All New Material

Every month, the Rivoli a small club on Queen West in Toronto plays host to an "All New Material Night"

Comedians are booked about 7 to 10 days in advance and are asked to perform only new jokes. Each new material night has a theme and although comedians are not required to follow it, most do their best to at least write a joke or two that is fitting.

Last night's theme was gambling. I decided to take the challenge seriously and write an entire 7 min set on gambling, afterall I just went to our staff Christmas party at a horse track and casino, this should be easy. Wrong.

It has probably been 2 years since I did an entire set of new jokes. Sure, I'm always writing and I'm always working a new joke in here and there, but an ENTIRE set of new jokes is something I haven't done for a while and an entire set of new jokes on 1 topic that was given to me by somebody else, is something I have NEVER done.

I was on 4th out of about 10 and it wasn't horrible, but it sure took me out of my comfort zone. No jokes to fall back on to get me out of trouble, but that was the point. Savy comedy audiences appreciate the performer up there without a safety net.

There is a feeling held by the audience that anything could happen at any moment. That's why they are there, not because the comedy is going to be great, but because the comedy MIGHT be great and it MIGHT be terrible, either way they are going to see a show only a select few will see. They get to be a part of a club. Non-conformist conformists love a club as long as you don't call it a club, and they can still wear a different chinese letter tattoo than the person next to them.

Everybody who has ever seen my show has seen my duck hunting joke, but only 100 people have seen me talk about slot machines. That number won't be getting any higher either, because it was terrible. I gave them limited addition art in the form of jokes. One night only, you had to be there. It was bad, that is why I have decided to keep the collection a limited one.

Witnessing a suicide, whether it be literal or figurative as it was last night, is a horrific, but exclusive event people will brag about for years. I have a buddy who served in Rawanda and saw some attrocities that defy description. The exclusivity of these first hand stories makes him a social currency Billionaire. That is what the audience was hoping for. They were gambling the pay what you can cover, hoping to come away being social currency billionaires. Maybe they would see a famous comedian or a future famous comedian tell a joke he only told once, or even better that he fell on his face for 10min. (Jump to 10 years from now when comedian "A" is on the Tonight show, killing for 5 min.) "You know I saw him 10 years ago at the Rivoli, and he sucked! I was funnier. He was telling some joke about pesticide and you could hear a pin drop"

Human nature is interesting, but I was there for a different reason. I learned I need to write more new material. The challenge of a specific topic was fun and could prove to be a useful tool down the road for television writing. I also learned that my stage presence has improved to a point that I got laughs without telling anything funny. I couldn't get away with that a year ago. I'm glad my inner critic is still lucid enough to see that what I wrote wasn't funny and needs to be improved despite the smattering of chuckles they received.

It was fun. The whole reason I do this, is because it is fun. I had more fun sucking last night than I did last week killing. I guess that is this week's lesson. I have to put my performer's ego aside to really take the next step.