Last Week In Review

Last week was a fun week to say the least. Tues night my boy Derek Vana was mcee'ing up at the funnybone here in Columbus so I went to check out his set and ended up doing some time. Starting to feel like home up there. It used to make me nervous, it was the only comedy club that would give me those heebie jeebie feelings ya know. Ive been all over the country on different stages but none of them make me nervous like the bone here in Columbus. Thanks again for giving me a time slot I really appreciate it. Like anyone reads my blogs lol.

Anyways then Wed night I was at the Funnybone in Beavercreek OH for the future legends of comedy show. I set a goal of trying to get 25 people to come see the show and make reservations saying that they were there to see me. Well I don't know too many people in the Dayton area.. I got about 6 people there, which was good but def not even close to 25.. oh well. It was a fun night, great crowd, a lot of different comics, styles the whole 9 yards. Props to Ryan Singer for knowing how to put on a good show. The line up is a skill and i think hes mastered it.

Thurs night I did a private show with my boys from Say What Improv?! which was a blast. It started out really shitty, we drove 2 hours to this little Amish village where this lodge was located. Beautiful giant lodge out in the middle of these woods. 3 star restaurant inside of it, i mean this place was rrreeaallll nice.. Staff was awesome execpt for this one lady who was.. dare I say it... a cunt. I would say bitch but her actions were wwwway above that level. She wouldn't even let us finish a sentence before she would walk away from us in anger. She couldn't get it through her head that we were hired to be there we were not the people throwing the event. She told us wall dividers we needed were going to be 50 extra dollars yata yata yata... Even though we tried telling her several hundred times it wasn't OUR event, we ARE NOT in charge of the money.. So instead of eating at the event we drove back 10 miles into this little town and ate at Burger King. The staff there was 100 times cooler, nicer, better there. I give that burger king 4 stars! And to top it all off we brought back burger king crowns and little toys to give out at the event at this 3 star restaurant. Ps the actual show was awesome!

Sat night i was with my boys yet again... nothing really eventful happend.. It was a 3 hour drive, we did a show for a room full of 90 yr old people. YAY! Another 3 hour drive home... Lame..

Hope everyone had a fun weekend!

-Malone-

Louder is NOT funnier

The louder you are on stage the less punchlines you have to write. I think that is the mentality of a lot of these comics I'm coming across. A lot of people believe that Dane Cook takes the easy way out of writing punchlines is by "performing" more or in other words "Acting Out" his jokes. Success is success no matter how it happens. Paris Hilton is a top celeb because of a sex tape, not her talent. Coolio had better press for shop lifting than rapping. MC hammer is better known for losing all his money than baggy shiny pants. Its so weird what the world remembers or chooses what makes someone who they are, half the time its not about the actual talent they have. Back to the yelling! I've been working the road a little and doing my homework by watching as much comedy as I can, and the thing I'm coming across that irritates me is the belief that "Louder is Funnier". I don't like people sliding to the top without any effort involved. This is going to sound biter but more and more im watching these comics headline and feature that have no real jokes, or punches, or twist, or sometimes even a solid setup. However what they do have is a gimmick. Louder is NOT funnier! You cant substitute a punchline or build up for a meaningless word or words at high volume. Give us an example mike, ok sure... this tactic really gets to me... A comic will ask an audience member a question and then repeat the question at high volume.
Comic- "What are you drinking tonight?"
Member- "Just a water.."
Comic- " JUST A WATER!?!! OH MY GOD?! A WATER?! Lady this is A COMEDY CLUB!!! A WATER?!?!"
Crowd Response – Loves every minute of it.. why I don't know.
I really cant wrap my mind around why that would be funny at any club anywhere anytime… BUT it is… and it KILLS! Mike are you saying that comics aren't allowed to yell or raise their voices during their act? NO! I'm saying its not okay to replace a punchline with words at high volumes. Notice how the example had NO punchline what so ever to it at all, now imagine an entire 45 min set like that. What makes a joke funny is the twist you put to it, or a word with a different meaning switched in, or experiences people can relate to, but the more popular end to a joke is the element of surprise. The comics im talking about have no structure, no build up, no surprise.
Example :
Comic- " So I went to the café and they didn't have any creamer and I thought NO CREAMER!?! NO CREAMER?! YOU'RE A CAFÉ WHERES YOUR CREAMER?! I mean am I wrong here folks?"
Picture an entire 45 min set just like horrible example joke. Makes you want to put a bullet in your head doesn't it? It should make you be more aware of the people Im talking about so we can all strike against them until they give up and learn how to write a fucking joke.
Not everyone is a comedian. I cant sing, therefore I will never put out an R&B album. I cant juggle, therefore I will never put out a juggling instructional video. My point to all this is the comics that do write good solid humor are getting the shaft because half the time its not them who are headlining the club it's the moron who cant control the volume of his voice. The idiot that cant sit down and write a decent joke or tag so they buy a guitar. Not all guitar comics are bad, a lot of them are but not all. A lot of the guitar guys do this number which I also hate… The short set up short song joke.
Guitar Comic – " So I dated this girl when I was a teenager and I went to meet her mom and it kinda went a little something like this..
Your mom is hotter than you,
Id rather bang her than you,
Why cant you be prettier you whore.."
Crowd Response – Loves every minute of it.. why I don't know
Not funny but yet again another headliner. What happened to the good old days when pushing the limit, or even topical humor was getting more recognized and rewarded. It's the yelling and some guitar comics fault that everyone jack and Jane think they can do stand up because they tell a few jokes at work.

You know.. STUFF

Things are going kinda slow lately.. i had what seemed to be an stint of a busy spell.. it seemed like i was doing shows 3 times a week which is good and i miss it, now the year is ending and im just hoping that all the traveling i did and all the hands ive shaken and stages ive been on paid off for next year. I really didnt do that many show shows.. i did ALOT of showcasing for different people, which is like a sampler set, you pick your best ten to 12 and if they like ya they use ya, so fingers are crossed they will start using me for next year. I wrote about a pretty important showcase i did a few weeks ago when i was sick... it turned out to be an awesome set ill link it at the botton of this blog.. what else is going on, ive been slowing working on the new site trying to get everything ready.. i wanna start the new year off with new tour dates new website new pictures new videos new blogs, ive started video blogging i hope you guys have been watching! I guess thats i have for now, look out for me next year!! I think its gonna be a big year..

Video Link to my Showcase from 11-19-06
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcTunxgJxXY