I thought it might be interesting to last week's highs and lows through this medium.

Friday: 
My GF had the day off, she dragged me to the mall in the morning to do some shopping! She had a vision. To get started we went to La Madelline to order coffee & quiches, me spinach, her ham. The quiche was rather disappointing, not negative yelp review disappointing, but close. The crust was dry and hard, we'll get panera next time. Also in a strange turn of a events the ham quiche was better than the spinach one (I really hate ham) so there’s that. We popped into a lot of stores to pick out gifts for her family. Women really love masquerading blankets as regular clothes (apparently they are called ponchos). She bought a few of them. I didn’t get anything, for anyone. A great success if you ask me.

That night I got asked to perform at the State Theater in Falls Church. (Thanks again Jose!) I can’t emphasize this enough, but my anxiety is almost nonexistent in front of large crowds (AND when its not my show) The crowd's energy flows through my veins making me feel comfortable, like I don't have to do anything. There were 500 people in the audience and it felt easy… I’m just humble enough that I don't brag after a great performance. My fellow comedians asked how it went and I said the, “the crowd was great!” (which they were!) Not that I got 4+ applause breaks during an 8 minute set. Maybe if I openly bragged more I’d get booked more? I really don’t know. I was also stone cold sober. I think I might try that more often. I’m definitely slower when I’ve been drinking.

I didn’t get my performance on video so I spent late Friday night kicking myself and watching Mars Attacks on Prime.

Thursday:
In the morning I took my Mom to her doctors appointments. We grabbed lunch after. She got a good report so she was in an especially pleasant mood, and I enjoyed our time together.

Running shows is stressful. There are so many moving variables that it’s hard for me to keep my head on straight. On this particular night a company had reserved the entire venue from 530-730. This meant no regular after work humans were allowed in. I was worried that we would lose our audience because we grab a lot of curious people the night of. I was then concerned that our audience was going to be flat since they all worked for the same company. That's where power dynamics come into play, people don’t generally feel comfortable laughing at inappropriate things when surrounded by their bosses & coworkers. We had to work them a bit, but they came around and overall I think the night went really well!

Wednesday:
My GF works from home on Wednesdays so we get to spend the day together, working. It’s nice. I went to the grocery store in the AM and began making some chili in the slow cooker. I’ve been getting back into cooking recently, my new thing is to make food so delicious that I can tolerate anyone’s company. It was da bomb! I hope there are still leftovers tomorrow.

HaHa Hannukah: A Jew-ish Comedy Showcase at Tysons was pretty good. I somewhat stumbled through my hosting set (I really don’t like hosting my own shows) but I did my job by engaging the audience and getting them laughing. During my set I pivoted into telling a string of white supremacist jokes. They kind of worked. Here's one,
"I know a guy that raises chickens just for their white meat. Breast and wings. Dark Meat? He just throws it out. Doesn't think its equal, won't even feed it as scraps to his pigs. So I wasn't surprised when I saw a picture of him attending a rally for the Klu Clucks Klan."

The show didn’t go how I envisioned in terms of jew-ish-ness, but the talent did well enough. On the downside one comic got uncharacteristically annoyed at the crowd. The crowd was a bit light, but 15 people (not comics) is enough to do well in that room and they were getting lots of laughs! I assume they must have had a bad day. Comics are human too... Also apparently the girl that was being rude and "talking out of turn" was deaf. That’s pretty damn funny if you ask me. Headline: Comedian yells at audience member, falls on deaf ears. 

Tuesday:
I was feeling low in the morning, but things picked up when Scott came over and we recorded the first episode of the Tysons Comedy Cellar Podcast. I think it's got great potential. Scott and I lean very differently on political and social issues, he's a bit of a bigot and I'm not so our discussions are fun. (Just kidding Scott, I’ll leave that up for the viewers to decide) 

The show at Tysons that night was great, I was average (I got a little messed up). We had an awesome crowd, and the comedians really delivered. The only negative was I had THREE comics no-show. I usually don’t care, but the audience wanted more comedy and we couldn’t give it to them. They audibly went AWWWW when we announced that the show was over. It happens. Overall great night though!

Monday:
I was feeling rough so I got stoned and played video games all day.

About a year ago one of my closest friends Nate said to me, "if I was a comedian, my strategy would be to look around the room before I got on stage, and build my set around what I think would go over well." Nate's not a comic, but he is a teacher so he definitely understands performing and reading an audience. I instantly dismissed his advice though, it went against my core beliefs. My mentality was that I was gonna work on the jokes that I wanted to work on to build out my new set. I also felt like his suggestion was a luxury I couldn't afford, requiring me to have a large pool of jokes to pull from. Even thinking about his advice annoyed me at the time...

Fast forward a year or so and my beliefs are beginning to change. Running and hosting these shows has me seeing & performing more comedy than ever. I've gotten to see a lot of comics tell funny jokes, but their ability to connect with an audience and be funny regardless of who's in the room varies drastically. The degree to which they are able to connect usually comes down to three things:

1. Delivery, are they confident? Is it obvious where the punchlines are? (People need help knowing when & where to laugh!)
2. Content, is the joke relatable? And if not are they trying to relate it to me?
3. Feedback, are you being honest about the audience's response? Are you able to work the crowd into your jokes?

This is also why you tend to see comics telling jokes that comics like, in front of comics. You want to not feel like you're bombing when there's less than 10 people in the room and they are all your peers. Personally, that's when I might lean into my masturbation jokes, but I digress...

