Everyone at Humber Comedy gets the opportunity, should they desire, to meet with Mark Breslin, founder and CEO of the Yuk Yuk’s chain of comedy clubs.
So to those of you who think it’s a big deal that I met with him one-one-one, face-to-face & had a lovely and productive meeting with him, I just want to tell you…
It is.
He owns Yuk Yuk’s and now he knows my name! Eeeeeeeee!
Sure, now he knows everyone else’s name too.
But still, EEeeeeeee!
The weeks are speeding past now. Or maybe it just feels that way because it doesn’t take me an hour to get everywhere now. Either way, this week went by super fast.
So REWIND.
On Monday, in addition to working and attending class, (as usual,) I hosted the second portion of the evening for our Comedy Girl recital. I’d decided to take on an additional stand-up class because I didn’t like where my stand-up was at with just Humber and the few open-mics I was attending. I wanted help re-wording and sharpening some of my material. It’s surprising how many people it takes to actually come out with a good joke.
After a series of weekly classes at Comedy Bar, my group of Comedy Big Girls were finally due to perform our new & improved stuffskies.
It was so fun to work/perform with a group of such talented women. That’s right. All women. The main difference between these classes and the stand-up classes at Humber, I found, is that these women tell jokes based on experiences they’ve lived, actual events they’ve gone through. I personally prefer humour that comes out of the shared human experience; stuff that you can really put yourself in a particular situation and really feel what a person must have been going through; be it terribly painful, or awkward or whatever the case may be – as long as it’s ultimately hilarious.
It was a really fun night, and I’ll certainly consider taking more classes with Dawn Whitwell, and the ladies in future.
Any ladies interested in trying out stand-up for the first time, or working out some of the kinks in the stuff you’ve already got should DEFINITELY try these classes out. Go here for more information: http://comedybar.ca/classes.php
I just had two of the best/most fun comedy nights of my career thus far (Gilda’s Club Fundraiser, and hosting my Comedy Girl class recital,) but tonight, I ate shit at Yuk Yuk’s and that’s ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT!
Why is Larry at Yuk Yuk’s ONLY on the nights when I do terribly? I did well last week = no Larry. Why can’t I just prove to that guy I’m capable of doing a good set?!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH fiddlesticks. I’m going to bed. Nights like this, I wish I’d have been knocked up in high school.
Here are my pre-bed thoughts about tonight’s show:
1) What an amazing night! I hope you all liked it!
2) If you weren’t there, you should have been.
3) I have so many mugs left over. Do any of the performers who left early want a free Humber mug?
4) What an amazing crowd. What an amazing life.
5) I hope nobody breaks into my apartment and steals the money we raised for Gilda’s Club tonight! Quick Peanut, guard it with your life!
I have so much more to say about the show tonight, but first: sleep!
They say life is cyclical and History repeats itself. In pop culture; music & fashion, we see it all the time (why I’m wearing fluorescent spandex and a scrunchy as I type this message!) With the surge in popularity of podcasts, younger generations are starting to get an understanding, even though they might not realize it, of what was so dang nifty about the radio.
Last Monday, some students in my year at Humber put on a Live Radio Show at Comedy Bar. It seems weird to say that because we weren’t actually live on the radio. We were performing live in front of a (sparsely attended) audience and simultaneously being recorded for a program that will hopefully be aired on Sirius XM Satellite radio, eventually.
The whole idea for the event was that of my sketch teacher, Robin Duke. It was both an assignment on learning about the history of comedy and its origins on the radio (Air Farce started on the radio. Did you know that?) as well as learning how to write sketch for a medium other than stage or video.
I thought it was a lot of fun. It allowed for my characters to survive a nuclear holocaust! This is something I would NOT have been able to afford to recreate effectively either on stage or on video. But alas, my awesome cast (Ashley, Brandon, Paige & Wheatgrass) performed wonderfully and over all, I believe the sketch was well-received. Go us! 🙂 (Including Bruce & Lance for the tips!)
