I’m still on a bit of an adrenaline jag from last night, because I did a set with about 80% new material and almost all of it did well. Woo-hoo!
The rule of thumb is to try a joke three times before deciding whether it works or not. I’ve heard this repeated so many times by [...]
I first heard about this Tom Rhodes joke from Andrew, who performed with him at Laughs Comedy Spot in Kirkland.
You can watch the whole video if you want, but the joke I’m talking about comes about 25 seconds in (or click here to jump straight to the joke in YouTube):
Brilliant. After the “My question is…” [...]
Another day, another revealing conversation with a relative newcomer on the topic of getting the light. This was at an open mic without a host, where each comic introduces the next one on the list. I told the guy before me I’d give him the light when he had 30 seconds to go, and he [...]
Overheard Backstage peers behind the curtain (or brick wall) into the offstage area where comics gossip, bicker, and make each other laugh.
My friend Andrew was talking on the phone with a comedy club owner, the latter trying to book Andrew to perform at a particularly unappealing show. During the phone call, one of those odd [...]
Please excuse a little bit of nerd venting before we get back to the topic of stand-up comedy.
Unobtainium and handwavium are terms that science fiction authors often use–ironically!–to describe mysterious unknown elements or technologies that are crucial to the story. They’re the sci-fi genre equivalents of the MacGuffin.1
That’s why I couldn’t believe it when [...]
