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Friday, August 13, 2010

To discuss a video I can't believe I'm actually showing you

Seriously, I can't believe I'm showing you this.

No, it's not a video of me performing gymnastics as a child- I'm sure that exists somewhere, but it's on VHS, and who has a VCR anymore? Well, other than the person who just read that and thought, "Hey, I have a VCR!"

This is a video of me practicing my stand-up routine. If you didn't see my fleeting mentions before, I've decided to knock something off my bucket list. And since Natalie Portman refuses to answer my calls or try on the outfit I sent her, I've decided to try to do an open mic night at some point this fall.

Doing stand-up comedy and writing funny things on the Internet are very different things. For instance, I can't use asterisk jokes when I'm doing stand-up.*

* And who doesn't appreciate a nice asterisk joke? ... Maybe if I hold up a sign to the crowd with an asterisk on it ...

I also have to rely on actually saying the words instead of letting you just read them in whatever voice you use in your head when you're reading. I've always regretted that I didn't choice a nice British voice for my reading voice. Alas.

But I though I owed it to you to at least show a short clip of me practicing at home, in front of an audience of a sleeping chiweenie while using a Tivo remote for a mic. And it's not to get validation, either. I figured it'll help get me over the hurdle of eventually convincing myself to go in front of a live audience (and this coming from someone who does theater all the time).

And, considering you're not watching it live, I don't have everything entirely memorized and there's no laugh track, it'll sound awkward as hell ... which I suppose is how I am anyway, so what the heck... At some point, I'll do another video right before I actually go to an open mic night, so I can show my progress, like those before and after weight-loss photos.* But at least this is a start. Apologies for hesitation at the start of the video - I almost forgot what I was going to say ... and I was practicing alone. That's just sad. (Here's the link in case the video doesn't work on this page on your computer.)

* Except those quite obviously aren't shot with the same people, not unless weight loss also makes you tanner, have nicer teeth and changes your face.



And now that you've lost your faith in humanity's ability to make you laugh, please watch two clips of someone who I really do find funny, Tommy Johnagin, who came in second on "Last Comic Standing" and is hilariousishness and kinda has my style, except he's, you know, polished and gooder.



10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I liked it! It takes guts to do something like that Andy!

Sid said...

This is the first time I've heard of this Johnny guy. He's pretty awesome. (Oh and the video of you won't play in blogger).

Good luck with the open mic night!

Andy - Instafather said...

Alexis- Hey thanks!
Sid- I put a link in. Hope that helps. And yeah, he's a very, very funny guy.

Unknown said...

Not bad Andy. I didn't click off during the middle of it - and I am really bad about watching half a link on youtube and stopping it.

Keep it up! :-)

spleeness said...

haha! Your parents discussing hot sex. "I just threw up in my mouth a little bit." <-- laughing!

My favorite part: at the end, "Ima change the channel to something educational... Discovery Channel... WHALE MATING??"

ha!

Heather said...

Very nicely done adult Andy!! Keep it up and show us more!! :)

Jenners said...

DAMN IT! I waited until I had a quiet room to myself to watch this ... and now the audio isn't playing. I'll keep trying. I'm dying to see this.

Josh said...

Well done. Also, Johnigan shoulda won. Felipe Esparza was funny, but I didn't even have him in my top five.

Jenners said...

Finally got the volume to work on my computer and watched the video.

First of all, kudos to you for putting this up on the whole freaking Internet. You got guts!!! You really do.

Second, reading it and hearing it are so different. I know you were nervous and just learning it but here are my thoughts. (Be sure to work on your personal tics -- your hand gestures, lots of ummms --which is typical and will go away once you know the material better).

1. I don't think the expectant mother sign thing works.

2. I still think the best part is when you talk about your mom and all. It just feels more natural and you're more animated. You reminded me a little of Shia LaBeouf in Transformers when he is with his mom and all nervous.

3. You don't come off as a pervert but I'm still on the fence about the Baby thing and adopting the older kid thing. Perhaps consider expanding on Baby Andy/Adult Andy ... there seems like is potential there for more. I think you could "go bigger" with it somehow.

4. Don't get too tied with getting the words right. It seems awkward when you do -- especially if the joke hinges a lot on saying things a certain way. That can be deadly I think. It has to come off natural in a way and not seem too "written."

Hope this is helpful!!!!!!

And I just love a good asterisk joke!

Sam_I_am said...

I was actually thinking your mom was thinking you turned it real quick because you're not into girls... then you'd get sent off to one of those camps like in But I'm a Cheerleader

It felt a little slow in the beginning, but picked up. You have a great way of talking about things that have happened to you and making them hilarious, like watching tv with your mom.

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