My First Time... At Stand Up Comedy

I'm sure you are all curious.

I KILLED.

Which means, in "comic slang" that I did incredibly, incredibly well. By the time it was my turn to go, I wasn't even nervous--(the bananas, perhaps?)--I just got on the stage, dealt with the douchebag MC (story later in blog--sorry Trey, I know he's your friend and all, but yikes) and did my set. The audience, though small, really liked it. I felt confident--not nervous at all! How weird is that? And I even thought of a few quips on the spot that went over really well. For instance--my opening line was:

"How many closeted homosexuals do we have in the audience tonight?" And if anyone makes a noise, I simply say "Liar." But before it was time for my set, I had gone to the bathroom and observed some really interesting bathroom stall graffiti--"I Love You" and "My husband has a horse dick." So I started my set saying that I had a secret admirer, because the bathroom stall told me so. And then I mentioned the husband comment, and said: "... centaur?"

It was a small audience, but good--it was great to have both Kyla and Trey there--good job Trey! :) They served RC products there, not coke or pepsi. How 90s, right? I loved it.

So, the MC was a bit of a homophobe. I have a joke or two that elude to me being a lesbian (because I refuse to hide who I am, stand-up comedy is about sharing your life perspective and being yourself honestly, so I'm not going to pretend) and after I finished my set, he told me that I did a nice job and that it's important to find my voice, and that he thinks my voice would be better "with a cock in my mouth."

Yeah.... he also had LOTS of "faggot" jokes in his act, and he also rubbed the mic on his crotch before giving it to me for my set. I have my theories as to why he treated me as he did (involving feeling threatened by a confident funny attractive young lesbian woman) but regardless, I won't be performing there again--sorry Trey! I loved performing and I think you're great, but it's not worth it for me to deal with those kind of remarks. Nope :) Oh well, though. I can't really take ignorance personally--I don't really feel terribly offended, just sort of put-off. And, seriously, other than that blatant homophobia masked in comedy, I felt amazing about my performance, I feel in love with the whole act of stand-up comedy, and I can't wait to do it again. I better go refine my act and create some new material...

I should be competing in a stand-up contest in early June--I'll keep you posted. Because to be honest, since I'm taking some time off of theatre, I'm going to really pursue this. I better look up stand-up clubs in New Zealand! And Bloomington, for that matter.

The next performance I give, you're all invited!

Off to go eat some snacks and watch le Buffy. I really am walking on Cloud Nine--I feel so capable right now. The feeling of making people laugh drowns out ALL other emotions and cancels out the slander I encountered entirely.

A toast to Stand-Up and my new journey!