On Saturday I had my first bad gig for a little while and it was entirely my fault. Oh dear.
Thursday and Friday I had a great time, really enjoyed myself at my gigs and went home with that buzzy excited contentment that you get as a comic after a good night. Especially Friday, where I felt like I'd faced down some hecklers really well and turned a potentially tough room around in my favour.
Saturday was a gig in the same venue as Friday. They were a nicer crowd. MC and first act had done great. I'll smash this thank you and head into my Sunday/Monday weekend feeling all happy with myself. I'll probably treat myself to a baguette on the train home cos I'm so ace. A baguette and a magazine about cage-fighting.
What a bellend.
I wasn't in a bad mood when I arrived at the gig, but I was in a complacent one, which is arguably a worse state to be in before a gig. The complacency wasn't based on the quality of the venue by any means...the gig is very well run and always great fun to play...hmmm...always...until tonight. My complacency was based on me having a good run and not respecting the nature of my job to its fullest, a state I haven't really found myself in for some time. I was actually unaware of what was going on in my head at the time... I was fairly pleased with myself and thought I was just relaxed.
I came onstage in quite a low energy state. I got a wolf whistle. I have a line to deal with that which gets a good response most of the time. This time it got nothing, the reason being that with hindsight it only works if I've made my character look friendly/warm/humble. If I seem disinterested or disengaged, it can make me look like an arrogant prick...yup...
Then a loud drunk female voice at the back...now it's time for some of my spontaneous brilliance...but again, contextually with my low key beginning, instead of looking decisive and skillful I look scornful and harsh. I went in too hard. Now I'm arrogant AND aggressive and I've been mean to a lady at the back. Instead of a vulnerable comedian beating back a bullying heckler (yay) I've been a loudmouth onstage attacking an innocent who just wants to join in (boo). Where a verbal hug would have worked wonders, I've thrown a nasty right hook.
I can get this back with my material...but the material which flies so well most nights had a new background. If i'm bumbling, vulnerable and silly, then it's great. If I've come across as aloof (which I have so far) it sounds harsh and jarring. I'm getting a few good laughs but it's mostly people laughing at the bizarre nature of my stage presence this evening...and it's a few isolated pockets of people at the front.
I can literally feel my aura wither. My throat tightens up a bit and time goes weird. At a GREAT gig a few things happen...you feel powerful and in control, like you could pretty much say anything and it would work. There's so much space on the stage and in your mind and when heckles come at you, it's like they're in Matrix bullet time...you can dodge easily and your mind throws the perfect response your way, which you channel out to the crowd. At a great gig I feel like I'm having an out of body experience sometimes, like I'm not in control of what is going on, I'm just a passive observer. At this gig I felt like I was driving a coach full of people too fast along a precarious hilltop and I could go over the side at any minute.
I didn't die. I got that coach under control. I went into survival mode and got a late equaliser, ending the night with a dubious score draw on a really old bit that works when I push the boat out on it energy wise, but I didn't feel at all happy when I came offstage. After the applause died down there was an instant chatter among the crowd about what they'd just seen. I couldn't make out specifics, but most of it seemed pretty bemused.
It's such an obvious rule of comedy...your first 30 seconds onstage will completely define the rest of your set and it's soooo important to make that first impression, otherwise you really are swimming against the tide. I was really annoyed with myself on the train home, (eating beef jerky and reading a discarded paper) because it's such a basic thing to screw up as a comic. My number one danger area in stand-up is coming across cocky and aggressive and unfortunately that can be where my personality can default to onstage as some kind of defense mechanism.
BUT these are the gigs that we learn from as comics and are arguably the most valuable. I will not forget the importance of a first impression in a hurry and I imagine this experience will help cement that in my mind.
Next gig is tomorrow. There's going to be one happy/silly/vulnerable/ humble comedian bounding onstage, of that you can have no doubt.
Thursday and Friday I had a great time, really enjoyed myself at my gigs and went home with that buzzy excited contentment that you get as a comic after a good night. Especially Friday, where I felt like I'd faced down some hecklers really well and turned a potentially tough room around in my favour.
Saturday was a gig in the same venue as Friday. They were a nicer crowd. MC and first act had done great. I'll smash this thank you and head into my Sunday/Monday weekend feeling all happy with myself. I'll probably treat myself to a baguette on the train home cos I'm so ace. A baguette and a magazine about cage-fighting.
What a bellend.
I wasn't in a bad mood when I arrived at the gig, but I was in a complacent one, which is arguably a worse state to be in before a gig. The complacency wasn't based on the quality of the venue by any means...the gig is very well run and always great fun to play...hmmm...always...until tonight. My complacency was based on me having a good run and not respecting the nature of my job to its fullest, a state I haven't really found myself in for some time. I was actually unaware of what was going on in my head at the time... I was fairly pleased with myself and thought I was just relaxed.
I came onstage in quite a low energy state. I got a wolf whistle. I have a line to deal with that which gets a good response most of the time. This time it got nothing, the reason being that with hindsight it only works if I've made my character look friendly/warm/humble. If I seem disinterested or disengaged, it can make me look like an arrogant prick...yup...
Then a loud drunk female voice at the back...now it's time for some of my spontaneous brilliance...but again, contextually with my low key beginning, instead of looking decisive and skillful I look scornful and harsh. I went in too hard. Now I'm arrogant AND aggressive and I've been mean to a lady at the back. Instead of a vulnerable comedian beating back a bullying heckler (yay) I've been a loudmouth onstage attacking an innocent who just wants to join in (boo). Where a verbal hug would have worked wonders, I've thrown a nasty right hook.
I can get this back with my material...but the material which flies so well most nights had a new background. If i'm bumbling, vulnerable and silly, then it's great. If I've come across as aloof (which I have so far) it sounds harsh and jarring. I'm getting a few good laughs but it's mostly people laughing at the bizarre nature of my stage presence this evening...and it's a few isolated pockets of people at the front.
I can literally feel my aura wither. My throat tightens up a bit and time goes weird. At a GREAT gig a few things happen...you feel powerful and in control, like you could pretty much say anything and it would work. There's so much space on the stage and in your mind and when heckles come at you, it's like they're in Matrix bullet time...you can dodge easily and your mind throws the perfect response your way, which you channel out to the crowd. At a great gig I feel like I'm having an out of body experience sometimes, like I'm not in control of what is going on, I'm just a passive observer. At this gig I felt like I was driving a coach full of people too fast along a precarious hilltop and I could go over the side at any minute.
I didn't die. I got that coach under control. I went into survival mode and got a late equaliser, ending the night with a dubious score draw on a really old bit that works when I push the boat out on it energy wise, but I didn't feel at all happy when I came offstage. After the applause died down there was an instant chatter among the crowd about what they'd just seen. I couldn't make out specifics, but most of it seemed pretty bemused.
It's such an obvious rule of comedy...your first 30 seconds onstage will completely define the rest of your set and it's soooo important to make that first impression, otherwise you really are swimming against the tide. I was really annoyed with myself on the train home, (eating beef jerky and reading a discarded paper) because it's such a basic thing to screw up as a comic. My number one danger area in stand-up is coming across cocky and aggressive and unfortunately that can be where my personality can default to onstage as some kind of defense mechanism.
BUT these are the gigs that we learn from as comics and are arguably the most valuable. I will not forget the importance of a first impression in a hurry and I imagine this experience will help cement that in my mind.
Next gig is tomorrow. There's going to be one happy/silly/vulnerable/ humble comedian bounding onstage, of that you can have no doubt.
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