To discuss a second attempt at standup, and what I've learned so far

I went on stage again last night for my second try at standup comedy. Decent results again - people seem to love any reference to my chihuahua - and that's considering most of the crowd was older and not exactly my target audience for references to Saved by the Bell and Aeropostale.

Here's what I've learned so far in my brief amateur comedy career, from either watching or doing:

1) Most comics get as much laughter from off-the-cuff quips as they do from actual jokes

2) Some comics didn't get loved as a child.

3) People love jokes about sex. I mean, love them. And that's difficult, because I don't really do those types of joke. Maybe I can do jokes about hugging.

4) People do not like jokes about the following:

* Mental retardation

* White guys making fun of black people (although the opposite works)

* Cancer

5) The worst thing that can happen is no one laughs

6) Confidence, more than material, seems to win the crowd

7) People love fat comics

8) Delivery matters more than material, too. Unless your entire delivery involves cursing every other word.

On to the video... the reference to "licking balls" is about a previous comic's joke, if you're wondering why I randomly have that in there. Same thing with wearing Depends. I can't wait to go out and tinker with everything and try again, but I can't for a few weeks.*

Here's the link, if you need it.

* I can't because next week I've got an improv show. I've been a very bad blogger lately, but it's been because I've been trying to do comedy face-to-face instead of solely online. That's good... right? In particular, the improv group I helped form has our first show next Thursday, and that's taken a lot of work to prepare. You can check us out at facebook.com/oxymoronspa. And then you can blame them for taking me away from blogging. But if you "like" our group page, that's good, too.