The "Green Room"......

   Hello again,

     So...........Another week has past. For me that means another week of living on the breadline of being an unemployed backpacker. I've been looking for some kind of work now for a month and so far all I've managed to get was a day lifting box after box after box of legal paperwork down two flights of stairs and loading it into a truck to be transported to a new office. I did this for 8 and a half hours and the woman paid me $60. I nearly gave her a slap, tore it up and spat in her face, but fortunately for me I have the foresight to see that $60 is enough to buy me about 200 packets of 2 minute noodles, and I'm told food is a necessity. I was also well aware that no matter what pittance she decided to pay me, it was better than sweet F.A (which I think is the technical term for my current salary). My days are currently filled with applying for shit jobs I really don't want, but really really need, social networking, and watching TV and movies. And yet I still manage to spend money everyday! I have no idea how but my bank account has whittled away to almost nothing in just under a month.

     What does this have to do with comedy I hear you all ask? Nothing. I just want you to understand the pickle I'm in and how the workshop and gigs have become a sweet release from the reality of unemployment and borderline depression. It's not comedy anymore, it's therapy.

     However, some note worthy things have happened to me since we last spoke. I have been to another workshop, had another gig and been to an open mic event that I haven't been to before. This one is on a Thursday at The Exford Hotel on Russell Street. I went for two reasons really. One - To check out the standard of other comedians I may not have seen before (just to see how I shape up). And two - To scope the venue out as a potential gig for myself. As far as the standard of comedians go, it was pretty good. There were some very funny people there. A definate step up from Syn Bar. I'm not sure how I would do there but it is definately a place I will book a gig at once I'm a bit more sure of myself and my work. In terms of a venue, it's pretty cool. There is a plain brick wall as a backdrop to the stage (the kind of brick effect that some venues use as a pattern on a curtain as a backdrop), and the lighting is pretty good, the room doesn't go pitch black except for a spotlight shining in your eyes. However I noticed some real drawbacks to the places I've been to before. For starters, The Exford is a pub, meaning people haven't necessarily gone there to see comedy. There were a couple of groups of people who were clearly just there for a few pints and felt the need to force out their conversations over whoever was on stage at the time and some of them decided after a few pints that they were funnier than the comedians and would heckle. Nothing offensive, but still pretty fucking annoying. I personally feel that that would intimadate me as a performer at the moment, I don't have the experience or confidence to be dealing with arse holes like that. I feel like my only tactic would be to take the teachers approach of "If you have something so important to say little boy, then come up to the front of the class and say it". But other than that, I think the Exford will be somewhere I will gig sooner than later.





Me doing my set and obviously being hilarious

    As mentioned, there was also a workshop on Tuesday. Good numbers attended again and I was confident of getting up and trying my new stuff out. But it seemed everyone had that idea and as I waited patiently for my turn, we simply ran out of time and had to move on. Since the first workshop of the New Year, I've had high hopes for where it could take me. We were all told that this year, the Comic's Lounge was going to make more of an effort to get guest speakers down to each session to coach and advise us on any issues we want to discuss. I was pretty excited about getting to pick the brains of some of Melbourne's best and brightest acts. But in the following weeks I haven't actually seen anyone. On Tuesday the guy who was supposed to come just didn't show up, not the most professional, and if I could remember his name I'd make sure I didn't show up at his gigs too. I have no idea if anyone came the week before, I had to leave early to take my girlfriend to the aquarium. Lame excuse but hey-ho. But the other thing mentioned at that first session of the year, is that the Lounge will be looking to push comedians further, and will be offering the best ones some Wednesday and Thursday night gigs. This was, and still is, a pretty exciting prospect for me (And I imagine for everyone there) because it would mean a leap from doing open mic gigs where anyone can have a go, to doing proper gigs in front of paying audiences. I don't know if they are paid gigs or not but it would be handy in my current situation! Time will tell I guess whether any of what they said was true.

    The other, much bigger, much more personal, and much more relevant to this blog story is that I had my SECOND GIG after the workshop on Tuesday. The reason this is much bigger news isn't that is was another gig. It was that (unknown to me until people arrived), the restaurant was serving food at an open mic night for the first time ever. I've been to open mic nights at the Comic's Lounge before and have never seen a bigger crowd than about 50 or so people so I doubted serving food would have made little difference to the size of the audience. But couple that with the fact nobody had work the next day due to it being Australia Day, it made the audience unbelievably huge. For me anyway. I had only done one gig in front of an audience of approximately 25 in a dark, back alley bar in China Town. Now I was about to gig at a proper comedy club in front of a full audience of around 250 people!
    I really felt more confident about my set until I saw the hoards of expectant people arrive. Then suddenly fear struck me like a fucking lightning bolt, I starting getting the sweats again and couldn't stop needing a drink (swiftly followed by not being able to stop needing a piss). The really cool thing about playing at the Comic's Lounge though is the set-up. Everything is very professional. Before I went on, I was sat reading through my materal with a beer in the green room. The line up that night was made up of very very established comics who have done tonnes of TV, radio and fringe festival shows. I found myself in some pretty impressive company and I really wish I hadn't drank so much to calm my nerves so I could remember who they were! But, really, who would of thought three months ago that I would find myself sipping beer in the green room of a comedy club with a bunch of TV personalities. Not me.


The Green Room of the Comic's Lounge



   My thoughts on the gig iteslf are mixed. The audience laughed at my jokes which was a good thing so I was very happy to have made a large audience laugh. But when I'm nervous I have a tendency to rush what I'm saying. This time I purposefully did exactly the opposite to slow it down and make it more controlled. I left nice big gaps between jokes and gave the audience plenty of time to laugh. But in my opinion I think that may have made it look patchy. Like sometimes I couldn't remember my lines. I hope this wasn't the case but I guess I'll find out on Tuesday at the next workshop. Fingers crossed that I don't get another "Yeah, easy audience" comment. I also got one of the guys to film my set on his phone so I could see how it went. I haven't had a chance to see it yet but that will be a good indicator to how it went.

   So this coming Tuesday I'm on at Syn Bar again. I'm a bit dubious as to whether to do exactly the same thing I did there a couple of weeks ago. I think the fact they will have seen it already will take away the funniness. But then again, I don't have anything else to do so tough titties. It will be a good test of how funny my material actually is if I can make the same people laugh with the same material again. We shall see.

   One other very quick point. I've been wondering if I should change the name I go on stage to. Currently it's just my name, Sean Gorman. But when I'm messing about and telling jokes with mates I always refer to myself as Sean Michael Gorman, as in "You wouldn't catch Sean Michael Gorman doing that" or "No-one can resist Sean Michael Gorman". I don't make a habit of reffering to myself in the third person but when I do, and I use my middle name as well, it seems to make what I'm saying funnier. So I'm considering using it as my comedy name to see how it goes down. Or is it going to just make me look sound like a bell end? I'll ask around and get back to you.

   Once again, I will check in next week to explain what went well and what went wrong and we'll see if we can improve. I will also hopefully of booked myself in for a few other gigs too to keep the whole experience ticking over.

     All my love,



         Sean



The audience (and size of it) at the Comic's Lounge during my gig