I was recently in the San Francisco Bay Area visiting family (sorry I didn’t get to see most of my friends), but I had a little time one of the nights, so I decided to search out a local open mic to keep up my comedy chops.
My comedy teacher says that open mics are like going to the gym: you just go there to get your reps in. Also, some people go there to show off, which is dumb. As I didn’t want to get rusty, I found an out of town gym (open mic).
The mic that I found was a mixed mic (comedy, music, poetry, whatever…), and I have gotten decent laughs at mixed mics in the past. However, my comedy teach (sensei) also says that if you set yourself a goal within your control when going to an open mic, then as long as you meet that goal, (whether or not you get laughs) you can consider that mic a success.
My goal for this mic was to be present in the room and not sound like a robot reading off of a script. I think I accomplished this task rather well. About halfway through my dialysis jokes, I noticed that the room had gone quiet, so I made mention of the fact that I probably sucked all the energy out of the room by telling dialysis jokes (it’s probably a good thing I didn’t mention my stroke).
The venue was called The Art Boutiki, and it is a fun Tiki themed bar/restaurant/comic book store/performance venue. The place seemed to be mostly set up for music, but I felt welcomed as a comedian, and I found out later there were many other comedians there (I left after my set (I went on first), so I didn’t actually get a chance to see any of the other comedians).
Did I just use a parenthetical inside a parenthetical? Yes, I did. It is my blog, and I can do what I like!
