Tag: comedy

Categories
Blog Post

Short Post Vol 3

It’s hot.

Just hot now. Summer is starting to make its presence known here in my apartment, and as such, I don’t think I can sti down and write as much as i would do normally. I still have to install the air conditioner and make the place temperate.

Quite frankly, I feel like I can just keep it simple and short today, just enough to build the habit. AS long as I am writing something, and I keep the process the same I should be alright.

And even so, each day is another way to build the muscle. I have realized that with each day I build the habit, I start to be able ot drill down on it. I can find the loopholes that are happening inside that habit, and fix them, and become more efficient.

The goal is to make the habit better. I don’t see whats wrong with that.

With that said, it has got to be pushing 85 in this apartment, and now i have to fix this by installing an air conditioner in the living room.

Comic Strip Lottery today. Time to face destiny.

Done: 3 Things wrap up 16/8
Not Done: Todo Water Pushups Vegetable Juice Meditation Thank You CPAP

Categories
Blog Post

Letting Go

I was talking to my cousin today about comedy.

My life circles around this comedy thing, I think about it a lot, and every day is just another day to learn something new. Seeing as he is an impressive performer, with a ton of time in the business, and the respect to match, I sometimes go to him with ideas and to bitch about what I see and what is happening.

For the most part, he usually says something wise, and I leave the conversation figuring that a lot of my worries really mean nothing in the scheme of things. AS he says, it is a tempest in a teapot – something that makes a ton of noise, but at the end of the day,you will forget it happened.

It usually calms me down, until my next manic episode happens, and I am right back on the cell phone asking advice from a master.

In short, I am happy he is around to answer my questions.

I think people look at relationships like that in the short term. I have in the past. It was always what shows can I get on, what can I figure out, how can I make this club or this date happen. Let me drop his name and see if it can open some doors or me.

After a few months doing that, I retreated from it. I started seeing what this, and by this, I mean comedy, was. It was time and networking. It is building your own brand. It is working on your material so it blows everyone else off the stage.

His presence in my life enhances a lot of that, even if he gives me no shows from this day forward. The advice on how to proceed, on how long to wait, when to submit to things, and keeping me humble has significantly improved my progress in comparison with my peers.

The last part is really important. Last time he was in the city, he kept referring me as an open micer, when I was around other comics. My roommate was wondering why he called me that, but I understood. I am no one in this business until I pull myself out of it. Until I am on the road, making a living, I am that, and that alone.

In short, being coached really has brought the better out of me, and I think it adds exponentially. Like Warren Buffet’s 500 words a day, advice from him a few times a month is enough to keep my head straight, and to realize what I am working for.

I want to be the best, so I have to learn from them.

I am apprehensive about writing the thank you notes.

Frankly I feel like people don’t want to hear from me. Writing the Thank You notes every day, I was thinking of who to thank, and why to thank them.

I got lost in it all. It is scary.

I have these thoughts, where I think I can ruin relationships y just speaking to the person. I don”t quite know where it comes from, but I know it can destroy me personally because I let relationships linger.

I am really good at doing things in the moment – but after that I just retreat to my shell. Frankly it is difficult to break from it, because I always feel like a target as soon as I leave it. How will I get shot today, who is going to hit me.

I do it with comedy, my writing, personal relationships, everything. I am scared to put myself out there. Even as I write this blog now, my stomach hurts, my typing is getting slow. I notice that, every time I put something real down on paper, I lose a little bit of steam, and part of me goes right into PR mode.

I try to clean up messes that don’t even exist, just becaue I think I am going to cause them.

Maybe writing the thank you notes will be a way to get through this process. Putting myself out there – just getting someone to look and care, should make this very interesting. Now i just have to do it.

Done: Water, Reminder, 3 Tings
Not Done: Todo 16/8

Categories
Blog Post

Ritual and Perception

After reading the Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, I have been really interested in finding more about the subject. There seems to be a real power behind it. Because of that, I have been reading Daily Rituals by Mason Currey.

