Shawn Carter

It’s been four months now since I’ve had a day job.  Last week I filled out an application for a part time job at a pet supplies store.  They didn’t call me back.  I think it’s because I indicated in the application that I don’t want to clean the fish tanks.  Or perhaps I asked for too much money.  What do people make at a pet supply store?  I asked for $20 an hour.  Do you think that is too much?  I just want a job where I can work 8 hours on Wednesday and Thursday and that’s it.  Something steady that doesn’t interfere with comedy and would put a little bit of money in my pocket each week.  I’m afraid that job might not exist though.  I spent the better part of a day last week searching Craigslist for that job.  Not much luck, most of Craigslist seems to be people seeking models to take nude photos for an art class.  Maybe I’ll try again today.

But first, let’s talk about the week!

Monday – I hosted Sally O’Briens.  It was an explosion of laughter amplified by 10 times after every joke that every comedian told.  It was the perfect night shared with me by perfect comedians in a perfect venue.  Maybe I went overboard a bit here, but it was a fun night for sure.

Tuesday – I hosted the comedy show at Stadium in Quincy.  It was quite busy.  We had 28 comics on the list and a room all to ourselves.  No TV’s, no barflies, no problems.

Wednesday – New Year’s Eve.  My girlfriend and I were planning on going to a party at a friend’s house.  I got an email at noon from a booker saying that someone cancelled on them and asking me to do a show that night.  Now, I understand that comedy is my only job now and I should take the money whenever possible.  But this was New Years Eve, I already had plans, the offer was only $50 and was not nearby and it was a booker that hasn’t booked me for anything else for about a year.  I like the booker and all but given that it was mere hours before the event and I’d have to cancel plans and the money was little more than gas money.  I had to politely decline.

Thursday – I went to Improv Boston to participate in their 100 first jokes event.  I went on stage told my joke, people laughed, I exited the stage.  There was also free pizza and a good amount of comedians there to rub elbows.

Friday – No show.  I went to my brother’s house and played some poker.  Lost some money.  Not a very profitable week for me so far.

Saturday – This was a big show that I was promoting for months.  I wanted to record a CD during this show.  I had 74 people RSVP for this show.  I was hoping we would also get some walk in audience and get the crowd up to about a hundred.  I paid for Facebook to “boost” a few posts I made about the show.  I posted about it on my personal page and twitter and this website constantly.  I sent out at least a hundred private messages offering friends free tickets.  And then of course, it snowed.  It was not the worst winter storm I’ve ever seen but it was enough to keep a bunch of folks at home.  A few people told me that they had friends coming but they cancelled on them.  Looking at list of people that registered for tickets it looks like about half the people I expected from that list weren’t able to make it.

We still had a good show.  There was plenty of audience for it to still be a lot of fun.  The people that did come out are the absolute best ever and I want to thank them every day for driving through the snow and down to the beach during the winter to lend me some support, it’s greatly appreciated.

We had a little problem with the speakers just as the show was about to get started and just before I had a mild heart attack we managed to get the sound system working again.

Bill McMorrow hosted the show.  I asked him just minutes before the show and he was nice enough to step up to the plate.

Ryan Donahue went first and had an excellent 20 minute set.  So many people told me after the show how much they enjoyed him.

Ted Pettingell went next and killed it.  For my money it doesn’t get any better than this guy.  20 minutes of killer material and I know he still had another 20 in his back pocket.  He’s just the best.

Then I closed the show with about 45 minutes of material.  It went well but was not exactly the set that I wanted to capture on tape for a CD.  But I have the recording so I’ll listen to it and see if I feel better about it now than I did directly following the show.  I think between the turnout being a little smaller than I had hoped for and the fact that I had an awful head cold and was hopped up on cold medicine during the show it may have messed me up a little bit.

Anyway, for everyone that came to the show.  Thank you.