What a difference a day makesI went back to Coconuts last night for the second of three shows that I am going to get to perform down here. I had the same emcee and the same headliner performing around me, but it felt like an entirely different atmosphere. How well it went depends on where you focus your attention.
I went back to Coconuts last night for the second of three shows that I am going to get to perform down here. I had the same emcee and the same headliner performing around me, but it felt like an entirely different atmosphere. How well it went depends on where you focus your attention.
Frankie Cramer greeted me by promising to do a solid 15 minutes of gay jokes. I like Frankie. He knows he got caught pandering to the crowd by a colleague. While he isn’t going to become a spokesman for GMHC, he did substantially tone down the anti-gay rhetoric in his act. I also appreciate that, instead of the five minutes that I was expecting, he told me to prepare a ten minute set. Also, I was going to be the first comic up after he did his emcee set. I was a litte worried that Zinester’s brother and sister-in-law wouldn’t make it to the club in time to see my set, but Zinester assured me that Brother of Zinester has a lead foot.
I expected a few comics to do guest spots during the show, but I was the only one. It was a short bill, with Uncle Dow Thomas returning as the headliner and Florida pro Ken Reed as the feature. That’s it. It sort of explains why I was getting a ten minute set, but I also didn’t see Frankie inviting any of the local open micers to come down to the show so I got to keep feeling proud of my new expanded set.
Not surprisingly, comedy clubs all play music while the audience is arriving. The music during this waiting period varies from night to night, but the music that comes on when the show is starting is always the same at a particular club. Gotham, for example, always plays Blue Monday by New Order before introducing the emcee. The intro music at Coconuts is the theme song from the Sopranos followed by Michael Buffer belting out his signature line and capped by the Jock Jams noise that I can’t really replicate here except to say that the music tails off before the guy says Are y’all ready for this? It sets a very aggressive tone for the evening, which is good because Frankie comes out guns blazing. He was in good form, ripping on the audience and getting the crowd revved up. The crowd can be really picky, though, so he is often forced to backtrack. Alas, he also repeated the most detestable line from his open mic set: a suggestion that the audience band together and assault Muslim convenience store clerks. Once again, riotous laughter. Sigh. Despite the interlude of hate, he had a good set and it was soon time to bring me up.
We have a special guest here tonight. All the way from New York City, give a big welcome to Clark Star. Fuck! He screwed up my intro again! He realized his mistake immediately, and he was apologizing as he left the stage. The crowd responded very unevenly to my set. I got big laughs with a few jokes and small laughs on almost everything else. The shocker of the night for me, though, was that my Spider Man bit DIED. I got almost nothing at all from the crowd on a couple of jokes that never fail. I listened to my tape to see if I screwed anything up, but I didn’t! I had (superficially) a very good set! The audience just wasn’t into me very much. Usually Zinester lets me know if it was my fault, but she didn’t think that I screwed up either. Zinester’s family told me that they thought I had a good set also, so I am officially going to ACCUSE THE AUDIENCE OF NOT GETTING THE JOKES. OK, that’s bullshit. They didn’t like my stuff, so, um, ... ~*~. Ken and Frankie both told me that they liked my stuff, and while a better response from the audience would have been nice, in a pinch I’ll settle for approval from my colleagues.
Ken had a very solid set. His material is pretty mainstream, but it is consistently funny. He is a charming guy with an easygoing manner and is very popular locally. After hearing so much hate channelled into shitty comedy yesterday, he was a breath of fresh air.
I liked Uncle Dow much better the second time around. He did almost the same routine both nights (that isn’t an accusation, by the way - I did also), but I had a much better time last night. It was probably equal parts “not-preceded-by-bad-comics” and “not-waiting-for-my-own-stage-time.” His audience rapport is great, he has some very solid set pieces and decent wordplay in his songs. On the other hand, 35 minutes of Christmas carol parodies is a lot of fuckin’ Christmas carol parodies. The crowd loved him. Really, really loved him. It is still hard to forgive prop comics - particularly since I think his prop material is among his weaker stuff - but he’s got a good schtick.
After Frankie closed the show, he asked me how much time I could do. I told him that I could do 20 minutes - which, just between you and me, may be a stretch - and so this Sunday I am going to get to do a 20 minute set. This is awesome. I couldn’t blow a guy in New York for a 20 minute set. Down here I got it for a simple hand job and I didn’t even have to look him in the eye.
Pardon me. I meant to write “I got it just because he liked my 10 minute set.”
There is definitely something to be said for small ponds.
Read Less...
