i love comedy. i love all genres of it as well. stand-up, improv, sketch, life, etc.
a little about me and my background in stand-up. first off, i am considered a clean comedian. nothing against dirty comics or humor, just not my style. so far, it's helped me out with getting a lot of gigs.
people who haven't seen me perform ask me these 2 questions: 1. do you write your own material? and 2. what do you talk about?
- to answer the 1st question: yes, of course i write my own material. i hate hacks!
- 2nd question: i talk about my thoughts and opinions. whatever happens in my life, it comes out on stage. if i had to categorize my act, not sure where it'd go. my act consists of the following: little, everyday observations - life lessons - past and current experiences - self outlook. one thing i love to do (which i don't do enough of) is story telling. i love to tell true stories. usually about 5 - 10 separate jokes inside one story. ultimately, all of my material together is one big story.
my first year of comedy was probably the toughest. first, you're naive to everything and the industry. the first 6 months were tough because i couldn't get stage time at that many places. i had to "promote" to get time it seemed. eventually, i cut myself away from the regular scene and did my own thing. i went to any and every open mic there was in phoenix, az. i was doing poetry night, bible night, acoustic night, etc. it was tough to be the only odd act in there but it helped build my act. i was able to get up every night of the week. sometimes performing 2-3 times in one night. doesn't sound like a lot in LA or NY but its a ton for AZ. eventually, i made friends with all of the people running the shows and i was allowed to perform 20-30 minutes per show every night to work out material. it was great! i can't stress how important it was for me to go through that. starting out with these open mic nights, i must've bombed 70 - 80 shows straight in about a 2 month time period. but, i can honestly say, i learned more from these shows and tanking than i do in "easy" rooms.
after playing night after night in these "non-comedy" rooms, i decided to run my own shows. host my own open mics for comedy. most didn't last more than 5 or 6 months but that's about normal in the az scene. at one point, i had 3 rooms going per week. i don't currently run them anymore but i think its important for comics starting out to run their own shows for a bit. it teaches you a lot. how to promote, do business with an owner, how to host a show, how to book comics, etc.
right now, i perform a lot of corporate shows. some great and some not so much. but, always a good time and experience. also, i'm working with a few comedians on some shows in the near future. some big, some small shows, mostly in the southwest.
there's a few big things in the works that i'll put on here soon as it gets closer. a few bigger projects that i'm excited about. stay tuned!
outside of comedy
i'm also a married man! i have a 14 yr old stepdaughter as well. both are wonderful and i love having my own family! i couldn't have asked for a better person to spend my life with. there's going to be a lot of it coming out on stage soon, so come see shows. i've written a new 30 so far just on my new family!
i also own a business here in arizona. i staff models and ambassadors for promotional events. so, if you're looking for work, let me know!
