:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 ::

:: Yeah, like he's so funny... not ::

So last night was my debut performance as a Stand-up Comic. It was also my grand finale as a comic which. That isn't at all an indictment of my performance but more that I just don't want to have to do that again any time soon.

I couldn't begin to tell you just how nervous I was before going up. I had originally planned on spending the entire day going over the monologue before but since I had to complete work for my copywriting class I wasn't able to start on it until almost 6:00. And the thing started at 8:00. I wasn't too worried at that point since I had been listening to a recording of myself going over the material all weekend. That a was a little rough since I really don't like the sound of my own voice.

Anyway, I do a final run-through in front of my class around 7:10 and I'm forgetting lines left and right and I'm stuttering badly. But I don't panic. I grab my script and head to an empty room upstairs. On the way up, I see a couple of friends of mine who are already milling about with beer in their hands. I walk up to one, grab her cup, drink half of it, hand the cup back, and walk up and rehearse my stuff a couple of times.

I had the misfortune of being drawn to go first... which SUCKED. Everyone knows I hate speaking in front of people. I also hate going first for anything. Put me in the middle and I'm good.

8:15 rolls around, I'm in my seat. My teacher G. Michael is doing the pre-show intros and I'm going over stuff one last time. My name is called... I grab a glass of water and walk up. My first couple of jokes work and then... everything is a complete blur.

Something happened in my head between getting up from my chair and grabbing the mike. It's like I just went into autopilot or something. I don't remember much beyond "how's everybody doing?" and "thank you that's my time." After I walked off the stage I let out a humongous sigh of relief. After which, I head straight to the keg and chugged a couple of beers.

I was just at school and saw the video. I wasn't perfect, and like the jokes I tell in real life, some of my stuff went over people's heads, which I expected. And there were a couple of moments where I just had to cringe at my stuff. But I got laughter, I didn't look too nervous and my hair was straight.

What was incredible is the way my heart was beating through my chest that night, even long after the show was over and we all headed to a bar and I got a couple of beers in me (thanks Carolina =)). It ended around 9:30 or so but the adrenaline never really came down until well past 11:00.

If I never did that again, I'd have no regrets but the class itself is one of the most fun I've ever had and the teacher was absolutely phenomenal. George Carlin has nothing to worry about, I'm not going to be supplanting him as a comic genius any time soon but I had my little moment in the spotlight and it's going to stay with me for a while.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 4:22 PM [+] :: | 1 comments
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