“Dope A-F” - 7/30-8/11 - “Smiley Frown Live, Lady and the Tramp, a trip to Durham, and the Asheville Comedy Festival”
Let’s catch up you big sassy loves! Time to go over a nice little run of nine shows. So let’s not waste any more time!
7/30
I was excited about the prospect of doing three shows in one night. I was hanging out with a friend and then got the message that Mojos was cancelled and going forward was going to be moved to every other Sunday. I think it has something to do with scheduling and which bartenders enjoy comedy and which ones hate it.
So I head down to City Dogs for the Witty Dogs showcase. ben Braman usually runs this room, but he had just gotten kidney transplant so Jason Kusterer was hosting this one. The showcase was going to be Mu, Nate Izquierdo, Bryan Williams, Tom Hall, and then I was closing out. I messaged Jarvis at Fallout for a spot, and got ready for the show.
There were people here, but I got the vibe they weren’t going to be there for long. I have never had a great set in this room. It just is set up weird and the people there don’t usually seem to enjoy comedy at all.
Kusterer gets the show started and it is pretty packed compared to usual. He gets some laughs, and a few people walk out who just don’t want comedy. Then Mu goes up and does pretty well for the room. People are leaving and coming in. So it is like a constantly shifting audience. Nate goes up and does fine, as does Bryan. Tom goes up and you can tell he is not enjoying his set at all. This is definitely one of those nights where it just hurts.
I go up and try to do my act. I get halfway through and hate it so much I just started talking about my dad passing away. I use those jokes and they work pretty well. Honestly this set felt awful. Felt like I was bomibng but people said I did as well as I could have. Which always hurts to hear. I’d give this set a D-. I did not dig it at all.
I then headed to Fallout. I was lucky to get to go up in only a few people. There was a small crowd and I was ready for my set. I go up and work on some new stuff. I do much better here, but not as well as I want. I’d give this set a C+. I grabbed my stuff and headed home.
7/31
The next day there was two mics. The first was at Canon and Draw. I was going to do a new episode of my podcast there. I asked in the RVA comedy page if anyone could meet me. I ended taking down the request because someone hit me up and said I should have run it by them first, or called the venue. It wasn’t a big deal. I just only do my podcast because it is easy to do and I decided to pass on it instead of asking someone if I could. I didn’t want to start any problems, but also didn’t think it was that big of a deal so I left it alone.
I went to Canon and Draw and no one was there right after work. So I got to get a lot of video editing done. I also did some writing. I had some newer stuff I wanted to try at the mic so I was stoked for it to start.
People started to show up and file in. Paige, Jack Gerow, Dylan, Ry Mather, Taylor O’Sullivan, and Jesse Jarvis amongst others. We got a super good hang going before the show started. There was a nice crowd.
The show starts and Paige, Taylor, and Jesse are the featured acts. They all do well. The crowd is digging it. I think everyone is pretty happy with their sets. I am up first on the open mic portion. Before I am brought up Melissa tells everyone that’s the end of the showcase, but now it is time for the open mic.
I do not like when hosts do this. Legit not a fan. I think it opens the room up for people to leave. I honestly believe if you have an open mic after a showcase you shouldn’t even tell the audience which is which. You should just roll right into the next comic. This would help with audience retention, and would make a smoother show.
I go up and do some new materia. People had left, but I had a fun time. My stuff got laughs and I was able to sell some jokes in a different way. This was a super productive set. I’d give it a C+/B-.
After my set I grab my stuff and drive Paige over to Home Sweet Home for the open mic. I find out I am up pretty early. I hang with all of the comics, and Kusterer runs the comics meeting. He tells everyone if you’re going to be there in time for signup to not do presignup. Which is a fair rule.
The show starts and people are into it. A good crowd for HSH. I am up like second and I have a pretty fun set. My new stuff is working in most places. I’d give this set a B. I then grab my stuff and head home and pass out.
