Crash and Burn
“Crash and Burn” or is it “The good the bad and the ugly”
I just had one of those common things that happen to comedians but are not easy to handle at first. I had a great set at an “A” club then followed it up with a crappy set at a contest at a bar setting that was not comic friendly… This was reaaly bad for my ego… I was on top of the world after my good set… I was nspired and writing and just happy as all out… then I had to do the same exact set at a contest that I won the year before… I practiced and cut the set down and polished the set then on the day of the show I crashed and burned.
I read the form I filled out to enter the contest or as I call it the contract… It said to be there at 6:30pm the show did not start till 9:00 and then I found out I was the second to last contestant and wont go on until after intermit ion some where around 10:30pm… this was already a bad sigh. Then the comedian who went up before me literally told my punch lines as he referred to me, witch I have never thought to plan for…So I go out there on the stage and bombed…I was dying up there, there was a loud transvestite in the front row who’s phone went of she not only answered it but was yelling on the phone… the crowd behind the judges were so lout they could not hear, the mike kept cutting out…if it could go wrong it did… But that was not what I was mad at my self about… I dropped the ball, I could have done my best to do my set in the most professional way, finish my bits and deliver my set better than I did…
I was defeated…depressed and very sad that I knew so many people out in the audience that came to see my set , paid $30 to watch me crash and burn in such a way… It was embarrassing… I hated the comic before me, the tranny on the phone, the crowd that didn’t listen and the judged that just got done doing 8 shots of vodka as part of their job …judging the bartender competition.
I couldn’t even think about my set for a week or so. I was gun shy and then it hit me… I know I am better than this… I just need to prove it and I learned more from this bad dream of a show then I did when I killed just 3 days earlier… So I am funny I just need to work on my week spots.
I need to deliver my bits to the people in the audience that are paying attention. I need to have a conversation with my audience one person at a time. I need to know my sets inside and out; I need to relax and have some fun with it… I really need to work on my crowd work and also have some cell phone and talking quip’s so when I have to handle it. I need to get back on the horse and work on my bits and work them out at the open mics.
So sure I crashed and burnt, if was really embarrassing, I was down about it… But I learned more from this than any show to date… so I will be a phoenix and rise from the ashes to become a better comedian. I will no longer look at what went well at a show rather what I can do to make it better next time. I will deliver my sets with emotion, as a conversation, and confidence…