This book on routine is really interesting. I am currently reading about the routines of great creatives, whether they are writers, painters, philosophers etc. and it seems like the great ones always had a routine to create output. A recurring theme is inspiration is for amateurs. James Joyce, who wrote Ulysses, says it took 20,000 hours to get it done.

Would you sacrifice 20,000 hours to write something that would last 1,000 times that in terms of enjoyment for the rest of the world? It was all based in habit, to get it done. And that is the discipline that I need.

It is the reason this blog has been going on everyday since I finished The Power of Habit. I need to create that output, to have something to show if I am asked for it. All this work in the dark leads nowhere if I have nothing when I have a light shown on me.

600+ words a day help. I am starting to see that I have to keep this pace, because by establishing the habit, and making myself used to pushing out something, I build muscles. These muscles will allow me to do some of the heavy lifting it takes to become more cerebral, and get more creative.

Learning how to build these muscles is why I want to diversify myself out here in Comedy. I have been looking for other ways of output other than stand-up. I think this will sharpen my skills with a pen, doing things like writing jokes, penning sketches, or shooting and directing videos. Stand-up is my love, but trying to make a living at it becomes a lot easier when I can create.

For the sake of that, it is imperative that I have something going. I think it can be really simple, something like 30 minutes a day to keep me growing as an artist. It is surprising how much a little everyday can do to build your skill. I’ve read stories of someone learning how to improve their violin skills with just 6 minutes a day.

With that said, I have figured that each sentence down means something. After reading Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, I got a little insight into that way of thinking. As she wrote about, at length, you need shitty first drafts. Getting that out the way allows me to learn.

In short, I am looking at the rest of my twenties as a way to build, taking as many hits as I can along the way. The hope is,by the time I am 30, I would like to be able to be ready to unfurl some stuff to the world as a creative.

I hate that I get so defensive. I sometimes get myself in a mood, where everything touches my skin with the intensity of a sharp stick. When I feel this coming, everything becomes a little more meaningful, for better or for worse. I get hyper perceptive. My mind becomes a net for all communication, from body language down to tone, and I receive it.

Last night I found myself in that mood, hanging around people I work with as comedians. I felt the showbiz thing – that phoniness, that I feel from people. It doesn’t really bother me when I am around other people. Honestly, people are people, I do not expect much from a stranger. He doesn’t know me and I do not know him.

I really hate it though, when it comes from someone I know. There is a look, body language, and a tone shift, if someone finds out I am not on this show or that show. Now, it has become apparent that I don’t work hard enough at this skill, in the sense that I don’t put myself out there enough.

But I have an understanding that people don’t change because of one thing. That is to say, if I know you yesterday, and then tomorrow I end up auditioning at some club you want to be at, I haven’t changed, you haven’t changed, our relationship should be the same.

Sometimes people don’t do that. And it bugs me. Maybe the trick is to level off expectation? I really don’t know.

Done: Wrap-up Water 3Things 16/8
Undone: Todo

Categories
Blog Post

Seeking the Final Frontier

I was late today. I found myself oversleeping, more than likely because I decided to watch tough crowd until 2 AM. The show is amazing, and it contains everything I think comedians talking should be.

It was a chance to talk about the world, be funny, and not pander. I used to watch when I could when I was younger, but with YouTube hanging around, it is possible to find older episodes and dig into the discussion of the day. I want to have a point of view on stage, and I want to be able to share that point of view in conversation a lot better than I do now.

I guess I have to trust that will come in time.

I am trying eye therapy – or my version of it. I realized that my aversion to eye drops has been the cause of me being “tired” all the time, when honestly, it was only my eyes being fatigued from looking at screens all day, and being filled with contacts most of the time.

In college, I really wasn’t in front of a computer most of the day. I spread things out, took a lot of walks, and hung out with friends. Didn’t use my eyes as much as I do now. I sit in front of a screen all day, and then I look into a cell phone for seemingly the rest of it.

Because of that, now I use eye drops twice a day, and remove my contacts when I do. I feel much much better and I do not get a feeling of fatigue. It almost scares me, the amount of energy that I have. Now it is time to work.

