Taking New Zealand By Storm......

Hi.

How are you? I hope you are well.

Firstly, let me congratulate you on making it along to another blog. Congratulations.

Crikey, what a HUUUUGE response I've had to my plea for more interaction. I've been absolutely overwhelmed by it all and I'm extremely grateful. Two comments. That's two thirds of my entire group of followers. I'm beside myself.

Don't take the sarcasm to heart because it does genuinely get me excited when I see I have a comment.

Right. Down to business.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to grab a spot at The Fringe Bar a couple of Mondays ago, when I was hopeful of getting a last minute gig arranged. But I went along nonetheless and had a jolly good time. I managed to spend quite a lot of money on alcohol, which in turn, made me enjoy the comedy all the more. Everybody wins. Except my bank balance.

However....drum roll please.....I did attend my pre-booked gig last Monday and have now officially performed stand up comedy in two different countries. Just not my own, yet.

I was a bit rushed to get to the gig as it was also my first day at a new job and getting back was a struggle. But I made it, checked in and saw I was on second. It was a lot more nervous than any other gig I had done for a number of reasons. Firstly because I was wildly underprepared to perform a brand new set. And secondly because it was the first time I had gone on stage without the Melbourne open mic-ers in the audience. At least with them there, I knew I'd get some sort of pity laughter if it went horribly. But no-one here knew me so if it went badly, it would just be me and the tumbleweed.

The girl who went on before me was a bit poo (it works two ways, I don't know them either so I don't need to be nice to them). This enstilled me with a bit more confidence because I knew I wouldn't be the worst person on that night.

My gig went pretty well I think. I managed to remember the whole set (just) and got quite a few laughs. There were some jokes that didn't get any laughs and I was faced with a brief wall of silence. But they were just the "Filler" jokes. The jokes in between jokes that are just supposed to keep the laughter ticking along. All in all I was pretty pleased with how it went. I think the new set has potential but needs a bit of work to strengthen it up a bit. Oh and if you are reading this and you are either Dil or Rob.......I'm seriously debating cutting the "Mum story" out of it all together because that was one of the bits that got tumbleweed. Or at least come up with a stronger punchline than "same".

That will make no sense to anyone other than those two people so just ignore it. Or nod and smile along politely as if you know what's going on.

There were six comedians on that night, and when I came off stage after being on second, I really felt that I was the best so far. That lasted until the next guy got on. I couldn't really hear what he was saying because the MC was telling me how he used to work as one of those human statue things that you see busking. But he seemed to get a lot of laughs. And the guy after him was awesome. Before he went on, he was telling me how he was a Christian and had only performed at religious festivals and I thought he was going to be gash. But he made me lol. In fact I lolled a couple of times. I was very pleasantly surprised. Although, I did find out later that night that half the audience were there to see him. But he was still my favourite of the night.

I don't know if it's the competitive side of me or what, but I always like to rank everyone who performed to see where I came. I didn't win on this occasion, but it was a biased audience so what can I do? I think with a bit of fine tuning and a bit more practice, I'd smash it.

I can now tick Wellington off the list of places I've gigged. I'm moving back to Auckland next Saturday for a new job during the Rugby World Cup so I'm hoping to be able to grab a few more gigs while I'm there. There are a couple of venues that do regular open mic nights so it shouldn't be too difficult to get one arranged.

If you have any ideas for a joke I could use, feel free to post them because it would be my honour to take credit for your ideas.

Oh and real quick before I go....I've just started writing the script for a comedy musical show that I've decided I want to perform somewhere like Edinburgh Fringe next year. Obviously I can't play any instruments so the "musical" side of it will be down to my closest friend Rory. But I really feel like it could be genious!

In the mean time, thanks for coming along on the ride.

And I'll catch you next time.

Sean

Just Another Post To Prove I Haven't Given Up.....Or Died......

