#Director #StandUp #Teacher
#NotYourGrandmasComic
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No Reading Required By Rhonda Hansome
Thursday, May 28, 2015
| Labels: #NotYourGrandmasComic, Director, stand up, Teacher | 1 comments | |
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A COMEDY LOVE LETTER
Saturday, February 16, 2013
By Lisa Harmon
Stand up comedy, with all its disappointments, with all the hard work, and hardly any reward...I am thinking that the probable reason I do this is because I really do enjoy just being around intelligent people.
Intelligent people, independent thinkers, analytically-minded people – this is what I am attracted to. Ideas, fresh perspectives and unique points of view – this is what excites, energizes, and engages me.
In this comedy world, I can be myself. In the outside world I may be ostracized and disliked – for qualities or actions of mine that may be real or imagined. Things that may or may not be under my control.
But in the world I live in – a world of open mics, bar shows and lots of Facebook comments, there, I am appreciated for my sense of humor. And, my comedy chops mean that I have the respect of my comedy contemporaries. In this world, my weight doesn't matter. My age doesn't matter. My gender doesn't matter. My race doesn't matter. In this world there's only one thing that counts: Are you funny? Can you make a crowd laugh? Can you make comedians laugh? This is how people are measured here. If the answer is yes, yes and yes, you are in! Nothing else is important.
If I was not a comic, I would never have met the funny, brilliant and unique people that I now consider my second family.
Not only do I get to work with and stay sharp with these bright, talented people, but they actually accept me. I get to talk shop with the best comics in the business. I put a question out there and I get a hundred answers. I get to workshop, bullshit, and laugh with the funniest minds out there – and its all part of my job description.
Here's what I've finally come to understand about myself – I love comedy, and I love comics. Laughing with others is a true bonding experience. That is what I love.
I believe that comics that know me know how I feel about comedy, how I feel about our profession, and how I feel about them. I think my affection for the material and the comics comes through. I am proud to say that the first Lisa's Clubhouse open mic was a big success. I attribute it to the feeling of camaraderie that I try to promote at my open mic. I'm so happy that we had a great mic, and I'm thrilled to have the chance to do it again next Wednesday. See you there, you squeaky wheels! Don't you ever stop questioning everything! That's why I love you!
Lisa's Clubhouse – Wednesday night at 6 PM. Visit www.lisaharmon.net for info and to sign up!
| Labels: comedy, Lisa Harmon, stand up | 2 comments | |
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My Audition at The Comic Strip
Friday, August 10, 2012
This past Tuesday I got to audition for The Comic Strip Live. A very historic venue, where Seinfeld, Murphy, and Rock were discovered and managed. Jimmy Failla, a very funny comic and friend who performs there regularly, told me to come to the club two Tuesdays ago to hang out and meet people. Everything I had ever heard from Marc Maron's WTF podcast came to fruition. I got to chat with the pros, old and new. They told me stories of "back in the day" over whiskey. It was a magical night. I got to meet one of the club's owners, Bob. We talked about SNL and he said to me "You know who Eddie Murphy is? Yeah? I produced all of his albums and managed him from when he was unknown." After which, I shat. Then he asked me to audition the following week, which I did. After shatting a little more. I was terrified. But I have taken on a philosophy that has really helped me not want to kill myself after a bad set: As long as I don't trip and fall on stage, I did good. Low expectations. Works really well for my anxiety driven, sometimes self-hating psyche.
I arrived at the club around 9:30, checked in with the booker and was told I was going to go on in 5 minutes. Completely not expecting that at all. Definitely thought I'd have at least an hour of hang time to pace back and forth. Totally wanted to shat my pants but I couldn't because I was wearing a dress. Have you ever had a moment where you thought you were going to die from something that you definitely could never die from? It was like that a little. As I was in the green room peaking through the door into the theater, waiting for the MC to intro me, Jimmy and a bunch of other pros who could do a 15 minute set in their sleep and kill, kept saying "Krystyna look, you're gonna be fine. I think you're gonna be ok. Just breathe. Calm down. Whats the worst that could happen? Don't suck. Its ok, you're gonna be fine. Seriously though, don't blow it."
Luckily, I got a tip from a previous comic that the audience was hard to please. It's always a huge advantage to get this information before you go on stage, because you can walk in the room knowing what you're up against.
Aside from both my hands shaking like I was on a coke binge, and not being able to see the red light, the 5 minutes (that was probably 7) went well. I didn't trip and I got great feedback. And then I drank a lot of whiskey.
Later, I got to hang out down in the basement area where all the comics dwelled on Fridays and Saturdays after their sets... since 1985. I felt like I was touring the SNL studios. It was so nostalgic, even though I had never been there before. They had a lot of De La Vega art hanging, like this cardboard dude below. IT WAS GRAND.
The moral of the story is... you need those moments of terrifying, shat-inducing fear and you need the experience of overcoming that and just doing it. Because as long as you don't trip... you're in good shape.xoxoKrystyna| Labels: basements, comedy, De La Vega, eddie murphy, jerry seinfeld, Krystyna Hutchinson, Saturday Night Live, Shat, stand up, The Comic Strip Live | 1 comments | |
Showing posts with label stand up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stand up. Show all posts
