Canada Day Update (07.01.09)

Canada Day Update
July 1st, 2009


Considering that my last post had nothing to do with comedy, I have sooooooo much to share in regards to my thoughts about how my “career” is going in comedy. It’s been three months since my last post about comedy, and that post was more of a personal update rather than a comedy update. So, here is a quick rundown of what’s happened in the first half of 2009!

Big Name Out of Towners!
I have had the pleasure of working with …
Gabriel Rutledge – Winner of Seattle Comedy Competition 2004. Gabriel was part of FNC.3.
Brad Upton – 20yr veteran and international headliner. I did 15min with him on a weekend spot.
Debra DiGiovanni – from Comic Last Standing and MM Video On Trial. I did 7min with her on a weekend spot.

Running Rooms
FNC @ Lafflines
Even though the last show had a horrible turnout, I still have a soft spot for this show and I’m looking forward to future shows. Art is awesome to work with and there’s a never ending list of charities that need money. Some way, somehow we would like to help.

A couple months ago, I watched an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and they were building a house for a guy who was mentoring kids in a rundown neighbourhood. This gentleman stressed the importance of education and being a helpful hand in the community. The gentleman’s motto in life was, “Lift as you climb” which was his way of telling kids to strive for excellence, AND help bring others to the same level excellence. I’m going to teach my future children that because I’m adopting the same motto – Lift as you climb.

UFC @ Lafflines
I got this idea when a Toronto based comic came to town months ago and he was previously in California doing shows and he mentioned that there was a show that was drawing huge audiences of guys just because the advertising mentioned MMA . Shortly thereafter, I came up with the idea for Ultimate Funny Challenge which I pitched to Lafflines during a conversation. And lo behold, boom there goes the dynamite.

I’ll soon be sharing more details to the show but there are already about a dozen people who know how this show is going to be formatted. As of now, the intended launch for the show will be August.

Comedy Quest @ Rekados
As frustrating as the end result was, I got a quick taste of what to expect when I actually do run a weekly room. I was so excited because I had the opportunity to build bridges between Filipino and North American Stand Up Comedy and the bridge between white people and Filipino food. I was soooooo looking forward to bringing different people to two things I love very, very much. And it was a kick in the nuts when the owner told me that he chose to sell the place and the plans for comedy were being scrapped. I have no ill will against the owner and I look forward to re-visiting the idea of working again when he gets another restaurant up and running.

Comedy Quest – Part Two
I am currently in discussion with pub in Surrey about a new room. The location has many, many positives going for it which makes me very hopeful that the opportunity pans out.

Again, this would be about building bridges. I want to show the comics who don’t make it out to Surrey that it’s not the shit stain of the Lower Mainland. True, there’s a lot of questionable ticks that some folks will show when they’re walking around after getting their hits, but there are also plenty of good, sophisticated, and educated masses that reside in Surrey. On the other side, I want to bring Surrey the gift of awesome standup comedy that is living and breathing in Vancouver. I want Surrey to get excited about comedy. I want them to seek out comedy on the other side of the Fraser. And I think I can do that by bringing Surrey some of the best that Vancouver Comedy has to offer. Wish me luck that this pans out and sees the light of day.

So, if Comedy Quest comes to pass I will find myself running three different shows. Yes, that’s a lot of responsibilities, but it’s the ideal number of rooms that I want because they each serve a different purpose.

Flip n Comedy – this is the charitable show. Art and I get to make contributions to charities that we like. And as I had said, there will always be charities in need of money.

Comedy Quest – this is the pro show. I want set up a show where I can study pros. I encourage other amateurs to study what’s going on stage when a pro is working.

UFC Night – this is a pro-am show. Since the other two shows aren’t really opened to a lot of other amateurs, this is my way of opening more doors for us.


Development
I think I have made some vast improvements in the first half of the year. Although I have not really added any other bits to my portfolio, what I have done is tightened my existing material. In doing so, my sets have gotten better and so the audience feedback has reflected the progress. I recently had the set of my life at Yuks. I did just over 10min and I had laughter throughout the set. The laughs were huge and long – kind of like a black porn star’s penis. Anyhoo, I feel that I have made the most out of the opportunities that have come my way. I didn’t feel out of step when performing with the bigger names that I have had the privilege of working with. I don’t mean any disrespect to the other fine comics I have worked with, or their fans, but the fans of Debra Digiovanni are more vocal in their admiration for their performer. In that particular show, I felt that I worked that I fit in nicely with the other comics who helped fill in time before Debra took the stage.

New Material
When I mentioned that I have not really added any new bits, I wasn’t telling the whole truth. Have I been working on new material? Yes. Have I added any of that material into my repertoire? No. Do I plan on putting more work into new material? Absolutely. If I was to add the material that I don’t think is quite ready yet, I think I would be adding 8-10min. If I was to add the material after the required revisions, the time would probably drop to about 4-6min.

First Paid Gig
Technically, I was first paid to do comedy about ten years ago when a friend of mine asked me to open for his improv group out in Langley. However, since I don’t count most things that I did in comedy prior to August 2007, June 24th and 25th 2009 were my first ever paid gigs. After having done what was asked by me by Lafflines, they rewarded me with the co-middling position in the line-up. My first paid spots were with Reza Peyk and Richard Lett who I both enjoy working with. They’re good guys and would have no qualms about working with them again.