I watched Star Trek yesterday. It was a fantastic movie, and could rank up there with one of the best of the summer, easily. Action was fantastic, there was emotion, and you genuinely cared about the character. It wasn’t campy in the least, and with the Star Trek universe, it is entirely possible they can run with this series for years.

Took my co worker to a black theater experience. I sort of wondered how he felt. The differences in all of us, the way we speak, the way we look at the world, due to social constraints, lead to a completely different world view.

Depending on your experiences, every conversation can lead to something different based on race in America. J Cole talked about being mistaken-ed for a basketball player in a recent song, simply because he was in first class.

To a white guy, that might be a positive thing. To him it reads”I’m in shape, and I’m tall and handsome”, better than what he really does.

To a black guy, it means that we can only be here through guns and entertainment. Even though J Cole is a rapper, there is a part of him that hates that he has to be an entertainer to white america to sit around them.

It is something black Americans have faced a lot of their lives, going back to the beginnings of this country. Those of us who could entertain got a pass, and for the most part, the intellectual had to take a beating. It is ingrained and repeats itself now as a learned behavior.

I don’t like it, but it is a reality we have to face.

I would like to do 30 minutes a day. Of everything I would like. The goal is quite simple. 30 minutes of writing, programming,comedy,and music should start to leave me with material. This material and knowhow can be used down the line, when someone needs it.

It is like when Ari Shaffir was talking about Aziz Ansari. He had three scripts ready to go, and when he had the opportunity, he had them sold before anyone had a chance to cry about how unfair the world is.

When they ask you for it, it is too late.

Done:

3 Things
16/8
Water
Night Reminders

Not Done:

Todo

Categories
Blog Post

Paradox Self Doubts Confidence

Paradox…

Don’t quite know why I wrote that word, really I don’t know why at all. I guess my mind is a little scattered today. It seemed like a fun word to write at the time, and for what I have down currently, is the most interesting word on this page. I feel like I am a paradox. Human beings are paradoxes. We are inconsistent people, who in each of us, exists a possible truth to the puzzle of life.

That got a little grandiose. Lets scale it back to reality here.

There is a new comedy club in the city. I guess it is called the LOL Comedy club. I am curious to see if it is something I should check out. I need some tests and maybe if I get in at the ground floor, I can work out and get better at this comedy thing in a different environment.

That may be what I want right now, but honestly, I am still working on the jokes that will get me over the hump of 5 minutes. I feel like I am getting closer, but still, there are some holes, and with each bit getting funnier and more poignant, I start to see potential holes in the others.

This is happening. And it is making me a better comedian right now, I can feel it. There is a tone when I get up on stage now. There is a cadence. It is starting to feel like an act that is worth showcasing. Now I just need the jokes to start catching up to the persona.

I did alright at the mic last night. It was interesting, because I worked out some bits that may be circling the drain. From them I made another leap – some smaller things jumped out that make those bits even better.

I also arrive back at my subway bit. It is growing to be about NYC and its absurdity. There is a front part to the bit, and I enjoy it being there. It makes the joke funnier. It is almost audition ready, which would put it in between my opener and closer to make a decent 5 minute set.

2 and a half years for just 5 minutes. I think I am almost there.

Did a 24 hour cleanse. I feel better, although mentally I am a bit lost. I have a fit of Hazy brain. My breath smelled better so I am thinking that it is coming from my stomach. After a day of nothing, it worked a lot of the things inside, out. Now I have to get some medical closure on this, so next time I can work from home, ill get it.

Habit Day is tomorrow. I plan on focusing on hygeine. I want to establish a surefire method of waking up and getting dressed as cleanly and as quickly as possible. I think this will get me to have a solid jump on my day and I will be able to get a little more done before work.

Habits are interesting to me now. I recently got a new book on the habit of great men and women. I want to explore this topic, becuase people like Kafka and Hemingway produced some of the greatest thigns human beings cherish, and if I can learn anything on how they worked, I think I will be putting myself on the right track.