8/1
The next day after work I got to hop in my car and head directly up to DC. I was going to be on Ross Benoit’s live podcast at DC Comedy Loft. I met up with TJ and Chris at Tj’s place and we all rode in together.
We had a chill ride up and got a parking spot right at the venue. We head inside and Ross is already there. No one is at the venue yet, but it is set up beautifully. I set my camera up and we get ready.
We have a good hang going, but as it gets closer to show time we realize that no one is going to show up. I mean nobody. We start the podcast and just get right into it. Since it is a podcast we don’t really need an audience to do it.
The podcast is legit hilarious. There are some super duper funny moments, and I was stoked to be a part of it. About 20 minutes in one dude walks in and it turns out he runs shows all over. So he was just coming to support which was dope.
The rest of the show went great. Honestly one of the best podcasts I have ever been on. I felt like I was on fire and had some really good lines to go with everyone else. I love doing podcasts. It really plays to my strengths. I’d give my performance an A.
After this we headed back to Tjs and I hopped in the car and headed home. I needed to get a little sleep before work.
8/2
After work the next day I headed to Petersburg. I was on Wabi Sabi and it was going to be a killer lineup. I wanted to make sure I murdered. I also always just love hanging with these guys.
The lineup was going to be Klingman, Dylan, Wingle, Besiwck, Jaye, Paige, and myself. I get there and we are all hanging out and having an absolutely blast.
The show starts and the audience is super rowdy . It is pretty packed but they are super loud. Everybody has a pretty good set. They finally settled down when Dylan went up. He had a super hot one. After him people were paying attention and then it was my turn.
I went up and went right into crowd work. I did about 16 minutes and didn't do a single joke. I just wanted to have fun. It was absolutely killing. All of the crowd work was really hitting. I got everybody involved and had them from the get go. I had some good lines about the dj playing like 3 songs at once when I got on stage.
It was truly a super special set. I didn’t even have to close with a joke to get off stage. I had a killer callback to the first joke I made just from crowd work and I got off on that. It was dope. I’d give this set an A.
After Kenny went next we had Sex With Me is Like. It went really well. I’ve been doing great at this game lately. Everybody got some big laughs and Paige ended it on a really good one.
After The Who we hung out for a little while, and I headed over to my brother’s to spend the night.
8/3
I woke up the next morning and hung out with my niece for a while. After this I headed down to Durham, North Carolina for the Liquor House Comedy Festival. It is the first one, and honestly seemed like it was more of a showcase over two days than a festival.
I went down early with a friend and it was a wonderful day. We went to eat at the Blue Note Grill, and went to a killer barcade and played games. Then we walked around Durham for a while and found an ice cream place called The Parlour. I went into a gift shop and bought some homemade salsa for my brother.
We then walked to the venue which was Durty Bull Brewing Co. It is a pretty cool space. The lighting is really cool, and their beers looked delicious. I got ready for the show. I was waiting to someone to check in with to show up. A comic named Robert Schenider (usually runs the open mic at Durty Bull) showed up to put together the PA. I met him for a bit, and he told me who to check in with. Other comics showed up and people started to come in, but honestly I am not great with ingratiating myself with other comics when they don’t know me. I don’t want to come across like a douche, and I assume they’re going to hate me or wonder who I am.
I meet the host who performs under the name Ghettorauchi. He wears a bathrobe, and has this whole character thing he does. I tell him I am checking in and he tells me that he will put me in early. He had me going in the three spot which I was ready for. That is definitely one of the sweet spots in a show. I am told I am doing 10 minutes and right away I know what material I am going to do.
I had another friend who lives in Durham come out to the show. She used to be really good friend’s with my brother, and I knew her when I was just a little kid. It was so nice to be able to talk to her and meet her husband. We had a wonderful time chatting before the show.
The show starts and the microphone doesn’t work. Well it works, but there is a short in the cable. So they work on it for a while. Eventually the host just holds it like a sword and does his entire set not moving at all. He gets laughs, but this looks like an incredibly uncomfortable way to do standup.
