>> Stand up comedy looks pretty scary to me. How did you handle the nerves? Or are you just so slick that it doesn't faze you?
Yeah, the "slick" one. :-)
I was nervous as hell! And of course, the guy that went before me just HAPPENED to be really, really good. (Damn!) But I figured, there's no one here that knows me. (I asked my friends not to come) If I totally bomb, I'll just leave and never come again. So it was pretty comfortable. I said, "For twenty years, I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses" and someone called out, "Oh, I'm SO sorry!" The audience WANTED to hear my stuff. It was nothing like giving a talk at the Hall. These people CHOSE to come of their own free will, and they wanted to be entertained. Such a feeling, GOD! I loved it.
>>that is also my secret...to be a stand up
You've got a great background for it -- you were a JW and you know the Bible. And women in comedy are few and far betwixt. Look up "open mic" in your area. (Google it) Find a place and go for it! I attended three performances before I felt ready to give it a go. It's quite a confidence builder, since many of the open mic guys really suck. You think, "Well, I may suck, but no worse than THAT guy!"
>>i am a mature female, but i have been told by almost all of my clients, etc, i am funny, quick funny
Go for it! Work up your routine and see what happens! (And be sure they really have a barstool to put your notes on. Or write them on your hand...)
>>tell us more about your monologue, i would love to hear it
Thank you! I wish I had a tape of it, but alas. And it's pretty delivery-dependent, so writing it out doesn't work so well. The opening was: "Before we get things underway here, I think I owe you folks an apology. For 20 years, I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses. [pause][hang head] I'm sorry. [pause] I was the guy that came to your door at 9 o'clock in the morning, on a Saturday, to talk to you about Jesus. Jesus, a man that -- according to the Bible -- stayed at a party so late that everyone was already drunk and the booze was all consumed... then changed several gallons of water into wine. A man, in short, that knew better than to call on you at 9 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday."
See? Reading it just doesn't fly. But it worked tonight! Woohoo! (Yeah, still pretty high from it!)
>>I wonder what reaction you will get from them if you ever have any j-dubs in the audience.
I wonder about that too. But I figure I'll say, "Do the elders know you're at a bar after midnight?" That should make for some fun! ;-)
Dave
