Journal of My Stand-Up

[Greggulator]

Hi there everyone. I live in Philadelphia. I've been performing comedy in some way or form for about three years now -- largely in sketch comedy or in story telling kind of stuff. However, about a year ago, I started doing stand-up.

At first, I was trying to do "awkward" a little too hard. I got sick of doing this so I changed my act around. I now perform as "The Greggulator," a character who believes he is the world's most famous comedian. I even have hand gestures for my fan club members, idiotic catchphrases and a slingshot I use to shoot things to my many fans. It's really silly but I love doing it.

Anyways, I've been keeping a journal on my performances. I'm starting to make them public on the excellent http://www.comicvsaudience.com message board, which is the unofficial website of the Philly comedy scene.

I'd love if you could check it out. I really want to improve my act. I'd love to get feedback from people. This may be hard to do w/o video of my performances (which I sadly don't have due to a lack of a camera), but I think it can still help. My first post is largely about my thought process in coming up w/ my stuff.

Thanks!

Gregg

[Greggulator]

http://www.comicvsaudience.net/blog/...c-2/#more-2871

That's a link to my latest journal, where I discuss the perils and promises of adding in hypnosis into my act. Please read and give me advice, oh learned ones.

[Greggulator]

Hey everyone. I just wrote another column about my adventures on the Philly comedy scene. http://www.comicvsaudience.net/blog/...nd-up-comic-3/

I'll also post it here so you don't have to click and read. I'd really love some feedback about my perception of this night and how it went. Thanks!
***

It may come as a surprise for you to learn that I really, really, really don’t like the stand-up comedy of David Cross or Janeane Garafalo. This is not to say that I don’t appreciate them; Cross, Garafalo and a lot of the other comics they came up with elevated the art of stand-up comedy to new heights, bringing a sense of honesty to a form of communication that had gone stale.


But, that being said, I can’t stand them. They’re just so angry. A lot of their material is just angry ranting about politics, religion or other “edgy” issues. And much of their ranting is smug, condescending and belittling to people who, just maybe, might have a different opinion on a social issue. This type of material feels like it’s intended to do nothing but to confirm to the audience that, yes, you ARE smarter than everyone else because you are familiar with the work of SuperChunk and you think Republicans are

morons.


This type of comedy infuriates me. It’s so honest that it feels dishonest. It’s placating to the audience, even though this audience reads Nick Hornby as opposed to Dean Koontz. And, like anyone with any sense of integrity, I never want to belittle or look down upon any part of an audience.


So, I’ve been working on a new bit for a while now where I’d try and mock the angry hipster brand of alternative comedy. Without giving to much away, the bit begins by me saying, “I’m going to take my shirt off and talk to you right now about a little place called America. Specifically, I want to talk to you about what’s wrong about America. Specifically, I want to talk to you about one group of people that are bringing this country down. These people are VETERANS.” And then from there, I rant about why I hate veterans and why people such as myself who went to an expensive liberal arts college who majored in Comparative Literature are superior.


Having frequented low-end open mic nights, I’ve heard all kinds of material attempt to shock. Dozens of rape jokes. Dozens of abortion jokes. Racist jokes. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone making denigrating America’s veterans. (If someone has, please let me know.) That seemed like the kind of thing that could really end up with someone getting angry, as I briefly discussed in my last column.


I really wanted to hit up an open mic night this week, but the only one that fit my schedule was Wednesday Night’s “Comedy Cabaret” which is held at the Ramada Inn in Northeast Philly. I’ve been avoiding going to this place like the plague. Most of the places I’ve performed at have been at places with younger crowds, most of who are familiar with the work of SuperChunk and think that Republicans are morons. And, certainly, there

would be none of these people at the Ramada Inn in Northeast Philly.


In fact, when I arrived, I got a little nervous to do my act. The crowd was mostly middle aged people, with younger comics scattered here and there. And it was also pretty blue-collar. I thought that, for sure, none of these people would get my act, which is sort of a parody of an overblown mainstream comic. These people seemed like the type of people who are responsible for the continued career of Jay Leno and not a group of people who’d understand what I was aiming for. And it was also highly likely that at least one of these people was, or was directly related to, someone who was in the military. (My hunch was proven right. One of the open mic comics talked about being in the Air Force.)


Soon enough, my name was called. I went up to the stage and did my introduction. When I tried to get to the hand-gesture/call-response part, I got absolutely no response at first. I was met with the blankest looks I’ve ever had on stage. But then, after a bit of a delay, I got a few laughs. And people bought into that part of my set. It clicked at least a little bit.
I saved my “angry hipster who hates veterans” rant towards the end. I probably flubbed about 60% of what I wrote (which I always do when trying a new bit out). And I was really hoping that no one would get too angry, but I stayed committed to it. And, shockingly, it got an okay response. If I didn’t trip over my delivery and had the material down better, it would have got a really strong reaction.


After this, it hit me. This part of the act is done to mock alternative/hipster comics who look down upon mainstream audiences. But here I was, doing the same thing to this crowd. But they got it.


And then, today, I was reading Matt Ruby’s excellent Sandpaper Suit blog. And he re-posted Bill Hicks’ Principles of Comedy, which I don’t think I’ve ever read before. And one of his principles stood out the most to me:

“Play to the top of the intelligence of the room. There aren’t any bad crowds, just wrong choices.”

So, I learned an important lesson on Wednesday night. People, no matter the comedy venue, are there to laugh. And people at comedy venues, no matter their knowledge of mid-90s indie rock, are pretty intelligent. Thus, I should trust that these audiences are going to get my act, because I’m not nearly as smart as I think I am.


I guess it’s me I’m mocking after all.