As for the sets themselves, I have to be honest and say that they were not my best moments as a comic. The first night I did about 17 and half minutes and then on Saturday, I did just over 15min. Although there were lulls in the set, I was able to pick the crowd back up each time. That was the first night which I followed with a tighter 15min set, but I managed to stutter my way through most of it. On both occasions, I thought I had finished strongly. And on both nights, I received many kind, generous words from audience members.

To be brutally honest, I don’t think I did that well. I think I have to face the fact that I don’t quite have 15min set that EVERYONE would consider tight. I can go strong for 12min, maybe even 13min but I have to be honest and say that I don’t have 15min. The stuff I added to make the 15min mark have received mixed success. This assessment is based on my own personal memory of the experience, a review of the recording from Saturday’s set and the feedback from one particular veteran.

As much as I want this, and as much as I want this NOW, I have to consider the bigger picture. There are two aspects to the bigger picture – one regarding the community as a whole and the other is personal role and long term goals.

Comedy Community
Any community is only as strong as its weakest link. If I am to be a professional comedian, I have to step up my game. When people go to a weekend show and sees me (for instance) do a mediocre job of setting up the headliner, they may conclude that the next time they go to a comedy show, they should only get there in time for the headliner. Or worse yet, conclude the $15-$20 they paid is not justified by the show they get because only two thirds of the act was good. I don’t want to be that guy who ruins comedy for potential new fans.

Long Term Goals
I have to improve to meet the bar of excellence that has been set by the comics before me. It is my job to raise myself to that level, rather than lowering the standard to meet my mediocrity. If I don’t improve and continue to put up mediocrity, then there’s no sense in setting long term goals because career would be over before it even began.

So I may need to shy away from the next opportunity, if I am not fully convinced that I can rock a full 15min set from start to finish.



Happy Canada Day!



The Denminion of Canada

Catching Up Pt. (04.16.09)

Catching Up Pt.2 –Development (Booker, Material, & Comic)


I remember about a year ago someone on the Comedy Couch mentioned that new comics should use their first two year to focus on writing material rather than using their energy to run their own room(s). At the time, I didn’t think much of it because running a room a year ago was the last thing on my mind back then. A lot has changed in 2009 for me in this regard.

In 2009, I have become a booker as well as a comic. With the success of the first Flip n Asian Show, an opportunity was offered to Art and I to continue producing shows for Lafflines. As a way of trying to make the show thrive, we’ve made a conscious decision to phase out of “Asian” shows. We’ve extended invites to other comics who are not of Asian descent, and the shows have become much stronger in the process. Also this year, I was in the midst of putting together a weekly show for an upscale Filipino restaurant before things were abruptly ended by the sale of the restaurant.

It was during the process of putting together the weekly shows that I realized what that particular pro was talking about. The point made a year earlier crystallized because I realized that I was thinking of joke ideas and not developing them because my focus was elsewhere. Between day job, booking responsibilities, girlfriend, and actual stage time there was no more time to develop the ideas into good jokes. Now that I only have a bi-monthly show to help organize, I’ve been trying to develop my ideas as fast as I can because I think I may have another opportunity on the horizon.


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As far as developing my current jokes, I think I’ve been doing well with that. After the month and a half long funk that I was in, it seems that I’ve gained a new way of telling my jokes. The feedback that I’ve received has been very, very enthusiastic. Here, are some of the responses I’ve received …

Lafflines (Mar.20.09) – “You were awesome! Do you have a CD I can buy?”
Yuk Yuks (Apr.01.09) – “Good show, man. I'll probably be seeing you on the TV in a couple years.”
Kino Café (Apr.21.09) – “You can hear the applause from the outside.”

The generic “good job, buddy” are always nice to hear, but those compliments above went beyond that. To be honest, I was a little taken aback by the compliments but gladly accepted them. And the one at Lafflines was my favorite for another reason – I was integral part of the show and my set didn’t feel out of place with the pros that were working that night.

However, in regards to the newer jokes that I’ve been working on they have not fared as well as my older ones. Below is a quick list of the jokes that I’m working on and the problem(s) I am having with each of them.

Prison Bitch – okay start followed by nothing
Pussification – illustrating the shows are time consuming; establishing male bravado also time consuming
Cheap Hitman – There is ambivalence with this particular piece that is preventing me from fully following up and developing this as much as I would like.
Hyperhydrosis – turns sexual
Sugar Cane – turns sexual
Twitter History – close to another comic’s facebook bit
Twitter Founder – turns to gay bit
Yellow Camp – good for one joke
Ubiquitous – similar to another comic’s stuff
Cleator – very clunky; needs a finish

Out of the above new jokes I am developing, I am most hopeful about Cleator. I think it has the potential to be one of my better bits that will on par with Box Set, The Rabbit, and Tunnel of Love. It’s nowhere near the level of those yet, but with some work, it may get to that level.



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This was posted July 1st, 2009. I completely forgot I had written this shortly after I posted the last "Catching Up". For the record, the above was written on April 4th, 2009.


Dennis L.