The First Laugh

Yesterday I drove out to Orange County to perform stand up comedy for the first time in two years. (It's actually been two years and four months.) It was a fun night.

I actually drove out in the afternoon. My ritual has always been to get to the vicinity of the show fairly early. This used to be because I would perform somewhere in OC after having worked during the day. It didn't make sense to go home first so I would drive over to the city where the show was and find some place to hang out. I've spent many hours strolling about the Barnes and Noble in the Huntington Beach mall before shows at Martini Blues!

Yesterday's show was in Aliso Viejo, an area about which I know nothing. I called my friend Pooka to see if she was home. She didn't answer her cell phone so I was rude and drove to her and Gary's house regardless. She wasn't home so I then dawdled a bit at a Starbucks down the street. When I returned, Pooka was in. I spent an hour or so catching up with her.

The show started at 8 PM, and I got there about 7:40. It was in a hotel/health resort called Renaissance ClubSport. There's a second facility up north in Walnut Creek and they're hotels for the fitness-minded. I told Bill, the show's booker and host, that, as a fat man, I'd never performed anywhere less comforting. There were skinny fit people everywhere.

I was familiar with one of the other comics in the line, a really funny guy named Mark Schumacher. If you're local to SoCal and get a chance to see him, he is a very comfortable and funny guy. I've worked with him before, and it's always a delight to see him perform. I knew no one else.

My own performance was less than desirable. By my estimate, I had about two minutes of decent material in an eight-minute set. I'd spent most of the late nights before the show writing and rehearsing for the show while pacing outside my apartment. That's probably a less than perfect rehearsal method! I hope to develop a better method when I get to NC.

The other comics were all over the map. A few were genuinely talented, some not so much. I'm grateful to my friend Tom and his girlfriend, Julie, for coming out to the show and then going out for a bite to eat with me afterwards. It was great sitting with them for a good while and chewing the fat. Again, if you're reading this and you know Tom, ask him about the Diamond Twins. Professionally, I don't feel that I can adequately describe them here...

While driving out there last night, an idea for a project hit me. I think I'll spend a few posts in the near future writing down some memories of San Bernardino as I prepare to leave. I've lived here since 1982. 27 years is a long time, and I have an odd assortment of memories. Before I begin, however, I want to start collecting some pictures of various places about town.

Back soon!

"Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke."— Steve Martin