Call me happy...

Well yesterday was a bit of a weird day. But I'm happy to report that almost a year after some people experienced what I've called "Heaven", I have finally joined them. I'm not dead.... but I did take ownership of an XBOX 360 yesterday. Oh, the great feeling that you get when your killing zombies(Dead Rising) to the soundtrack of T.I. and Coldplay. People, I just can't shake this feeling of bliss. As you can imagine, this has made coming to work today very hard for yours truly. Well, I suppose that I should attempt to talk comedy for a minute.
Things will hopefully go smoothly as I go up at Topaz tomorrow. My new stuff has been going, pretty much, exactly as I would have hoped. And, I think that I'm getting better at not using my material like a script. Gotta be off the cuff sometimes. And, I'm finally going to get on stage what I would consider a decent amount of times, this week. It's been a while since I got to do Soho, so I look forward to Monday for that, and hopefully I'll get to hit Topaz, Comedy Spot, Ned Devine's, and some unknown Wednesday night open mic. Going back to what I was semi-bitchin' about in what I believe was the last blog...
I'm at the one year mark now and it's a little hard to judge where I should be right now. Many people that are where I would love to be say that the first year or TWO are just for making sure that your material is solid and most of all "as YOU, and as FUNNY as you can be!" But then, of course, everybody wants to get work and be in front of the real crowds that pay and give the big laughs for stuff you think is alright. Maybe that's the thickheadedness of all new-ish comedians. I certainly hope it is. People that are not part of THE ELITE, let me be a familiar voice of hope and realism. Yes, there are people that are(certainly for the moment) blessed and are either ridiculously talented and that got notice right away, or that got their foot in the gold plated door while you shoved yours in the door to the crackhouse. It's okay. I look at the Elite and see a goal. Not to belong, but to get as much out of this scene as possible. We all want to work the Improv and hopefully more of us will then we think. As long as there are weekends they might need someone to host...right? Then there are the comedians that are not in the elite but are still handling their business. Marshall Henry and Jimmy Meritt are the first two that come to mind. And this is a personal thing of mine....
I am not into bashing someone nor am I into hearing someone be overly critical of themselves. (As far as comedy goes) There has to be some level of confidence to this artform. No one wants to come out and call themselves the second coming of Sam Kinison, but realize that there is nothing modest or shy about getting on a stage and believing that you can make a room full of strangers laugh. I would like for anyone that's read this to do something for me: If you think you did well or killed after a set, paid or open mic(if you really think you've done some damage), walk past me and as you do...
1) Give up the respect knuckles. Cause all this handshaking is confusing and takes forever. I can throw out some respect knuckles with the quickness though. WORD.
2) Lean in and whisper "If your going up there tonight I can call an ambulance." I would be tickled and I think a little arrogance is missing around this fine corridor of the mid-Atlantic. Don't be afraid to get a little cocky and let your ass show a bit. We're supposed to be having fun right? Let's have some...Later.