Sunday Night I made my stand-up comedy debut at IT'Z in Fayetteville, NC. I was hilarious. And by hilarious I mean more nervous than I've ever been in my life (except for the time when I was negotiating for my salary for my first job in radio).
My clammy hands freaked out all who dared to shake them. Those people included Steve Baginski, the guy in charge and MC at IT'Z, Will Marfori, a comedian with cerebral palsy (who's actually funny, not just someone people laugh at because they're sorry for him) and the angry Italian, Vinnie the Hitman.
They were all ludicrously nice and helpful as well as very supportive. They all zeroed in on what I did wrong during my first five minute set. I just rambled on too long and didn't get to the funny. For those of you who know me, this is not a surprise. So, I tightened it up for the second show (yes, I was asked back) and was much more successful as well as MUCH less nervous. They said that I have good material, and with some pratice I should be able to at least not hurt myself.
The second time I got some decent laughs with jokes that I shall not at this time repeat on these pages. I was very happy with the second one, but I had to leave to go home and get some sleep as the job that actually pays me requires me to get up at 4:30 in the morning.
So now I lay me off to sleep, having slayed one of those dragons which has been hovering about my head for quite a few years now. I liked it enough that I'm going to try to do it again, hopefully soon. I think my next step is to stop by Raleigh and give it a shot there. Steve said I could come back in a month, but in between I'm gonna have to go at it again.
P.S. I have a recording of the first performance, but it sounds awful because the recording was from backstage. I set up the recorder for the second performance, but it didn't work out, so that was lost to the sands of time. Sorry. In the words of Marc Maron, "Life's a bitch. Closure is overrated."