In-between the host and the next comic they work on it some more and try to tape it. I go to my car to get my cables to try and help, but they use a different cable not a standard XLR which sucks. This is when they tell me that they are bumping me up to 2nd and putting a local in the three spot. I am assuming this is because I’m just a no name person and the local was like come on you’re going to put me up after whoever this is. This is fine with me. I tell myself I am going to try and bury everyone after me. I want to prove myself, and I want to destroy.
The first comic does ok. He doesn’t really project, and his jokes are on the edgier side. His mic keeps cutting out until he just decides he is going to stand in one spot. He has an ok set, but I know this crowd is ready to crack. There is about 80 people jammed into the room. It is packed, and more people are trying to file in.
I go up and since I’ve dealt with microphone shorts before I know exactly how to hold the mic/cord. I am able to move around and do my normal act. I do about a couple minutes of crowd work and then go into the jokes. I absolutely killed. It was an amazing feeling to have all those laughs wash over me. I did all stuff that always works, and was able to call back to my crowd work when I needed to. The mic only cut out 3 times and it didn’t affect my set at all. I’d give this set an A.
When I got off stage everyone was way more willing to talk to me and was super supportive. I wish I had recorded it, but honestly it was so packed there was nowhere to set my camera up. I talked and met some people. I handed out some business cards, and got a few IG followers. Said goodbye and headed home. I had a long drive back to my brother’s.
I get there and hang with my mom a bit before passing out. I was exhausted from such a fun day.
8/4
I spent all day with my mom and niece. I then had dinner with my whole family when my brother and his wife got home. It was a super fun and special day. It was also great because I got to head over to Mojo’s and do the new Sunday night show that got moved. I was excited to get a set in kind of early before heading out.
I get to Mojos and Ryan Mather was hosting. He was going to get there pretty late so he asked me to help set up the PA. So I did. I put it mostly together and let him do the finishing touches once he got there.
it is pretty much just comics there. There is a pretty good sized list and I am up second. I am so happy to be able to get up and get out. Mather does a few new things before starting the show, and bringing Mike Engle up.
After Mike I go up and only do stuff that is in progress. I try one brand new thing that gets a pretty good response for the room. I usually like to do newer material if I’m performing for comics. Some stuff didn’t work at all, and I was pretty exhausted from yesterday. I’d give this set a C-.
After my set I think Ryan and talked to Dylan about some comedy business stuff. We discuss middling/featuring for the Funny Bone, and some other stuff. It was a good talk. I say goodbye to everybody and head home to pass out.
8/5
The next night after work I headed up to The Southern. I set everything up at the venue, and did a little writing. I was having a pretty tough day. I had been missing my dad a lot and those feelings finally hit me a little bit.
It was nice to meet up and record an episode of my podcast The Winstmas Games. I had made up my mind to do a release schedule for content each week and the first thing is get back to doing The Winstmas Games weekly. I was able to get John Marg, Keaton Ray, Samantha Padgett, and JR.
The show ended up pretty good and hopefully people dig it! After this I went back in and waited for the show to start.
There was an ok crowd. Nothing too crazy big, but they were into it. Everyone was doing ok but no one was really killing.
I went up in the middle of the show and had an ok set. Some of the new I worked on came out ok. I got a couple good laughs on a few new bits, and I ended ok. All in all definitely very pleased. I’d give my set a C+.
The rest of the show went well and Paige went up last and had the set of the night. He seemed loose and comfortable. He was connecting, and even did some crowd work. It was nice to see. After this I said goodbye and headed home.
8/7
This was my last day of work for the week. As soon as it was over I hopped in my car and headed up to Arlington to close out Ragtime. This is Rahmein’s show and I always have a blast doing it.
This week Michael Summers is hosting and there is a lineup consisting of a few of the student’s from Rahmein’s comedy class, a dude named Jamal Russell and then myself.