Ten days ago I was in a comedy competition. I didn't win (spoiler), but I had an awesome time performing. I got to the venue early to eat dinner, and started noticing who was walking into the room for the show. Mainly middle aged white people (30's-40's+). To pick my setlist I reviewed my batch of jokes that I was considering telling, and looked around the room to get a sense if they would or wouldn't work based on my gut feeling... And before I knew it I was on stage:

Upon walking back into the "green room" one of the comics said, "Wow Allan you kill with these old Virginian white folk!" And I was like "nah I kill with all crowds" (I didn't actually say that but it would have been cool if I did) As the show continued I spoke with a couple other comic friends about my preparation method that night and they shot back with, "I don't consider the audience when telling jokes."  That sounded familiar... Now playing in this artistic space, I think you should ultimately do what you want, but if you don't take into account who's in the room, then you are choosing to ignore a big factor that will impact your set.

As with all things it doesn't have to be one or the other, so don't worry about changing things drastically. However, if you never consider picking your setlist in the way I mentioned, I would  recommend giving it a try. I'm glad I did.

Namaste,

​Allan​

When I'm on stage I always try to be myself. Although that definition is constantly evolving, I speak in a manner I normally do, follow thought trails I've had, and tell jokes that I think are funny. It feels natural, but being yourself can be a bit of a double edged sword. On nights you crush it's very validating and good for the soul. The nights that don't go so well, well they feel bad mkay? You're essentially being rejected by a group of strangers (in front of yours peers). Remember that embarrassing thing you did way back when? Now imagine you just told that story to a group of 40 and they didn't react the way you wanted them to. The average person would need to binge some Brené Brown tedtalks, but as a comedian you have to shake it off because there's the next show to think about.

Some comics choose to circumnavigate this feeling by performing as a character. Instead of relying on jokes for laughs, their act is the joke. Their sets are filled with weird outfits, catch phrases, anti-jokes, uncomfortable moments, and not usually funny. (Oh and by the way - STOP SAYING THE ERIC AND ANDRE SHOW IS COMEDIC GENUIS, if you think that then we're not friends..but I digress.) I do see the appeal though, it gives you permission to try something that's a bit weird, and the rejection no longer feels personal because it isn't. There's less risk involved. You aren't being you.

A couple weeks ago I did the closest thing to character comedy. As part of a tribute show I impersonated Anthony Jeselnik (most comedian's wet dream, so be jealous..) Anthony has made a career out of telling offensive jokes with a twist. What separates him from the pack is his uncharacteristically high ego, confidence, and the ability to write AND deliver damn good jokes... As I imagined performing as someone else lowered the stakes, I cared a lot less, and at times I even felt like I was Anthony. It wasn't perfect by any means (I should've practiced more) but overall it was a really fun night.

I did a quick comparison of some qualities during a typical night performing as myself vs. one night as Anthony. And a clip! (Sorry not sorry for the bad audio, it was LOUD in the room so you should have been there!)

Last Wednesday night was special. Not only was the comedy tribute show an unpredictable success (and I had fun doing it!) But it was also my 100th comedy show I produced under the Sidley Standup umbrella. That’s 100 nights of comedy that I’ve booked, promoted, physically set up, and performed on (minus a few cases). I’m proud of myself for reaching this milestone, and tired enough that I'm thinking about crawling back into bed. 

Since piloting this idea last November there's been a ton of ups and downs (as one would expect). A lot of bizarre things have happened (stay tuned for future posts) but along the way I've learned a lot about myself, my expectations, and the industry. A mix of my observations and insight:

• I like control, but I can’t control everything. Some nights people aren’t going to show up. Comics will be off. I will be off. It sucks, but whatever.
• Comics are all divas, yes you I’m talking about you. Whether they have been doing it 10 years or 10 minutes, sweet sixteen ferrari cake level divas.
• If you’re a comedian, and your bio / headshot doesn’t make me somewhat excited to book you then that’s a problem. Marketing yourself well helps other people market you. 
• I thought doing this would get me booked on other peoples shows a lot more, I was wrong.
• If you book someone who’s hot, long enough, you get to see them slump too.
• Some comics are great writers, some are great at performing, it’s rare to see both.
• I don’t like hosting my own shows as much as I used to. Warming people up takes a lot out of me.  It doesn't feel as natural. I’d rather tell jokes. I still like hosting other people’s shows though, that still seems to be all the fun minus the worries.
• If your jokes aren’t landing don’t throw a hissy fit. Yes it’s unnatural to tell jokes in silence, but fake like you’re having some fun and the audience may eventually join your side. 
• These recent Wednesday themed shows have been stupidly fun for me. Personal victories are huge, they help me recharge. 
• Being the face of something doesn’t suit me. It's good for branding but I'm not super outgoing/charismatic. I don’t always want to be there. I’d rather be the brain / heart of the business. 
• Continuing with the last point, I've decided to begin reining Sidley Standup back in as my personal brand. I hope to be putting out more personal content soon.

On that note, some of you may have seen that we’ve recently rebranded the comedy room in Tyson's Biergarten to the Tysons Comedy Cellar, and expanded our offerings to include comedy on Wednesdays and Thursdays! (As well as the original Mondays & Tuesdays). Doing this was on my mind for awhile, but it took some push from a few folks to take this leap (so thank you). I think creating separation between these two entities, a comedy room, and my comedy, will allow me to incorporate more people into the mix and grow these brands.

Will this newest step be the final answer? I don't know, but its at least the answer for now. You can only play the cards you have in your hand, so I'm excited to see where these cards take me.

Cheers,
Allan