    Considering the fact that my last few posts have had absolutely no relevance to grass roots stand-up comedy whatsoever, I fear this blog is slowly turning into another below average blog following the life of someone nobody cares about. Sounds a bit harsh, but let's face it, I'm not wrong.
  
   The thing is, I just haven't had the time or energy to get down to see any comedy from the festival, let alone do any. I've actually found it quite hard to get back into the rhythm of it all now that I'm in a strange new country. I've gone as far as making contact with a woman that runs an open mic night here every Wednesday, which I have been meaning to get down to for the last three weeks but things keep getting in the way. If it hasn't been work or rugby injuries, it's been pure lack of motivation. I'm also having a few nervous moments where I let my mind wonder and start imagining, "What if Kiwi's are really nasty hecklers?" or "What if their sense of humour is completely different to Australia's and I crumble on stage?". I guess if I'm honest, I've been putting off getting back into it as much I have actually been too busy.
   
    The idea of performing on stage scares the shit out of me. But I do enjoy it because you get a huge adrenaline buzz and an awesome feeling if it goes well. However, I'm not an arty, creative, performing type person, I'm more of a "Have a laugh with the lads" type person. As news trickled home that I was now doing stand up they all probably pissed themselves laughing at the thought of me dying on stage. I know this for a fact because I would do exactly the same. I never had the urge to try stand up, although (slightly vainly) I would consider myself to be a funny person. I only got into it because I happened to live with a guy that did it. The only reason I mention any of this is because I feel the need to explain how out of my comfort zone I am when I perform. I get a truly bizarre "I can't believe I did that" feeling when I think back to the gigs where I performed in front of a few hundred people.

    One other thing that is slightly off-putting about getting back into it here, is the fact that I don't know anyone here within the comedy circuit. At least in Oz I had the guys at the workshop I could bounce ideas off before I use them. I also had my friends within the Melbourne circuit that I knew would help me find the positives in bad gigs. I'll do a little name drop here because I feel they need a mention, but Dil Ruk, Greg McDonald and Nick Hawkins were all good friends of mine in Melbourne and I miss having them around now.

    That's more than enough soppy and negative talk now. Let's talk about something more uplifting. I had a guy fall off a ladder at work last week and break four bones down his right hand side. That was fun. He ended up having huge screws fitted into his pelvis and smaller ones into his wrist. He flew out from Oz to come and move the mechanics hoist at the back of our workshop. Not only did he not manage to move the hoist, but the landlord came in just after he went to hospital to tell us it was in our contract that we don't move the hoist. What a pointless and painful trip for the guy that ended up in hospital. This is the fun and games I deal with on a daily basis.

    I've been told by my boss that, if I want, I can have a dog here. I'm not sure what the landlord would think of this but I'm seriously considering it. I love dogs and have wanted one for ages. In England if you don't have a dog, you don't really think about getting one because the only time you ever see one is when the owner is out doing the shit stuff like walking it and putting all it's little poos into wee bags to chuck away. That doesn't really sell the idea of having a dog to me.
   But in Oz they have puppies for sale in shop windows. Really cute little puppies that just anyone can walk in and take away that day. It's incredible how much you can want a dog after only seeing it for five minutes. So we may end up with a dog. The only problem being, what happens when we move on and stop working here? The boss told me it would be a work dog and the next people here would look after it but, a) I don't think I will be able to leave a dog after getting so attached to it, and b) I will be leaving the care of my dog to someone I have never met before. Both are things I'm not sure I can do.

   So that's the latest update from me. As you can see, not much stand up comedy going on here at the moment. I promise though, I will get down to one of the open mic nights so I can at least report on what the standard is like here. I might even take some photos so you have some eye candy to look at next time.

   If you are someone who has read this blog more than once, whether it be because you know me or you are just curious to find out if it will get any better, I feel I should thank you for your patience and apologise for my lack of relevant writing material. Hopefully soon enough I can get back to writing about how unfunny I am on a public scale. That will be nice.


     Peace,


              Sean