I get there super early and get some video editing done. I am really trying to get stuff ready for my new release schedule. While I am doing this Gigi Modrich (dc comedian) shows up. She is there to support her boyfriend Eric Koucheravy (comedian and the guy who designed The Winstmas Games logo). We have a nice conversation about comedy, and how she’d been. Then Eric showed up and I was able to talk to him for a bit as well.
After Michael got there we got to catch up and shoot the shit as well. There was two huge tables full of people who had been there since like 5 who just wouldn’t leave. So we knew when comedy started it would thin out. We figured we’d probably have no crowd tonight due to how nice the weather was.
The show started and people had actually came in. As the night went on more and more came in and it was actually almost completely full. This was going to be an awesome time. Michael had a really good hosting set. His material was working, and he did some crowd work as well.
Then he started bringing up the students. The first was a girl and she did ok. She was super new, and she had a few things hit. Then Eric went up and he had a killer set. He broke that crowd wide open. They loved him. Then after him Jamal Russell killed for 20. Like destroyed. All of his stuff worked. You could tell this was a dude who had 20 and was finally getting a chance to showcase it. The audience loved him.
Then I went up. I had a really strong set. I had a few lulls but for the most part I was very happy with it. I tried some dad stuff in the middle and it didn’t really work the way I wanted it to, but this is what this show is for. I opened super strong, and honestly did about 2/3 new stuff. The other 1/3 was stuff I hadn’t done in a while. I am still struggling to find a way to really build a tight 25 minute set. I get too bored and always want to do new stuff, and I really think in the short run that is going to hurt me.
I had a few things hit incredibly hard and a few things stink up the room. The dad stuff really brought them down. Thankfully I was able to bring them back up and close strong, but still it is disheartening for material I have worked really hard on to not get what it deserves because I legit think the dad material is great. I’d give this set a B.
I said goodbye and talked to Michael for a few minutes after before I hopped in the car and headed home. I wanted to pass out since tomorrow I was leaving for Asheville for my first real comedy festival. I was nervous and wanted a good night’s sleep.
8/8
I woke up at around 9 and got ready. I then hopped in my car and started the 6 hour drive down to Asheville for the 13th annual Asheville Comedy Festival. It actually isn’t that bad of a drive.
I get there and unload my stuff at the airbnb. It’s my first time using it and its a cute cozy little house. I walk around downtown for a few hours and do a little window shopping.
After walking around I tell Dylan to meet me at Buxton Hall bbq for dinner before the show starts. I get there and just by surprise the only other comedian I know at the festival is at the bar. It is Natalie McGill (redacted tonight). Her, Dylan, and I have dinner together. It is nice to catch up while they meet each other.
After dinner we head to the Diana Wortham Theatre for the early show. We get there and start to introduce ourselves. I meet Rafe Williams, Nat Baimel, Carter Deems (KOTD), David Sitrick, and Dan Carney. We get a pretty good hang going on before the show starts.
The show starts and I get to watch a little bit of it. It was at about 400 people for the Thursday night show. There were some really funny comics on this show. Zach Chapaloni had a super dope set, and I was a big fan of his. After watching a few comics I went back to the green room to hang.
Dylan was on the late night show at the Lazoom Room a few blocks away. So after a while I went over to meet him over there. I get there and meet a few other people including Chris Flanagan, and Aviva Siegel. The show gets started and Dylan is up third. The crowd was super tight when he went up. It was lightly attended and they weren’t really enjoying the show. He worked really hard and cracked them a bit, but they were just pretty dead.
After he was done we headed down to this place called Ben’s Tune Up which is a bar that was having an open mic. We put our names on the list and we were going to be going up crazy late. Dylan didn’t really want to do it, and was ready to leave but I had to get up so he stayed.
