My third open mic. Headliner!*
August 16. #3 - Live at the East Room, Nashville. *nah, I just went last. ;)
The East Room in Nashville is a fantastic venue! It’s my favorite of the three places I’ve performed so far, Cafe Coco, Cabana Taps, and East Room. I like it because it’s dark, there’s an actual stage and seating for the audience. The show was especially fun because it had a live guitarist and drummer who both had a great set.
Our Third Coast teacher, Carl, was the drummer! This was exciting because he hadn’t seen me perform yet. I had been out of town during our showcase performance. Well, it was exciting until my set. I didn’t even speak to Carl before leaving the club feeling defeated.
I was thankful to Krista, one of my comedy comrades, and her boyfriend for coming out and waiting patiently until the end of the night.
The format of this show was different than usual beyond the band. It was a luck-of-the-draw scenario. Comics placed their names on pieces of paper and were randomly selected by the charismatic host, Joshua Lewis. I held my breath as he reached into the tattered, green Crown Royal bag. I felt relieved and nervous as he drew my name.
The host was considerate to add a couple of female comics to the mix since all the names drawn were men. I’m not exactly sure if it was bad luck or if he had moved the order of comics around, but I was the last comic of the night. He kindly introduced me as the “headliner.” Jesus, if you had paid for me as the headliner, I would have had to give refunds at the door.
So what happened?
I begin the set each time with a high-energy opening in a Southern accent. I apologetically reveal I’m Canadian. This always gets laughs and starts me off on the right foot. This time, I started on the left foot by forgetting to do the accent! WTF! And then, I proceeded to explain how I usually do it with the accent, which got as many laughs as you would expect. Oy vey.
I forgot the accent because I thanked the band in my normal voice. I couldn’t just switch to Southern at that point because it didn’t make sense. I also tried a new joke in the set about mobile hot tubs that didn’t get any laughs, so I’ll strike it.
I was feeling pretty shitty by the end of the set. I believe my energy wasn’t there because I had arrived at the club at 6:50 and didn’t go up on stage until 10:45. My back was aching from sitting in the chair for so long, and I was tired from laughing at most of the comedians. I just wanted to be home and in bed. As I walked to my car, two comedians walked passed and said they enjoyed my set. I’m not sure if they were just being nice or if they did, but it was a kind gesture that meant a lot.
Interestingly, some of the good comedians I’ve seen had crummy sets and vice versa. It was strangely reassuring to know this happens and that I need to keep pushing forward.
AN UPDATE
Krista was kind enough to record my set, so I re-watched it this morning after writing the above. I’m glad I did because I feel like it wasn’t as bad as I had thought by the number of laughs I got. I did notice that I need to pause and slow down. I also failed to mention who Alan Jackson is, so I didn’t get the usual laughs when I explain he’s a country music legend. This is important to note. Just like my previous takeaway about using poutine in my set, I need to keep things simple enough that the audience knows the references or the jokes won’t land. Lesson learned.
Congratulations Dave! Every time you do this you'll learn something new. It's amazing!
Hey Dave - I'm rooting for you as a fellow 50+ year old. I could wax philosophical about why so many of us are finally doing the things in life that we should have been doing all along. Is it a gen X thing? I know I would have listened to the naysayers at 20 and quit, but at 50 i don't really care what people think, i do what I like.
Also, you were one of the funniest guys I knew. I wish I remembered the exact things you said or did that made me laugh to tears as was sat around that all night coffee shop. I'm sure it was stupid and only made sense to our small group of misfits, but here we are, 35 years and a country apart and my memories of you are filled with silly acts and uncontrollable laughter. So, it makes total sense that somewhere underneath that respectable corporate adult is the crazy funny Dave that I snuck out of the house at night just to be your audience so many years ago.
Life is funny and i have met and become fast friends with a lovely girl living in NOTL, after moving from Nashville... who also knows you as a consultant and has fond memories of working with you. She's promised that we will go on a road trip to show me the Nashville life so please save us two tickets to your Netflix show.
Your Leaside buddy - Steph