I Sure Do Like Pumpkins, Cotton
This marks my second post in three days. Wow I'm on a roll. I'd like to say the reason for my frequent blogging is so I can entertain the one person who actually reads this crap, but the truth is I can't sleep right now and there's nothing good on HBO. I've already seen "Anacondas, Hunt for the Blood Orchid" 54 times. Enough's enough. But I digress.
Tuesday I was at the Funny Bone. My set was alright, tried some new stuff out. A couple of new bits have potential, but they still need work. Tonight I went downtown to Laughs on the Landing. I hadn't been to Laughs in several months. I heard there had been some changes so I was eager to check it out. It was a good show. They had a good crowd there and all the comics did well. Stevie P did great. He came up drunk, angry, non apologetic and spoke his mind and it was funny as hell. I also enjoyed Clayton Champagne's set. Clayton's got a real funny style and everytime I see him, he's always trying something new. One thing I like about Laughs is, it's a good place to try new stuff out and to just rant and see what works and what doesn't.
Tonight I had a weird experience. After my set, a fellow comic I know came up and expressed concern that a bit he does is similar to one of my bits. He wanted to get my permission to do his joke. He told me his bit and the only smiliar thing to the joke I do, is the wording in the setup. Now let me say this, I like this person, he's a hell of a nice guy, and I really appreciate him coming up to me and expressing his concern. A lot of comics wouldn't have done that.
But here's the deal and I know this wasn't his intention, but by asking for my permission to tell his joke, the situation became awkward for me. Unless a comic is doing my exact joke, word for word, I feel funny telling someone what they can or cannot say on stage. There's an unwritten rule in comedy that you don't steal other people's material, and that if you do, hopefully it comes back to bite you in the ass. Also there's a feeling among comics that if you come up with a joke that is already similar to another comic's joke, you stop telling your joke. Case in point, I had a joke I used to do about owning a jeep and how silly the "jeep wave" was. After I started doing it, I realized there was already a comic here in St. Louis who does a similar bit. Once I heard his joke, I stopped telling mine. Besides his joke is much funnier.
With all that said, I know this comic tonight wasn't trying to steal anything. He was being really nice in asking for my permission and I appreciate it. I asked if he could change the wording in his setup and he seemed fine with that. So hopefully all is well.
Now I got to go, "DodgeBall" just came on HBO. I love that flick.
Tuesday I was at the Funny Bone. My set was alright, tried some new stuff out. A couple of new bits have potential, but they still need work. Tonight I went downtown to Laughs on the Landing. I hadn't been to Laughs in several months. I heard there had been some changes so I was eager to check it out. It was a good show. They had a good crowd there and all the comics did well. Stevie P did great. He came up drunk, angry, non apologetic and spoke his mind and it was funny as hell. I also enjoyed Clayton Champagne's set. Clayton's got a real funny style and everytime I see him, he's always trying something new. One thing I like about Laughs is, it's a good place to try new stuff out and to just rant and see what works and what doesn't.
Tonight I had a weird experience. After my set, a fellow comic I know came up and expressed concern that a bit he does is similar to one of my bits. He wanted to get my permission to do his joke. He told me his bit and the only smiliar thing to the joke I do, is the wording in the setup. Now let me say this, I like this person, he's a hell of a nice guy, and I really appreciate him coming up to me and expressing his concern. A lot of comics wouldn't have done that.
But here's the deal and I know this wasn't his intention, but by asking for my permission to tell his joke, the situation became awkward for me. Unless a comic is doing my exact joke, word for word, I feel funny telling someone what they can or cannot say on stage. There's an unwritten rule in comedy that you don't steal other people's material, and that if you do, hopefully it comes back to bite you in the ass. Also there's a feeling among comics that if you come up with a joke that is already similar to another comic's joke, you stop telling your joke. Case in point, I had a joke I used to do about owning a jeep and how silly the "jeep wave" was. After I started doing it, I realized there was already a comic here in St. Louis who does a similar bit. Once I heard his joke, I stopped telling mine. Besides his joke is much funnier.
With all that said, I know this comic tonight wasn't trying to steal anything. He was being really nice in asking for my permission and I appreciate it. I asked if he could change the wording in his setup and he seemed fine with that. So hopefully all is well.
Now I got to go, "DodgeBall" just came on HBO. I love that flick.
posted by JG at 10:11 PM
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