Reflecting on a Not-So-Great Performance

 

I felt so white at a show one night.  I haven’t felt that white in a very long time.

 

You know when you get credit from another comic for getting up on the stage with your “pearly white skin,” the comedy performance wasn’t what was good.  But of all the possible adjectives in front of “white” like pasty or chalky or pale or corpse-like, I like pearly.  That connotes something pretty.   I like the phrase so much that I might use it as a nickname or a pen name – Pearly White.                            

                                                               

It sucked to be the weak link in a show.  It hadn’t happened to me before.  It happened this time.  There wasn’t booing or anything, and there was some laughter, even a point where I had to stop and let them finish laughing, but in general, it felt difficult and was difficult.  My performance paled compared to the rest of the line-up.  I am glad I hung in there and ended shortly after given the light.  I felt so bad though.  I felt I let down the person who booked me.  Ugh.  That feels shitty.  He was kind to me when I told him that I was sorry that I was the weak link.  He reminded me that he’s heard me be funny and that comedy is a muscle.  So I had to hug him while I pouted.

                                                                                 

I sat at the bar with a friend who came to the show, and we watched the whole thing.  I didn’t feel envious of anyone else’s material.  What was the biggest difference was stage presence, comfortableness.  They had it and I didn’t that night.  My guest was someone who once cast me and directed me in several videos of comedic sketches.  She knew what I did wrong from the start, and it had to do with body language.  I am glad I am able to hear real feedback at this point in my journey because it is very helpful when the person knows what they are talking about. 

I also had my own critique – I began my set sounding memorized and didn’t really establish a connection with the audience.  Without a good start-off, it was bumpy the whole way through.  My tone of voice was not where I needed it to be. 

As much as I typically do not enjoy comedy open mic’s, I need to get to them and work it.

I need to be more out there in a number of ways.                                                           

 

 

 

 

 

Job people tend to think just the opposite.