Hey folks! Before I recap my very eventful last couple of months in comedy, I figure I should drop a quick health update after the diabetes diagnosis.
Well...things are okay I think. I've cut sugar by probably two thirds, and carbs by maybe half. Through that I've lost about 10 pounds. So, progress! I haven't had an easy time navigating whatever is next though. I haven't had a follow up with the doctor I was consulting with. He's not taking new patients these days, so I've kind of been floating around with not much support. I've decided to call HealthLink about how one finds a good doctor who can be available for me going forward. Now that I'm in my forties, newly diabetic with an impending shoulder operation, it would be nice to get a solid home base for my medical needs. I coasted for two decades doing the clinic thing. Not for me anymore though. I need to make bigger changes, and I'm not on top of this on my own. So, yeah. I'm doing okay, but just okay. Stay tuned for more info later.
When I'm not stressed out about my health, my favourite past time is stressing about my comedy career, so let's get into that!
Reeeeaaally late last Friday, as three of us were driving back to Red Deer from Lethbridge (my first "comedy sleepover"), I was feeling soap-boxy, so I was ranting about my "rules of stand up". Not that I have much business telling anyone how to do this "right", but despite that, I have found a few things valuable.
1. Be funny.
2. Be nice.
Those were my first two. Not exactly ground-breaking, but so important. If you deliver onstage on average, and are easy to deal with offstage, you will get ahead at some point. As I returned from my fourth show in two different cities over two days, I was telling my captive car audience about my new third rule.
3. Ask for what you want, but expect nothing.
This new one had caused some big growth over the last few months for me, and really impacted this week in particular. Wednesday we were in Edmonton for two shows. One was a showcase in the biggest comedy club in the city, then Zachary Landry and I had a contest in a comedy theatre right after. We first discovered that weekday shows at The Comic Strip aren't the hottest ticket sometimes, as we were facing a crowd of maybe twenty people, and they were not going to be easy laughers. Some of the Edmonton comics got really tight facing such a tough situation, but for Zachary and I, (especially him), we have seen some really rough rooms in Red Deer, and we didn't come into this show expecting to kill. So we just had fun with it. Same thing with the contest after. Neither of us thought we had a win locked down, but we had a blast in front of a really fun crowd. Many of the other comics in attendance were really complimentary after, and having them on our side is way more important than a single contest win. We kept our expectations low and focused on doing our best and having fun.
That mindset carried over to Lethbridge, where the two of us were joined by Niek Theelen for the trip. We roll in Thursday night to find the club owner double-booked, so we ended up running the open mic. Everyone had a blast. The next night was the roast battle, and again, we all tried to not worry about winning as much as giving the situation all that we had and keeping it fun. That led to Zachary and I shirtlessly roasting each other as the host joined in and people threw change. We didn't win, but that was one of the biggest moments of the show. I also had to do a regular set as people were taking intermission, and once again, if I expected that to go great, I wasn't going to be happy. Instead, I just took the moment for what it was and bared down.
So I was feeling pretty good about my new rule heading into the next show I produce in Penhold on the Saturday. The last show out there was so fun, and I "expected" (uh huh) that this show would finally pull a big crowd and actually be financially successful. Even though it was Easter weekend.
As I got ready to start the show for the nine people in attendance, I was a mess. Pissed off and unsatisfied, I carried that negativity to the stage. I wasn't appreciative enough of the few folks who were there to support the show. I could only focus on the empty seats. So not only did I not do well as a producer, I also bombed pretty hard as host. None of us will call that show one for the ages, that's for sure.
It took me two more days and a lot of talking it out with others to realize that I totally broke my new rule. Expectations locked me into, "I'm only going to be satisfied if THIS happens." Instead, If I was to tweak my approach to get that small crowd on my side and to show them love for coming, everyone could have had a better night. Especially me.
So yeah. If I'm going to wax poetic on how to make comedy work, I have to keep myself in check about it.
I'm very lucky to have some people in my corner that will call me out on my bullshit. Because I need that a lot.
I've got the biggest contest of the year next week. I'm going to bring the best stuff I can. I'm going to focus on having fun. What I'm not going to do is expect to win.
Thanks...
B
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