ADDED 10/22/12 4:42PM EST
HEADED TO THE IMPROV
So yah, a quick post to let people know that I'm officially insane and taking this idea of "experience new things" and "put yourself out there" probably too far. I have signed up for an open mic night at the Miami Improv for tomorrow night (Tuesday). Yikes. Yes, I've pursued new things that I've been interested in since being in Miami, but I can take getting the crap kicked out me trying to learn BJJ much better than getting boo'd off a stage. A little background on why I am doing this: I did an open mic comedy night at JMU one time junior year. I've always loved stand up and think it is probably the coolest thing a person can do especially if they can get paid to do it. At the open mic I was really nervous, and did not invite or tell a single friend out of fear and embarrassment. I remember that I was lucky number 13 to go up and perform which is pretty terrible - I mean after sitting through 12 people (many of who absolutely bombed) I was convinced people were going to be so over it. By that time it had been over an hour and half of stand up virgins, some of who had 10+ min sets. Surprisingly though, pretty much everyone of my jokes got big laughs, and I was ecstatic. It was definitely in the top 3 experiences I had in college (clearly my college years were amazing) and I was convinced that I was going to pursue it actively. But such is life, it got pushed back, and pushed back, and pushed back and then it just became more of a far off fantasy than anything else. To be honest, I was being a pussy. I lived in one of biggest hot beds/opportunity filled places for comedy for four years and never even attempted to get on stage, what an idiot.
Then I was asked to be my brother's best man which was truly such an honor. I spent all my time planning and setting up the bachelor party, priorities, and didn't really think about the speech. I had a couple of ideas floating around, but didn't put pen to paper until two days before the wedding. I wrote my whole speech in about three hours and then put the finishing touches on it the following days. Brett's maid of honor had an awesome speech that people really enjoyed so the added pressure was on. For whatever reasons though, I was much more excited than nervous, and minus me tripping over my words a bit I thought it went great. People seemed to really dig it and I even got a standing O. A ton of people came up to me and told me how much they enjoyed it which was fucking awesome and some vindication that I could make people laugh. So after the positive reaction from the speech I am ready to get up in front of a crowd again and give my tasteless humor a go. I'm really embracing the idea of "Fuck it, if I bomb I never have to see these people again." Which is a great way to live your life I think, minus the personal shame that may ensue causing you to move to the mountains where you convince yourself that electricity is overrated. Big Bill is actually going to be in Miami so he is coming to the show and will record it, so I will post that on Wednesday. In the mean time, below is the best man speech, obviously there are some inside jokes, and I swear when I practiced it in the hotel room it was only 5 minutes, not 8 ugh. The screen starts off sideways and then rights itself a few seconds in. Big ups to Peck who recorded it.
So yah, a quick post to let people know that I'm officially insane and taking this idea of "experience new things" and "put yourself out there" probably too far. I have signed up for an open mic night at the Miami Improv for tomorrow night (Tuesday). Yikes. Yes, I've pursued new things that I've been interested in since being in Miami, but I can take getting the crap kicked out me trying to learn BJJ much better than getting boo'd off a stage. A little background on why I am doing this: I did an open mic comedy night at JMU one time junior year. I've always loved stand up and think it is probably the coolest thing a person can do especially if they can get paid to do it. At the open mic I was really nervous, and did not invite or tell a single friend out of fear and embarrassment. I remember that I was lucky number 13 to go up and perform which is pretty terrible - I mean after sitting through 12 people (many of who absolutely bombed) I was convinced people were going to be so over it. By that time it had been over an hour and half of stand up virgins, some of who had 10+ min sets. Surprisingly though, pretty much everyone of my jokes got big laughs, and I was ecstatic. It was definitely in the top 3 experiences I had in college (clearly my college years were amazing) and I was convinced that I was going to pursue it actively. But such is life, it got pushed back, and pushed back, and pushed back and then it just became more of a far off fantasy than anything else. To be honest, I was being a pussy. I lived in one of biggest hot beds/opportunity filled places for comedy for four years and never even attempted to get on stage, what an idiot.
Then I was asked to be my brother's best man which was truly such an honor. I spent all my time planning and setting up the bachelor party, priorities, and didn't really think about the speech. I had a couple of ideas floating around, but didn't put pen to paper until two days before the wedding. I wrote my whole speech in about three hours and then put the finishing touches on it the following days. Brett's maid of honor had an awesome speech that people really enjoyed so the added pressure was on. For whatever reasons though, I was much more excited than nervous, and minus me tripping over my words a bit I thought it went great. People seemed to really dig it and I even got a standing O. A ton of people came up to me and told me how much they enjoyed it which was fucking awesome and some vindication that I could make people laugh. So after the positive reaction from the speech I am ready to get up in front of a crowd again and give my tasteless humor a go. I'm really embracing the idea of "Fuck it, if I bomb I never have to see these people again." Which is a great way to live your life I think, minus the personal shame that may ensue causing you to move to the mountains where you convince yourself that electricity is overrated. Big Bill is actually going to be in Miami so he is coming to the show and will record it, so I will post that on Wednesday. In the mean time, below is the best man speech, obviously there are some inside jokes, and I swear when I practiced it in the hotel room it was only 5 minutes, not 8 ugh. The screen starts off sideways and then rights itself a few seconds in. Big ups to Peck who recorded it.
