Working Comic. Happy for friends.

The biggest thrill I got out of comedy this week was as an audience member.  Sunday night I went with some friends to see Louie C.K at the Somerville Theater (thanks James)  and as the show started the announcer said “Now please welcome Louie’s opening act Gary Petersen.”.  My friend Gary emerged from stage left and spent the next 15 minutes entertaining 900 people that were out for a good time.  It’s a dream gig for any comic and I couldn’t be happier for him…  meanwhile…  in Cleveland Al Park won the Cleveland Comedy Festival just one week after winning the Boston Comedy Festival, the dude is hilarious and it’s all well deserved….  meanwhile…  let me tell you about MY week in comedy.

I edited and published the latest podcast titled  Boston Accents.  This episode features debates between a bunch of funny Boston comics as well a more informative segment about mormons as I chat with Utah comedian Christian Pieper.

Monday:  What else would I be doing,  hosting the open mic at Sally O’brien’s in Somerville.  There’s just so many comics that come to this mic.  I’ve been thinking about a way to keep the comics to less than 40 while still not turning anyone away and I haven’t figured out a way to do it yet.  Some suggestions I’ve gotten have included capping the list at 35 or having a 1 drink or 1 item minimum.  For now I’m just going to keep it a pure open mic and just trust that performers are supporting the show by purchasing food or drink when they can.

Tuesday:  Hosted another fun show at Stadium Bar and Grille in Quincy.  This open mic is a little less crowded but there are plenty of people there if you want to try out a couple of new jokes.

Wednesday:  I went to the Shaskeen in New Hampshire and tried out 4 minutes of new jokes and did 1 minute of old jokes.  Looking back on it, I probably should have done it the other way around but hind sight is 20/10 or something.

Thursday:  Back in New Hampshire again?  You bet your ass.  I was closing out the show at SoHo in Hudson.  It was a really nice crowd, so nice in fact that one of the audience members offered me some weed after the show.  I told him “no thanks.”.  With an hour plus drive home there is absolutely no way I could smoke.  In fact if I was going to do anything other than sit on a couch for the rest of the night I could not smoke.  I can’t handle weed, that is too hard of a drug for me.

Friday:  I featured on a show in my hometown of Rockland.  It was alright.  The crowd was nice.  The most notable moment during the show was when the music from the next room got so loud that I could identify the exact song that was playing.  “Rollin’ by Limp Bizkit”.  God dammit Rockland.  Why?  Why are you playing Limp Bizkit in 2014?

Here’s a clip from Friday’s show at Player’s in Rockland.  My favorite part is at 46 seconds when I say “talk is cheap” and you can kind of hear a woman in the crowd say “THAT’S RIGHT!”

As far as Stand Up Shots on Reddit goes, I think I’ve given up.  I posted one joke that got a great response.  Since then nothing has really hit, and I actually get annoyed by some of the jokes that do well on there and I don’t want to be spending my time feeling so negative.  I’ll just keep writing jokes and telling them on stage since that is my preferred method.  Maybe I’ll post something on there once in a while but it’s no longer a goal of mine to post one that goes viral.

Anyway, that’s my week.  Hope to see ya around.  Come to Stadium on Tuesday.  They’ve got taco Tuesday, 3 tacos for 3 dollars.  Although I prefer the buffalo chicken pizza.