More Performances Please

      Another busy weekend coming up. Or perhaps I should say: is already here. It kind of started yesterday. One of the reasons I postponed this ‘til today is that I was kind of busy yesterday. I had a comedy show last night! It went pretty well. I thought I did great. There were a few more people than last time. I had to spend time yesterday getting ready. I only had a few days’ notice. Which, in a way, kind of bummed me out. Here’s why: 1 week ago, I got an email notification that ASAP, the arts program I’m kind of a part of, was having a graduation show for the current class. A class I attended earlier this Spring. I know that at our graduation, we had some former students perform along with us. It was fun. So, when I saw that they were having another performance, and I was not included, I was a little bummed. Quite bummed actually. Especially since, there was another show about a month after ours, with a featured artist, and I was not invited to perform. I knew it was supposed to be a big show, so I thought maybe they just wanted it to be seasoned performers. I decided to go support the group anyway, just to show I’m a team player. When I got there, they had one of my classmates performing! I couldn’t believe it. I know I’m better than the person they included. It’s not a competition, but I packed the place when we graduated. My feelings were hurt. But, after having told this story to a few people by now, I am, for the most part, over it. But when I saw that they were having another one, and I wasn’t included again, it brought it all back up to the surface. I think it’s because I’m older than them. They are all in their mid-Thirties, and find the same types of things amusing. Things I don’t share.

     On Sunday, when I was checking my Fantasy Football league, I noticed that I got another email from ASAP. I was so excited. I thought maybe they were asking me. I know when we had our graduation show, we weren’t solidifying the line-up until almost the week before, so I thought maybe it was last minute. I couldn’t wait to read it. Usually, I only check my email during the week, but I couldn’t stand not knowing. So I went ahead and checked it, on a Sunday. To my dismay, it was not an invitation to perform at the graduation show. It was however an invitation to perform at a showcase they were putting on last night. I was glad to be invited. The short notice seemed a bit odd. But, in essence, it gave me hope that maybe they’re just dragging their feet, and there’s still a chance that I may get asked to the graduation show. I thought performing last night, might at least give them a little reminder that I’m a team player. It was a little tricky, because I had band practice already lined up. My punk band has a show tonight, and we wanted to get one more practice in to make sure we can rock as hard as possible. We already practiced on Tuesday, and probably didn’t really need the extra, but it never hurts. Well, that’s not exactly true, a lot of times my fingers hurt, but I think you get my point. Anyway, I set it up so we would just have a quick practice, so I could make it to the comedy show. They were all agreeable. I didn’t find out until Tuesday that I was “in.” So I only had 2 days to get ready. I try to do a new performance every time. Not a total revamp, but just a few modifications, to make it different than the last time. One of the ladies has been doing comedy for 5 years, and she’s been doing the same bit the entire time.

     I like working on it. I like refining it, trying to make it the best, and smoothest it can be. I like making sure I’m saying what I actually want to say, and the way I want to say it. So, I have to practice. It’s interesting how just changing a few things, makes it a whole new thing to remember. Anyway, I killed it. One of the performers, who’s been on the scene for a while, actually approached me after the show to see if I was interested in doing some other shows, that aren’t ASAP related. I was kind of stoked. I gave him my info, and hope that leads to something. One of the other performers, also a person who has been doing this a while, said I had a great set and that I should do audio books. Audio books!? I’m performing a comedy routine, and his takeaway is that I have a nice voice?! I wasn’t sure how to take that. I decided it’s a compliment. He said he'd listen to me read anything, that’s got to be something. One of the organizers said I would make a great mentor. I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t ask for clarification. Sometimes she says things that don’t ring true. She takes lots of pictures, and I’ve never seen one. I’m still waiting to see the video from my first show! Anyway, I hope to be able to perform more. I hope this community is actually starting to grow. But, and this is the last I’ll say about it, for now, I found it very odd that none of the current students attended the event. Wouldn’t you think that they would at least want to see what’s going on? Wouldn’t you think that they would want to, kind of, know what to expect? I thought that was bizarre. I went when I was a student. Even at 4 weeks, of a 6-week class, I was chomping at the bit. It makes me wonder about the new group of “comics.”