David Sitrick comes as well and is hanging out. Along with Ben Bryant. The setup is wild. There are like 9 chairs at the front, the stage is outside, and there is like 70 people loudly talking around the show. There was also two giant jenga games in the back that luckily no one was playing.
The show goes on and the host told us it was the most sign ups he has ever had there, but he was still letting everyone do 8 minutes. So I just ended up shooting the shit, busting balls, riffing, while we waited for like an hour or so to go up.
Everybody who is going up is doing ok. No one is paying attention and the people in the front were wasted. When it was my turn to go up I feel like I did fine. I got people to pay attention and actually got some laughs on the stuff about my dad. I worked out some new stuff at the end and it really helped my anxiety about the festival by being able to get up. I’d give this set a C-.
After this Dylan and I headed to the after party. I got to meet Dro Knows, Max Rosenblum, Zach Chapaloni, and a few others. We had a good riff session going until late at night. At around 2:15 Natalie offered to give me a ride back to my place which I took and was very appreciative of. We had some panels the next day so I wanted to get some sleep.
8/9
The next day I woke up and walked to the Diana Wortham Theatre. We had two panels this day. The first was a podcast panel with Joe Kiely who runs a podcast studio in LA.
It was a super helpful and informative panel. All of this made me realize I have to start putting my podcast out regularly. I have to be consistent. He also gave me some ideas about what to do with my podcast differently.
After this panel Natalie and I go grab tacos at the place next door. Then Max Rosenblum and Carter Deems joined us. We have a good conversation about comedy before heading back for the writing in Hollywood panel featuring M. Dickson (Disenchantment, Superstore).
This was a super eye opening one. I honestly learned a lot, but the biggest thing I learned was I have absolutely no interest in writing for a television show. I just want to do standup, and make my own stuff. I could write for my own show, but the thought of being in a writer’s room for someone else’s show sounded like dogshit and I really hope I can avoid it. It just doesn’t sound rewarding or fun. I know one day I might have to to make ends meet, but I hope I can just make it on standup.
After this Natalie and I went to 12 bones bbq. It was some of the bet ribs I have ever had. After stuffing our faces she dropped me back off at my place and I took a nice long nap.
I then woke up and headed back down to the Theatre to watch a bit. This is where I met Scott Eason, Kyle Mara, Mike Feeney, and Ian Aber. The hang was pretty fun. The show was also sold out tonight so about 500 people were there. The show started with a. bang, and everything I saw and heard was absolutely destroying.
I left halfway through to get to the Lazoom Room because I was on the late show. While waiting one of my brother’s really good friends from high school Scott Carson showed up. We got to catch up and talk for a while. It was a lot of fun to just chat it up and it meant the world he came out to the show.
I found out I was next to last so I will be going up crazy late. I am not excited about this, but I am just happy to be there. The show starts and it ends up being. good crowd. They are awesome for about 3/4 of the show. I keep pacing, and walking in and out just waiting to go up.
A few people in front of me struggle quite a bit. People start to leave, and it was incredibly hot in the room. There is no AC and it is brutal in the summer. I finally get ready to go up.
I start selling everything. I do as well as I can. I am not killing, but all of my jokes are working for the few people that are left. I didn’t do anything I am going to do at the theatre. I’d give this set a C, but I am pretty proud of how I rose to the occasion.
After the final comic and everybody cleared out I got to talk to Scott some more. It was a lot of fun and then he headed out. Dylan and I went to the after party again and it was a fun hang. Then I got another ride back and passed out.
8/10
I woke up and headed down to the theatre for the panels for the day. The two panels were pretty interesting.
The first was a social media presentation from Jay Vega (runs DL Hughley’s social media). He definitely did a great job explaining how to use social media to get a following. I definitely took a lot of it to heart, and am glad I got to sit through it.
The next panel was with Jeff Tully(Joel Mchale Show, Chelsea Lately) and about how to audition for panel shows. He had 16 questions he was gong to ask us and wanted to audition us in front of a camera. I was up 10th. We all auditioned in the room and answered a few of the questions. We had no clue which one he was going to ask. So I used the time I had to come up with jokes no matter what he asked me.
