Chicken No More

I did it! Woo!! My stage fright is GONE. Here's the proof.

Thanks again to Brett Snodgrass, the winning bidder of my eBay stage fright auction, who also served as cabbie and cinematographer. (That wasn't actually part of the deal, that was sort of above and beyond the call of eBay - thanks, Brett!) It was nice to have an art director help me figure out the "releasing the stage fright into the universe" thing. We had a cool little private ritual out in the open parking lot behind Bad Dog involving flames, heavily metaphorical objects, and maybe a little pinch of fervently creative magical thinking.

Anyway - here it is, the "put up or shut up" moment:



Yes, I was insanely nervous. Looking at the tape, I can't believe how relaxed and comfortable I seem. So I'd never spoken into a mic before. Whatever. When I stepped offstage, a local producer invited me to perform at a new faces showcase, which I will, after as many open mics as possible. Also, I got a really sweet comment on my blog from the girl who went up after me, also for the first time. I tried to google her, but to no avail. E-mail me, other open mic girl!

I'm going back again on Sunday with probably entirely different jokes. I still like some of the stuff I did last week but some of it is sort of boring to me now, and I've had a ton of new ideas over the past week. Plus, while I like some of the more storytelling-ish ones, they take some time to build, and for the sake of my own nerves, I'd like to get to a bunch right off the bat that have a quicker payoff.

I was on the phone with my mom shortly before the show, and she asked for a word count on the dirty language I planned on using, because, of course, nice boys won't be attracted to me if I use naughty words. (And really, after my show at Second City, you'd think she'd be desensitized to this kind of thing.) I told her I only planned on using one - of course, I was bringing it out of my grandma's mouth in the joke, and it was "bitch." But at the last second, the final joke I had written to include Brett's name (as part of the auction) seemed really clunky and slow, so on the spot I changed the end...and I used the word "ass." Sorry, Mom. I'll do better next time.