I was incredibly nervous getting up for the second time. Not only did I not have the support of my classmates this time around, it was a competition and I felt pressure to "up my game". Instead of sticking to the 5-minute set I had written for my first time, I wrote all new jokes. I was extremely nervous getting up in what I considered a more professional atmosphere than the student showcase. You can tell just by my delivery and how I fiddled with the mic cord, just how nervous I am. As well, I wasn't paying attention to how I was speaking into the mic, and as a result much of what I said wasn't heard. My sister was sitting in the front row and motioned for me to speak up and into the mic more. It was a great and necessary tip, but really threw me off what I was saying. I have included a clip from that set here (only a clip because my brother was filming with his iPhone again, which (unnoticed by him) stopped filming after 2 minutes.
I discovered at the end of the show that the winner was selected by round of applause to move on to the final of the local laugh-off. I didn't win that night, but Susan invited me back for the next 2 Thursdays so I could try again. The next 2 shows I was sure to bring out lots of people for support. I won a chance to move on to the final on that second Thursday, which was St. Patrick's Day (my 5th time performing overall). I was really happy with my performance, because I felt a lot less nervous than in past shows and I started having a bit more fun with my material. I hate this video because it's stretched out (my boyfriend didn't caption the original; he captioned the video my brother had uploaded to YouTube). Somehow some technical stuff happened that ended up making me look fat. I am not fat, I am chubby. This had to be said. I didn't want to upset my legions of fans. I am also horrified that I stood with my legs wide apart. In addition to looking fat, I come off as manish. I intended neither. Now you may watch the video....
Overall, I was able to perform 4 times at Yuk Yuk's in Barrie, which I am incredibly grateful for, for a couple of reasons. One reason of course was just the opportunity to get to perform. The second reason is that I wrote new stuff for each Thursday so I had nearly 20 minutes of jokes by the end of March; not bad for 6 weeks out of the gate.
Unfortunately, I did not win the final round of the Barrie Laugh-Off. I was beat by the very funny Lianne Mauladin. I wish her the best of luck in Toronto on April 24. She's cool and polished, and I think she has a great chance of winning the whole thing. I hope I can become as comfortable as her on stage because her laid back approach to comedy really adds to her already-funny material.
The final was a really good experience, but I regret not using my "best" material. I'm not saying that I could've won had I used it, but I can't help but feeling like I wasted a great opportunity. A competition is no place to try new material. I'm not sure why I put pressure on myself to have new jokes each night. At the time, I thought because people had seen the stuff at that location before, that I should have something new. But I ended up trying new material each round of a competition, which was pretty stupid. I am learning more and more now each time I repeat jokes that I learn what works and doesn't for certain things. I notice where my timing with material often makes a huge difference. Even where I have changed/removed/added words to different bits, really impacts how the crowd receives it. It is so important to learn these lessons and you can only do so by repeating stuff on stage.
But I'm learning!
Aww you're doing great honey!
ReplyDeleteI think with your best 5 minutes you would have been more confident and won the Barrie final for sure.
But in the long run I think you'll be glad you did so much new stuff, after 2 months you are streets ahead!