I thought I did well, and then Dave took the stage
I was asked to do a fund raiser for the Center of The Arts in Toronto Tuesday night. The name is lofty, the venue is not. When I walked in, it looked like they had kicked a Liberal Arts student out of his dorm and then set up a sound system.
If I turn down a gig, it is because I can't get there or I already have a show. I figure I can learn something from every show and from every room. I am affraid to turn down a gig, because that could be the time I learn a lesson that can send me to the next level. I learned a big lesson Tuesday night.
I was given a list of the names of the comedians that were scheduled to be on the bill with me that night and one name, Dave Hemstad, stood out. I had heard his name associated with the Halifax Comedy Fest, I saw the name printed in the paper, but I never saw him perform. I knew nothing. I went in fresh. As a fan of comedy, what a treat! As a fellow comedian, what a treat!
I talked to him before his set briefly and could tell he cares about comedy as much as I do, because he was in a bad mood about something. Most good comics are always in a bad mood about something. It is obvious he is a student of comedy, because he can actually do a bang on impression of 2 other well known comedians talking about how to make their jokes better. He listens, he watches, he is a sponge.
Dave told me he often does a character called Billy Joe Taylor or something. Thank god I didn't know that before, because I'm not a big fan of characters in stand up. I'm a purest at heart. Keep your characters in sketches, and commercials. I want to see ideas. This night he went up as himself.
He read the room briliantly. He watched the other comics and the audience from the back of the room before his set. He was relentless. He instantly connected to the room that was largely comprised of actors by spitting venomous jokes about the horseshit pretense often found in the industry. He then went on to jokes about famine, the Hurricaine and the Tsunami. He forced the world, including the audience before him to be accountable. They responded by laughing uncontrollably at their own hypocrisy. This is the kind of comedy I LOVE. The stinging truth, made not only acceptable, but enjoyable, because the comedian is adept at presenting his perspective.
I could tell by talking to Dave before and after the show that he and I share similiar views of the world, but his ability to take it to the stage is at a level above mine. If I can make people laugh at cancer, he can make them laugh at cancer 3 times as hard, 3 times longer and send them home repeating the joke to their friends, at which point they will probably get punched in the face and removed from their e-mail list because they didn't tell it correctly.
What did I learn? Fuck I suck.
What else did I learn? Audiences can laugh longer and louder then I knew was possible. I need to work harder. When it comes to my act, I am not lazy, but I realized if I want to reach the next level, I'm going to have to lose more sleep than I already am.
The best thing to happen to me in the last year was winning a contest. The contest in and of itself was nothing to be overly proud of and in the long run means very little, however, it has led to gigs I never would have been invited to. This fundraiser where I met and watched Dave was one of them.
If I didn't win that contest, I never would have realized how much I suck.
Andrew Evans
If I turn down a gig, it is because I can't get there or I already have a show. I figure I can learn something from every show and from every room. I am affraid to turn down a gig, because that could be the time I learn a lesson that can send me to the next level. I learned a big lesson Tuesday night.
I was given a list of the names of the comedians that were scheduled to be on the bill with me that night and one name, Dave Hemstad, stood out. I had heard his name associated with the Halifax Comedy Fest, I saw the name printed in the paper, but I never saw him perform. I knew nothing. I went in fresh. As a fan of comedy, what a treat! As a fellow comedian, what a treat!
I talked to him before his set briefly and could tell he cares about comedy as much as I do, because he was in a bad mood about something. Most good comics are always in a bad mood about something. It is obvious he is a student of comedy, because he can actually do a bang on impression of 2 other well known comedians talking about how to make their jokes better. He listens, he watches, he is a sponge.
Dave told me he often does a character called Billy Joe Taylor or something. Thank god I didn't know that before, because I'm not a big fan of characters in stand up. I'm a purest at heart. Keep your characters in sketches, and commercials. I want to see ideas. This night he went up as himself.
He read the room briliantly. He watched the other comics and the audience from the back of the room before his set. He was relentless. He instantly connected to the room that was largely comprised of actors by spitting venomous jokes about the horseshit pretense often found in the industry. He then went on to jokes about famine, the Hurricaine and the Tsunami. He forced the world, including the audience before him to be accountable. They responded by laughing uncontrollably at their own hypocrisy. This is the kind of comedy I LOVE. The stinging truth, made not only acceptable, but enjoyable, because the comedian is adept at presenting his perspective.
I could tell by talking to Dave before and after the show that he and I share similiar views of the world, but his ability to take it to the stage is at a level above mine. If I can make people laugh at cancer, he can make them laugh at cancer 3 times as hard, 3 times longer and send them home repeating the joke to their friends, at which point they will probably get punched in the face and removed from their e-mail list because they didn't tell it correctly.
What did I learn? Fuck I suck.
What else did I learn? Audiences can laugh longer and louder then I knew was possible. I need to work harder. When it comes to my act, I am not lazy, but I realized if I want to reach the next level, I'm going to have to lose more sleep than I already am.
The best thing to happen to me in the last year was winning a contest. The contest in and of itself was nothing to be overly proud of and in the long run means very little, however, it has led to gigs I never would have been invited to. This fundraiser where I met and watched Dave was one of them.
If I didn't win that contest, I never would have realized how much I suck.
Andrew Evans
posted by Andrew Evans at 7:07 PM
3 Comments:
Channing is desperately trying to claw his way up the TTLB ecosystem and is flattering you to get the link he wants. I see he has succeeded.
While I admire your insight and ability to glean a lesson from place of perceived lack, allow me to offer you the following: we can only be what we are in the moment, no more and no less.
Take the lesson and fly with it.
Hey Andrew, I admire your ability to see reality, albeit as you describe yours because I haven't seen you perform. I found your blog googling for Dave Hemstad. I just saw him in Sarnia doing a gig for Investors Group Client Appreciation night. He was in character as Billy Bob Joe Taylor. As an American living in Canada I had a very special appreciation of his shtick and probably laughed louder and longer than anyone there. I guess the reason I'm sharing this with you, if you ever see this, is to urge you to try to catch Dave doing BBJT or Cheetah (haven't seen him do him but if he's half as funny as BBJT...)you might grow even more with an appreciation of how someone can pull off character stand up.
Best of success to you and I hope to catch you sometime...
Doug Chuhran
Port Lambton, ON
WINNING!
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