Byron is coming this weekend. He will be crashing on the couch. I am getting him his keys. Hopefully he can get a handle on what is up here. I worry about the kid. I will advise him to slow down on his purchasing for now, and get an idea of what he needs.

I hope he has the money and finds something he is looking for up here. I want the best for him. Like a little brother.

3 Things Done – To do List Done – Wrap Up Done – Water Done – 24 Hr done.

Categories
Blog Post

Working Stuff Out

Last night I had a decent show – and I hated it.

For all intent and purpose, I had an alright set. Some rockiness in other places but I was trying some new stuff, and doing things a bit out of order to shake things up. When I got to the venue, I knew I had been working on a ton of stuff, and Sunday is as good as any other day to unveil what I have – get a response, and tinker on stage.

Things were not going to go extremely well, and I accepted that. Even so, I took the worst spot in the show (first), set down my recorder, and started up my process. I opened up going over my initial feelings (my stomach hurt – another reason why I wanted to leave early) and just went in with my new stuff. Some worked, some didn’t, but they laughed and I ended strong.

Even so, I didn’t like what I did. There was something missing from it, there was a piece of the puzzle I realized I am not getting. I don’t know if I mentally grew as a comedian during the set, or I just had a crazy moment of clarity as it happened, but either way – I didn’t feel great after I got off.

I think I have gotten too dirty. There isn’t enough cleanliness in my act. I need some sort of balance to get me to be versatile. I need to get on the right tack – If that makes any sense.I don’t curse a lot, but my subject matters sort of paint themselves into a few corners, and my biggest laughs come from dick jokes,man rape, and reality TV.

I want to be able to get a little deeper with my material, have something that the world can’t take away. I want to find out how to share my frame of mind with the world on stage, and do it funny. I would like for the dirty stuff to be the aside, instead of the main show. Used in a spot to add some bite in a show.

I understand that you have to be able to be funny first. And trust me, I know how difficult that is. I am happy to actually have some material that works in most places, and I can rely on something to get the audience laughing. Something to that. People would want that at the level I am at. So, by no means am I sneezing at it.

I am even working on the soft skills for stand up comedy. For those who don’t know, doing stand up is a bunch of skills tangled together in making things work. You have to figure out how to deliver the joke, which means a lot more than saying it. You have to figure out sound, cadence, pauses, facial expressions, and act outs, and then tailor that to the crowd you are in.

It sounds like a lot, and it is. Any time I have a chance to work on those things, to become better at them, is an opportunity I cherish. And I have to say where I open mic at helps a lot.

What does this all mean? Well, I think I have to work a lot more at my pen game. Jokes have to be more structured and cover more things. Maybe a little more topical. Maybe a little more punch. Whatever it is, I want to make a few changes because I want what I have in the back pocket.

I want to be able to do 20 minutes with my eyes closed – with some balance, instead of relying on the easy stuff to make it work. Lets see how it goes.

16/8 done.
3 Things Written
not done: todo | wrap up | water.

Categories
Blog Post

Short Notes PT 2 this week

I kind of don’t want to write today.

Usually if my posts are short, or if they feel rushed, is because they are. My time was short, I was running to a meeting, I was tired, no sleep, something happened where I needed to run.

In other words, there was a reason. Today is Friday, I have a bit of fuzzy brain going on, and I just don’t feel like writing 600 – 750 words on a blog.

I guess my decision here is to keep pushing, or to just falter.

When I put it in such simple terms, then I guess it is easy to just write something short.

I did another 30 minutes of material yesterday. Doing that at Identity bar, and even having a smattering of audience, has allowed me to become more free on stage.

I am starting to realize I can trust myself when I get up there.

I think material comes in two forms. There is structured and unstructured, both are important in putting together a show.

There is something about being able to read an audience, and hit them with something when they are ready for it. When the crowd gets to know you. When you see who they are.

Polished material is great, when the crowd is primed for it.

When you just go into material sometimes, it is like they are being rushed into something. By them I mean the crowd. No one wants to be forced into hearing jokes. I think you are taking them hostage.