When it was my turn I went up and did really well. He said I was super funny, called me a “joke ninja” (no idea what that means), and said if he was going to cast me it’d be as a “voice of a generation type” like I could speak for people in my age range. He then said his only note for me was since I was so interesting that I should be on more podcasts. That would be great but there is nothing I can do about that.
I stick around for the end and then a group of us go eat at Tupelo Honey. Natalie, Hobert Thompson, Lucia Whalen, Caitlin Checkeroski, Maddie Weiner, and myself. The lunch was great but I was nervous.
I went to the theatre to take a nap. After my nap I found out I was going next to last again tonight. Honestly if I’m being frank this kind of upset me. Like having to go late on both of the shows made me feel pretty bummed out. Like I have been looking forward to this for a while. I also got to meet Courtney Gilmour who had to go up last on both of her shows so she had it even worse than me.
The shows have 15 comics and everyone is doing 10. So if no one runs the light then I will get to go up at the 2 hour 30 minute mark. So even though it is sold out in my mind by the time I go up I am going to have to work my ass off to do well.
The show starts and it is fire from the top. Mike Feeney is hosting and everyone does well. Dylan has an amazing set. He is a great comic, and was at the 2 spot. So he was able to hook them and just absolutely destroy it was good to see.
I spent the next two hours just pacing, and being in my head. Listening to music, and freaking out. I was trying not to be self defeating, but it was hard. Chris Alan sent me a motivational thing to watch and it really pumped me up. It is just a spot. Who cares? I can do this. It doesn’t matter when I go up.
When it is finally my turn almost all of the comics are standing at the wings. All the people I had met and gotten to know were there waiting for the final curtain call at the end of the night. I go out on stage and I could tell from the last few comics that the audience was tired. They were 525 strong, but still exhausted audience members. So I just went for it.
I sold everything I could. I did my material with no crowd work. It started ok but slowly started to build. By the 5 minute mark of my set I had them. After that everything was hitting incredibly hard. I didn’t kill the way I wanted to. I didn’t slaughter from beginning to end, but I put in work. I showed I deserved to be there. I closed incredibly strong, and got a few applause breaks. This was the kind of set that reminded me I deserve to be doing this and I have a chance to make this a career. I’d give this set a B+/A-
After the show there was a final after party. I got to hang and talk to everybody one last time for like 4 hours. I thanks Melissa Hahn and Ryan Folks for putting it all together. Ryan told me he put me in that spot on purpose. He said he had seen my video and knew I could handle it. This made me feel really good. It is a small compliment and honestly could have been bullshit, but just hearing it made me feel like a million bucks and put the whole set into context.
The hang was great. Made a lot of connections and friends. These were some incredibly funny and awesome performers. So glad I got to meet everybody. I was sad it was coming to an end. I really enjoyed every minute of this even when I was having panic attacks about my order in the show. This goes to show it doesn’t matter when you go up. You can do it.
I walked back to my place and passed out, before waking up and driving home so I can get ready for work the next day.
That’s it everybody. Another #cutecomedy blog in the books. I was able to catch up laydees and baybees. I am ashamed I was so upset about my order in the show. Like that is so dumb. I just wanted to do well, and I was contemplating not saying I was upset in the blog. Except I don’t want to lie to y’all. It is ok to feel those things sometimes, but never hold onto them.
I freaked out for a bit, but realized that I was going to have fun anyway. If I want to make it in comedy I have to be able to rise to the occasion. I have to become undeniable. I just want to get to that point, and these type of things are what gets you there.
I WILL BE BACK ON THURSDAY WITH A NEW BLOG POST! EVERY TUESDAY, THURSDAY, AND SUNDAY I WILL HAVE A NEW ONE! I love you all so much and thank you for taking the time to read! xoxo laydees!
