasms, no matter how long either one of those takes." - Nina G

Show # 18

Show # 18: Pepperbelly's, Fairfield, CA. I loved every second of tonight! Well I just had a great day all around to be honest. I went down to Sunnyvale today to spend some time with my friends Kristin & Matt. We just sortta chilled all day, but it was fun. Got stuck in traffic on the way back to Fairfield so I was really late for role call, which meant the end of the line up for me. But Jim Friggin' Smith! came with and hung out all night with me. Personal dream fulfilled - check! And, as per usual at P-bells(the official comics slang for Pepperbelly's, btw), there were a lot of good comics tonight. Plus, I discovered the Pepperbelly's Cheesesteak tonight. A delicious bit of death with fries. Later.

Favorite line of the night: "We had the cheap soda. That soda where the bubbles came in a separate packet like Top Ramen." - D Tyler

Shows # 16 & 17

Show # 16: Tommy T's, Pleasanton, CA. Last night was a 2fer. I got down to Tommy T's and the first four spots were still open, so I got up early and got out. I knew I wasn't gonna win the competition part so as soon my set was over, I said by to the host and got out. Tried a few new jokes. They didn't really work, although hard to tell for sure with a small, fairly non-responsive audience. So anyways, moving on.

Show # 17: Nick's Crispy Tacos, San Francisco, CA. Turns out I didn't really need to get out of Tommy T's so quick cause I was super early to the taco place. So I got some food and chilled. Then I ended up getting the first spot again, when the sheet went out. Which ended up being a pretty cool. THe management wanted to keep it clean for the first little bit, and apparently, I am one of the few comics on the SF scene that doesn't have a problem working clean. So I went up, got the room going pretty well I think. Riffed with Tony and Travis some too, while I was on stage and that went well. Got some laughs, at least. Then I hung out the rest of the night, talked to Tony and Travis some. Going to have to sit down with Tony soon and get some real knowledge about the business and how to make my stuff funnier. I think he'd probably have some good advice for me. Anyways, a good night all around. A little tiring, driving all over the place and whatnot, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Later.

Favorite line of the night: "Why didn't you shave? The rug burn is killing me!" - Taylor Kafara(I really gotta start finding out how to spell people's names before I go and quote them.)

Show # 15

Show # 15, Monkey Club, San Francisco, CA I had a really interesting night tonight. The open mic portion of the night was the epitome of grind it out comedy. Six or seven comics, the host, and an empty room. But everyone did their thing and the show turned out to be a pretty good time. Then, as everyone was chatting after, I began to hear talk of a possible 2nd show, only a block away, at the Pirate Cat radio cafe. So I went down to check it out, and sure enough. Its a radio station, with a cafe, that hosts and simultaneously broadcasts a comedy showcase on Friday nights at 10p on 87.9 fm. The only thing is that you have to have clean material, which really only means no cussing. Now I'm not trying to brag or get on high horse or anything, but after all these comics in the show, who knew the rule before they made the effort to get in the show in the first place, then not only complained about it, but actually struggled to keep it, made them all just seem a little ridiculous. Not to take anything away from their humor. They were all really funny, but if a comic can't work clean then I don't really understand the point. I mean maybe if they're not in it for the money or something like that. But we all know its a fact that to get any real radio or television time we have to be able to work clean. So basically, I'm saying these people need to suck it up, tell some jokes without dropping the F bomb, and move on with their lives. Sorry got off a tangent there. Anyways, I think I might be able to get into that show on a regular basis, so that'll give me two shows every Friday for a while. Plus got an invite to a show next month in Fairfax at Chris Duncan's room, so that'll be cool. Then hung out with Juan the Comedian for a while after, too. He hosts the Monkey Club open mike. So yeah, good night, overall. Later.

Favorite line of the night: "Where are you guys going? Why'd you put away your Scrabble?" - Juan the Comedian.

Show # 14

Show # 14: Brainwash, San Francisco, CA - Tonight felt good.  I got out of work late and didn't end up getting to the Brain until almost 8p.  But the list was shorter than usual(still around 30 comics though) and Tony was nice enough to let me go up early.  I did my set about my sister's lymphoma again.  Just wanted to see how it would play in another room.  And then I didn't really hang out too much afterwards either.  Heather and Zach drove down separate and they were gone almost as soon as Heather and I were done.  And I'd gotten run a little at work so I jetted out pretty quick myself.  Not a very eventful night, really.  Still, felt good though.  I'd been away from the Brain for two weeks and I had definitely missed the place.  Later.

Favorite line of the night: "So are you screwing the clown?  We all wanna know." - Chris Sherpicase(I know for a fact I didn't spell that right.)