On the other hand, the whole radio play ordeal showed me a lot about the importance of adaptability. Some of you may know that I work part time at the Career Centre at Humber College, helping people better their resumes in order to try to land a decent job… or at least, an interview. Adaptability is a skill that is almost always sought by employers, and a really good skill to have at work, or in life.
Here we are: the scripts have been selected for the performance, the date has been chosen and all that’s left are edits and rehearsals. And lo, the teacher catches pneumonia and has to take a few days off work. As a result, communications get a little more complicated and people begin to panic. “I don’t know when to be where. I didn’t get an e-mail about this or that. I don’t know what to do for this. I didn’t bother editing this because I didn’t hear about that.” Mass chaos.
In the midst of all the confusion, Robin Duke receives an e-mail from Bob Derkach, the musical director for our radio show and long time musical director at the Second City in Toronto. He was to accompany our pieces on the keyboard and with sound effects. The e-mail read simply: “Digging the confusion.”
What an amazing way to look at the situation! I feel like there are two routes you can go. You can get frustrated and pissed off and complain about how much of a mess you think everything is, OR you can just go with it, accept that life isn’t always carefully planned out and make the best out of the situation.
Which one do you suppose is most helpful and beneficial to the project at hand?
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Now… if only people had COME to the show…
Last week was Reading Week. While many students take the week as an opportunity to spend their parents money on cheap vacations down south, I believe I have spent every Reading Week I’ve ever had working. This year was no exception, except that I didn’t get paid for it. Unless you consider experience payment. And I do. So I did. I guess. Get paid. What? Gah.
What I’m trying to say is… I spent half of my reading week working/interning as a Production Assistant on a pilot for what will hopefully become a television show for the Comedy Network starring stand-up comedian Tim Steeves.
The whole experience was really quite interesting as the only experience I’ve ever had with television, apart from watching copious amounts of it as a child and teen, was going to a taping of The Ron James Show earlier this year, and taking a tour of NBC Studios when I visited New York a few years back. It was neat to get to see the inside of the CTV Masonic Temple, to see the place go from an empty stage and space, into the Tim Steeves project – an idea that’s gone as far as it possibly can before actually making it onto television.
They did teach us about the process of pitching television pilots at Humber, but there’s no doubt something more tangible about working on the real deal.
Over the week, my tasks included:
(Huzzah for Canadian talent!)
What an ultimately thrilling experience! It’s funny how even sitting and waiting are made that much more exciting when you’re in a TV studio.
This little taste of DOING TV Comedy was delicious and I hunger for more. Much much more.
Chomp chomp.
Ever been given a car, then realized because you’ve never been insured before because you’ve been taking public transit ever since you left home for university, so you’re an at-risk driver and no insurer in his or her right mind will get you a good deal on car insurance, so you worry you’re going to dig yourself into a financial hole deeper than the one you’ve already doomed yourself into when you decided to go to clown college and start paying for car insurance two months before you graduate?
Me too.
This is another post that’s several weeks in the making, but I wanted to make sure to put it out there before I go into more detail about those two days I spent working on a TV pilot for The Comedy Network because, in the end, it all goes back to one Mr. Jake Labow, Manager of Original Programming at CTV Globe Media/The Comedy Network and proprietor of shiny Nike sneakers.
Labow’s an über-successful Humber Comedy alumni who came to speak to us at one of our “Prime Time” seminars. I attended both last year and this year and the message I retain remained the same: work your ass off… and harass Rick Mercer, if necessary.
Factoid I found on the interwebs-> Labow made the decision to go into comedy while in the Amazon setting up medical clinics – he initially had wanted to become a doctor. I like hearing about these stories because they help justify the decisions made by people like me who were originally on one path and decided to make the shift into lala-land.
I’ll spare you Labow’s entire biography and instead send you to this local story that pretty much sums everything up nicely: Doctor of Comedy.
