All the open mics I’ve been on so far have been strictly comics.  My first mic Thursday, and the next two Friday were just me bombing.  Not even good bombing, like, curling up in the fetal position BEFORE I even got onstage, in hopes that my ego would go, “Hey, if you really sold it, everything would have been peachy!”  Up to this point, the best set I’ve seen was 3 minutes of Daniel St. Germain wearing what I’d describe a faceless ski-mask resembling a vagina, and what he refered to as a “pussy hat.” 

For the 3rd mic of the day Friday, everyone was eating it.  People I’ve admired on TV were eating it.  Of the 20+ comics that went up, maybe 5 got some laughs.  And as I’ve been watching, a lot of people either smugly talk about righting the wrongs of the world, joke about how terrible their existence is, or go “look at the clever thing I’ve done!”  And it’s definitely been a moment where I’ve thought, “Wait…is this what I’m like?”  Granted, these comics are trying out material at open mics, but I’m trying to figure out how my comedy is going to be any more interesting than the thousands of other people trying to do this.

Since every mic I’ve done has stripped me of more and more confidence, I decided, “Screw it!  I’m just going to do the jokes I’ll feel the most embarrassed about when they end in silence!  I’ll bottom out, and work my way up from there!”  The only problem with that plan was…I did great.  I had so much frustrated energy pent-up inside, that it made me really interesting when I used it onstage.  I opened with an observation about the only couple in the crowd, did the one character I have called “Lewis Hack,” and then did a bunch of puns about macaroni and cheese, and got an applause break!  I couldn’t believe it.  My last words were, “That was…wow, ok, thank you!”  And at first I wasn’t sure if they were laughing at me or with me, but then I felt the disdain of a couple other comics.  The same type of disdain I try not to feel, but do, when someone who’s newer than me does well at a show I didn’t have a great set on.  Or maybe nobody cared.  I really don’t know.  

That’s the main thing.  I have no idea what to expect from this If You Build It show tonight.  It’s a fantastic line-up, and  I haven’t slept well the past week because I want to make sure I do well.  In the grand scheme of things, it’s not going to make or break my “career,” but I’d like to be invited back despite my lack of TV credits, which EVERYONE else on the show has.  Part of me wishes it wasn’t the first show I was doing, but the other part of me is like, “Yeah!  I’m living life!”  So stay tuned, Fan-laps!  By tomorrow you can hear the stunning conclusion of “Tom Dunlap’s battle with mostly himself!”