The Eye of The Storm .....

Hi Again,

     It's been what has felt like a really long week for me. And next to nothing about it has anything to do with comedy. As I have previously mentioned, I have found work on Mondays and Thursdays working as a Picture Framer for a company round the corner to where I live at the moment. It's pretty straight forward work, the manager is a nice guy and I get paid cash. So it's all good there. So that was Monday and Thursday gone. I also went to the workshop on Tuesday night, followed by checking out a couple of acts down at Melbourne International Backpackers (or M.I.B as people call it, because it sounds cooler and is easier to say I guess) and then heading to Syn to watch a couple of acts there and book myself in to perform there during a competition that has already started. Tuesday night was a pretty busy night. Then, on Wednesday, my girlfriend dragged me along for a run, presumably because I've put so much weight on since travelling and she can no longer stomach the sight of my nude presence any longer. I also bought a bicycle in the afternoon and had to cycle it about 10 miles to get it home. And to top it off, I had a rugby game on Wednesday night. Just to tip me over the edge if I wasn't already mid-way through a coronary. Wednesday done, and I was beginning to feel a bit drained. Cue Thursday. Thursday I worked at the picture framers, then had rugby training, immediately followed by (without so much as stopping for a shower) cycling into the city to watch a couple of guys at the Exford. Then cycling home in a thunderstorm at nearly midnight. Thursday done and "a bit drained" was turning into "fucking knackered". On Friday, I started my 3 day adventure into the world of floristry, or floristism as I put it on Facebook, pruning 8,000 red roses a day ready for the Valentines Day rush. No shit, 8,000. This involved me waking up at 5.00am, cycling the 8 miles into the city, starting at 6.00am working through til 2.00pm and cycling home to immediately collapse on the bed and get some shut eye. The process was repeated today (Saturday) and will be again tomorrow (Unless I'm dead from fatigue by then).
    So that was my week. And I apologise for not having the time or energy to update the blog closer to when the comedic side of things actually happened. However I do have a memory like Rainman, so sit tight, and I'll walk you through this weeks comedy journey.
    Tuesday followed Monday as it so invariably does, and it was workshop time. I had had the gig the week before but had already decided to not put my hand up when asked "Who's had gigs?". Maybe it was just the mood I was in but I felt I had analysed my performance enough and didn't really feel the need to talk it through with anyone now. I was pretty keen to try out a few of my new gags I'd spent the previous couple of days writing, but I didn't even get the chance to do that. It's funny, when we are asked who wants to get up and try new stuff, nobody wants to go first, but after that initial person gets up, it's like a dogfight to get on stage. Everyone wants to have a go and you almost need to play Rock, Paper, Scissors or flip a coin or something to see who goes next. I wasn't aggressive enough or passionate enough about making an effort to get up so I kept quiet and sat in my place. I figured eventually everyone who wants to have a go, will of been up and it will be my turn. But there are always a couple of people that have spent the last week on holiday or something and have written a set the size of the Bible, and expect to be able to go through the whole thing. One woman even had to be stopped by Robbie and told she'd taken up too much time and to make it shorter. I didn't particularly like this woman, I found her to be very self-important, overly confident to the point of cockiness and patronising to the people who tried to give her feedback. After another lady had given her two very valid, and not-rude-at-all points of feedback, she responded with "Sweetie, this is my first time trying this stuff out. I'm sure your stuff wasn't that great first time around either, darling". Personally, I found her rude, made worse by the fact she wasn't in the slightest bit funny. But I promise this blog isn't going to be a bitchy rant like last week. So let's move on....
    We did have a guest speaker this week. A comedian called Jed Cogley came in to give us a few tips, advice and answer any questions. Apparently he's had a long and successful comedy career which has included TV, radio and touring all over the world. I haven't had the time to Youtube him yet but I'm sure he's on there if you fancy having a look. He gave some very good advice about how to communicate with an audience, remembering material and generally keeping an audience on your side throughout a performance. He was also a really nice guy and I hope he comes along again to help out in the future.
    After the workshop, I got the tram down to M.I.B because a) I wanted to check it out and b) My very good friend Dil Ruk was performing there that night so I went to show my support. I was never going to stay long because I needed to get to Syn to pencil myself in a gig. Dil was 4th on and, in my opinion, had a good gig. The crowd were alot livelier  than I'd been lead to believe. I had expected nine or ten backpackers, split between being stood at the bar and playing pool on one of the tables, not caring what was going on on-stage, just trying to have a beer a get laid. In reality I was only half right. There were these nine or ten people, but there were also 15 or so people there specifically for the comedy. It's nice to know someone is at least listening. And it's very easy to get disorientated mid-set when a joke doesn't get the expected laugh. Which is what I was dubious about before going there. But actually I will probably try and get a gig there soon.
   Coincidentally, if you search "Dil Ruk" on youtube, you should come across a funny parody he's written to the tune of "Danger-Zone", that song from Top Gun. Check it out because it's pretty good. I want to write a parody myself but never have the time or resources. Maybe in the future.
    After M.I.B I briskly walked to Syn and was hoping to pop in, book myself a gig, then go home. But I got there just after the intermission so had to wait until it finished at 11pm to speak to the guy. It was OK though, because Syn are running a competition at the moment where you can win a gig at a big comedy club in Melbourne, and bag an interview on a radio show here. It isn't necessarily a massive prize but still would be nice to win. They are running it in four heats. The winner of each heat goes into a semi final, then into the final. Obviously. Tuesday was the first heat, and I'm booked in to be on in the fourth heat. Each member of the audience is given a sheet with every performers name on it. Then they score each of them (I guess out of ten), the act with the highest score wins. I guess this rules out everyone voting for their friends, because if each act brings five friends, mathematically, their best score will be from their friends and scores from non-friends will be low. If anyone else is good, their score will be consistently high therefore will win. I think I've made the process sound alot more complicated than it is. There were some pretty good acts on that night though and I think the standard will remain pretty high so it won't be an easy thing to achieve for whoever eventually wins.
   As mentioned earlier, I also went to the Exford on Thursday with the intention of booking myself a gig there. But the guy that runs it wasn't there so it was almost a wasted journey. I say almost, Dil was on again and so was another friend, Greg McDonald. So I got to see them so it wasn't all bad. And at least I have incentive to go back again next week to book my gig. There were a couple of hecklers in the audience at the Exford. But they were friendly, coked up, smacked up, rough as fuck, born and raised in a shed in the country by their Mum and Dad/Grandad type hecklers. They just wanted to get involved and be heard and seen. They weren't so much hecklers, more annoying fucks who need to learn to to shut the fuck up. Hopefully I won't have to deal with anyone like that when I gig there!
   What is next on my agenda? Well, I have a gig on Tuesday night at the Comic's Lounge, which I'm semi-looking forward to. My gig there last time went OK and I'm hoping to get the same amount of laughs this time around. Although I'm sure the audience will be a bit smaller this time. I am also going to try and get a gig elsewhere between now and my gig at Syn, which isn't until the 1st March. Hopefully I can keep gigs ticking over and maybe incorporate some of my new material into my current act. I feel like I'm in the eye of a comedy storm at the moment because I had a few gigs in a row, but I haven't had one for a couple of weeks now, and then I do have some more booked soon. So I need to try and stay sharp with my material and be ready for the upcoming gigs. By the time I leave Melbourne, I'd like to have enough good, tried and tested material to last a fifteen minute set.
    So I'll update again next week and I'll maybe have some new revelations regarding gigs and if I'm heading in the right direction.

   Speak to you all soon,

        Sean