Where you left your keys ...Rick's Cafe Americain

Sure, there were a number of acts that were, charitably, awful.  But there was also some very good stuff.  And the crowd was great.  New York Comedy Club appears to draw a very mixed crowd, but one that is mostly young, and kind of rowdy.  Not ‘heckler-rowdy’, more like ‘ready-for-a-good-time-rowdy.’ It is a very good environment for regaining confidence in your material, but one that will make you pay if you slack off.

I started with a routine that I have been doing since the beginning (a couple of segments on my mother’s obsession with getting me paired off and fathered up).  I really have to re-rehearse that bit, though.  I was so comfortable with the material that I didn’t bother to try and sell it on stage.  My lackadaisical mental preparation showed through in the presentation of the material.  I perked up a bit as I realized I was losing the audience, but any crowd (especially one as involved as this one) deserves an A-effort from the moment I grab the mic.  My next joke went well (it kills every time, actually) - though I can’t really describe it.  The Spider-Man segment was also solid.  I need to find a better way to present the second half of the joke, but if I can figure it out, it will probably be a part of my act for a long time.  (Did he just say long time? Isn’t that kind of hubris likely to be tragic? Yes.  But I can’t just sit here assuming that I’m going to fail. Why bother leaving my job in the first place if I’m not going to have any confidence?)

It is a good stage and a good crowd.  New York Comedy Club gets a return visit next Wednesday; make your reservations now.  I get $5 a head so I wouldn’t mind a decent turnout.  My poker income is, shall we say, insufficient.

I like my act, and I like me on stage.  Since I never have liked me in the past, this is a ringing endorsement.  I hope to see you at the club.