Show # 13

Show # 13 - Pepperbelly's, Fairfield, CA. So I've been away for a while. A combination of lack of transportation and focusing getting some writing done. I'm working on an original stage adaption of Alice in Wonderland, to be performed next spring at PUC & I needed to make some head way on that. Also, bittersweet news, one of my best friends, Mei Ann Teo, whom I love and adore and would anything for, has just left the country for a few months to visit family and do some work in China, and I will miss her dearly. However, she is kind enough to lend me the use of car while she is gone. So the grind-it-out portion of the some has officially begun. That being said, I sortta felt like I was just going thru the motions tonight. I didn't really think about what set I was gonna do until late in the evening, and I hadn't really gone over it all before I got up. Also, I was up third, and the crowd hadn't really warmed up yet, so not a lot of laughs either(sure, blame the crowd, right? maybe I just wasn't funny....nah). The reason I was up so early, though? Because last night was Heather's first night back. So to celebrate, we got tix to go see comedy genuis, Maria Bamford at the SF Punchline. I hadn't seen her live before and she didn't disappoint. There was uproarious laughter on my part, to say the least. So all in all, a pretty good night back out on the comedy trail. Later.

Favorite line of the night - "Hey, I don't wanna get all political on you guys, but where do you stand on dressing your dogs?" - Maria Bamford

Show # 12

Show # 12: Pepperbelly's, Fairfield, CA. Last night was interesting. I wanted to take a chance last night. I wanted to go up with something I wasn't sure would work and just see what would happen. So I decided to talk about my sister's, Sarah, Lymphoma year. Now that's a really hard set to actually gauge how well it goes over, cause there's only a few punchlines. And the rest is all talk about cancer, which nobody wants to laugh at. None the less, I felt good about last night. There was a weird crowd there from the begining, 45 min. early in fact. It was a bunch of old white people. Like Uncle Jesse, Dukes of Hazzard old. Not a demographic you see at the open mikes very often. But I felt like they appreciated the change of pace. I got a couple of, "Thank you for sharing,"'s afterward from them.
I also had a couple of comics call me out on my current pace of shows. And they were right. I'm not on pace right now. I'll hit my stride soon, though. Next show is Friday, I think. Unless I can figure out a way into the city tonight. But Steve Danner and I are gonna go check out Woody's BBQ in Oakland on Friday. Should be a good time. Later.

Favorite line of the night: As Christopher Walken "Being gay is just like opening a can of Pringles.  Once you pop....you just can't stop sucking cock." - David Lew

Show # 11

Show # 11: Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Co., Napa, CA. So coffee shop open mikes have always sort of been a guilty pleasure of mine. For a lot of reasons. One, I'm usually the only comic at most of them, as was the case tonight. They consist of mostly musical acts, but a lot of spoken word as well. So I don't have to worry about working the room or getting seen, or even the "light" usually, and I can just focus on having fun and making people laugh. Two, maybe my life is more saturated with live comedy than most, so the variety of performances are always a nice change of pace for me. Three, without exception, they always seem so much more accepting and supportive than most strictly comedy rooms. Four, there are usually some kids or families at these open mikes so its a good place to get some experience and build confidence using clean material. And five, I get to do some of my spoken word.
But back to tonight, the guy that went before me did a monologue from a play he is doing about the death of his five month old daughter. And he didn't let us know until the very end so we, well I did at least, thought he was just sharing...a lot. And then I had to get up and tell jokes. But it turned out that humor was exactly what the room wanted after that. So I did "Food Accidents" and they ate it up. Then, I closed with my spoken word piece, "Seth's Story." That was the first time I'd performed that since "This Adventist Life" and it felt good to dust it off, I'm not gonna lie though, it felt a little weird without, and I definitely missed Natalie's voice, singing behind me.
Overall, it sort of felt like a night off tonight. I was there in 10 min. on my bike. I was home by 9:15. But still, show # 11? Count it! Later.

Favorite line of the night: "You realize you're going to have to perform comedy after this?" - Alex Shantz

Show # 10

Show # 10, Brainwash, San Francisco, CA: Finally into double digits!! Yay!  I feel like that might have taken a little longer than I would have liked but thats cool. One tenth of the way there!

Tonight was really cool though.  I was really out of it by the time I got up.  I worked yesterday and I fought a lot of crime before I got up, so it might not have been the best performance of my life, but I still got some laughs and at least I got up.  When Heather and I signed up we were 41st and 42nd on the list, and I think we both assumed we wouldn't be getting up last night.  But what was really cool is there was press there last night.  Someone from the Contra Costa Times was there taking pics and video all night.  They are doing a story on the comedy scene in the bay area right now and I think its fair to say that can't be done without talking about the Brainwash.  But anyways, Tony was making sure all the best people(regulars) were getting up and, for the most part, everyone that got up made sure to bring it.  So yeah, it was definitely a good show and a good vibe in the room last night.

Tonight. I'm gonna bring the 100 shows to the valley and hit up the open mike at the Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Co. in Napa.  It's a mixed open mike so it should be an interesting night.  I might even bring a little spoken word at the end.

Favorite line of the night: "I like my women like I like my construction zone violations...double fine." - Sammy Franco