A really good comedian doesn’t have to take them hostage to hear the jokes, he knows how to gain their trust, and take them for a ride. That’s the goal. When a comic learns how to distinguish the difference, it allows him more freedom, and from there springs better material.

I feel like I am getting there with Identity. Just working 15 everyday, trusting my track selection, and hitting harder.

3 things done
water
todo done
reminders done
16/8 done

Categories
Blog Post

Imperfect Comedy

Sometimes we ask people to be perfect in light of our imperfect selves.

I have my fair share of flaws. I am compulsive, I lie unnecessarily, I am a bit of a narcissistic prick depending on the day. Sometimes I have to make everything about me, and when I don’t I want everyone to be selfless. I take a lot of things personally when I shouldn’t.

Even so, I look to people to be better than the struggles that they have faced in their lives. I expect them to be better than themselves when dealing with me. How dare you not be a good person to me, I am ADAM THOMAS.

This has been bothering me for a little bit now. It’s something I really have to change.

When I can’t tell anything about someones background, or what they had been through to get to where they are now, judging them on that behavior doesn’t award me anything. I should be able to take a break, and hold people to a standard that is in the moment.

I’ll be honest, there is a bit of a selfish motivator for me to try to frame myself in that state of mind.

To be able to be that detached can allow me to be a more caring thoughtful human being. Learning how to take that force, and like judo, guide opposite energy to energy for my cause should be something that pushes me to be a better person.

I think the perks of being that person is a little more contentment.

Being able to just go to work, come home, and be happy when I have a chance to be.

I would be able to make more connections, turn more friends instead of making more foes, and just be a helpful person.

I have realized when I am being genuinely helpful, I get things a little more. I get what I put out, so to speak.

I am hoping that I can make something like this happen. I don’t know how, or have a method yet, but I do feel like I can create some positive movement.

I was talking with Phil, my roommate yesterday. He had just returned from a show, and we were discussing comedy as a business, and where he is as a comedian.

We discussed two things that stuck in my mind today, both things effect me as a comic, and would work well for me to know in anything else I do for the rest of the time I share this earth.

The first was shame.

He had just watched Kareem Green, another comic who works the club that he does. He watched him destroy the room, really put his foot into making the crowd laugh. He watched this after his own set, where he did well, but not as well.

Kareem seemed to be shameless.

I don’t mean that in a bad way, by the way. There is a freedom in being shameless in comedy. All the great ones were, from Carlin, to Pryor, to Rock.

What people seem to forget though, is that they all had dignity as well. Those two things aren’t tied at the hip. Great comics have no shame but are loaded with dignity. They are not clowns, but philosophers on the world that have taken a beating to get to where they are, and aren’t afraid to show the scars from it.

Letting go is what all of this is, the key to being a better comedian once you have the basics down. Being unafraid to let go, leap, forget the bounds of shame that try to hold you back and just trust that you are going somewhere. Takes years to master, but once you do, you have your shot at greatness.

The other thing is being able to take a loss. That is making me hurt. AS I said before my narcissism is going to have to eat this…Taking chances and asking people for things isn’t illegal. There is no extra prize at the end for making things harder on yourself.

Just go perform. Be friendly. And tack on ambition.

3 Things done
Wrap up done
To-do Done
Water not done
16/8 not done – 15/9.

Categories
Blog Post

Slimming Saturday

Big surprise yesterday

A pair of pants I had fit way better. I was surprised, but only after about a week of the 16/8 thing, my clothes are fitting me better.

I am not even doing the no-carb portion of the deal.

This bodes well for it, getting tangible results. I was looking at a picture of a comedian I had worked with in the past, named Matt Kazam. He was a pretty big guy, and decided to lose weight. He took another way to get it done, as he chose juicing but the results have been undeniable, as he has lost almost 100 pounds in 4 months.

I am really considering that once I get the 16/8 philosophy down. It is almost habit at this point, and with the positive motion, I can see myself going further with it.

I have a dream of being a slimmer guy. I want to be around to experience my grand kids, and not being overweight. It would be a great feeling.

I would love to shop in normal stores again, and get normal sizes, and all that good stuff. Being a big dude in my life has resulted in me having to go online or to another part of the store, and hoping that they had it in my size. It sucked, quite simply. That is part of my motivation too, getting there.

I don’t want to be the fat kid forever.I want to give my personality a break. Ha.

It was painful typing that part, but it initiated my zone for a second. And I think that’s all i want. I just want to write the truth. Get into my feelings a little bit. the more I meander, the more I sort of dawdle on the page, and the words sort of sit there.

I was reading Anne Lamont and in the book Bird by Bird, she talks about letting the kid come out in your writing, and I think that’s what it is. For me, maybe my kids lock is honesty and pain, and from there, I can write a thousand words an hour to get to the actual truth.
I feel like it is coming.

I did over 30 minutes of material on stage yesterday, and it felt good. It is a slow reminder that I actually have jokes, and I can hang for a long period of time. Not only that, I did it in a room of comics, and I had their attention. No one went to their phones, or walked out, or went to go take a quick glance of their notes, I was ale to just run.

I really felt like a comic yesterday, even if it was in a basement with 4 other comics and two audience members. I felt like there was some room to grow there, and become someone who can actually matter int his show business thing.

With that said, I still need to focus on getting that dynamite five minutes. If I can do that, I feel like the rest will fall into place. The long sets are for personality, but the shorter sets are for writing.

As Alonzo said, you don’t have a lot of time up there to let them get to know you, so o better kill and kill hard. It is that time to show the bookers and the managers of the club that you are worth investing in your personality. If you can clean it up that way, then you can build out from there and get the great 15 and then the great feature set.

That open mic in the basement helps though. Gotta thank Tino for giving that space for me to grow.

16/8 done
Water Drunk
3 Things Written
Plotting Not Done
Shower Done
Sunday Organizing Done.

Categories
Blog Post

Speaking – Free Speech.

I got excited yesterday.

I realized at my pace, I am close to writing 10,000 words a month on this blog. I have been steadily increasing the amount of words I write per day, going from 100 to 200 to 300 and now almost 400 per post.

The growth has been organic, which is something I am proud of. I haven’t really been pushing to write more, it is something that has just flowed out of me. And for that I am thankful.

I just only hope I have the wisdom to keep it up. Everyday that I write is another chance to explore the options of the day ahead of me. Everyday I write I have a chance to bring something new to the world. And, everyday I write, I exercise the part of my brain that has long gone dormant – the ability to communicate.

I have felt lately( over the last 2 years almost) that I haven’t been able to say things as crisply as I had been before. People say I am well cpoken – but there is a level I felt I was at, where ideas were able to flow out like wine…almost.

Was I professional? No, but I had the ability to get to point and make them, without over thinking. I had become a parrot lately. Where I used to be able to talk about myself, I had changed into someone who just parroted ideas. These were things i thought about, but even so, I couldn’t quite put them in my own words to get them out.

I think a lot of this habit building stuff has helped – I would like to think that I can do more. Better sleep has helped. Soon I will introduce eating better, meditation, and organization into my life ( Still working on the organization), and through that maybe I improve.

I wrote that I was thankful for improvement last night. I want a growth mindset, and I think I am getting there.

I listened to an interview last night about the Paul Mooney incident, which proved my suspicions. In it he says he was set up – He didn’t say that white people deserved to be blown up, he was talking about Americans and terrorism – he said our chickens have come home to roost.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_co03n_hO-Q

He sounds a little frazzled in the video – and I can feel why, he knows they are out to get him. It is very easy to sound crazy when you feel like crazy things are happening.

I can believe this side of events more so than the other side because I know Mooney’s comedy – never has he wished death or people to be blown up, that seemed way to vulgar for him.

I also know the people who opened for him, I would like some verification, but I feel like they wouldn’t step up to defend him because they are young in their careers. A club is important because where else will they be booked?

It is scary how they try to murder free speech. If I ever get to that level – I wonder how my words can be misconstrued.

3 Things Done
Drunk Water
16/8 Completed

No – Todo Morning or Todo Evening.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started