What I will say is that Jake Labow is a do-er, there’s no doubt about that. He was managing a comedy club while still studying at Humber, getting to know the ins and outs of the business hands even before graduating. That work ethic, that drive seems to be what got him to where he is today. On top!
Labow’s advice about the industry: know everything about everything.
His observations about the social atmosphere in the comedy subculture: “Everyone gets down on themselves and shits on everyone else. Why not work together?” Partnerships are key. (And they are!)
His tips on how to make it in the biz: Be funny. (Makes sense.) Keep working at it and make it your focus. “You can’t have any distractions.” (Now here’s where, in the past – people have been known to tell us not to get involved in romantic relationships (because God forbid any comedian should find happiness in any ‘normal’ social convention! Labow’s clarification: If you are involved, your partner will have to realize that this is what you WANT and still be cool with it – with the lifestyle it breeds.)
Here are some of Labow’s tips on how to get more work:
By April, he suggests we all:
Why am I still blogging? I should be out right now! (No wait, it’s Saturday morning… I can just keep writing.)
Some of us had the added treat of getting to meet with Labow for a one-on-one after the presentation – He’s ambitious as he is encouraging. When discussing my future prospects, my goals for a career in comedy, he took what I said and kicked it up a notch:
“Why not try for the Daily Show? You know the head writer for the Daily Show is Canadian, right?”
Touché Jake. Goal = set.
It’s February and it’s reading week. Over the past two days, my apartment has become a completely different entity; no longer the disastrous shit-pit it was only a week ago. There’s now a functional bed (ie. one that won’t collapse just resting my school bag on it,) the futon has returned to an upright couch-like position and I feel like I have room to breathe again.
So naturally, I’m writing this blog post at Starbucks.
I felt it might be a good idea to ride the wave of positive feedback after a pretty good set at Yuk Yuk’s to more creative things. Normally, I just let that happy feeling drain away as I embark on the one hour journey back home on the 501 streetcar. And, although this location will be closed in 20 minutes, I intend to find somewhere else nearby to help me work out a few more pieces including a radio play I need to edit, which we will be performing at Comedy Bar on Monday March 5th (Mark your calendars.)
Many of us second years are currently working hard trying to shape our showcase sets for our end-of-year stand-up performances taking place the last Tuesday of March & the first Tuesday of April. These are the shows Mark Breslin, industry professionals and Humber alum will be present to evaluate our performances. Basically everything we’ve managed to pull together over the past two years of stand-up comedy classes, on display for everyone to judge.
Nah, I’ll save you the trip. That’s my birthday. (Mark your calendars.)
It seemed like it would be a pretty stressful night to begin with before I knew it was going to be on my birthday. Most people probably think, “Meh, it’s a day like any other. What’s the big deal?” But I don’t know. I just feel like a lot’s riding on this because if I bomb, not only will I have made a fool of myself in front of my peers and potential future employers, but I’ll have done so on my BIRTHDAY! The day of my birth!
That being said, if my showcase gets the response my set received tonight, I think I’ll be OK. One thing’s for certain one way or the other -> The booze’ll be flowing big time the night of April 3rd.
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STAY TUNED as my next post will hopefully have something to do with BRIE’S FIRST ADVENTURE IN TELEVISION.
It’s OK to be curious.
I had the privilege of working Front of House for the very talented first year comedy students’ Archival Show over the past few nights. While they seemed anxious, excited, proud & stoked – I felt calm and reflective. It reminded me of the simpler times – of my own first year…
Well, that was fun. Now. Back to the present.
I wish I’d taken home each of the programs so I could have pointed out which of the performances stood out to me, but I’m forgetful and I didn’t do that. I guess I can point out some points I noticed overall about the performances – I’ll do it in order of how I saw them:
1) Team Melody: What I would have given to be in this performance! An ode to vaudeville with great little snippets & bits all throughout, each just as fun as the last. Lots of individual stage-time for many people in the cast, lots of singing AND a LOT of great parts & focus for the LADY performers! It flowed so nicely. And Monty Python’s Penis Song was in there. Hilarious. I left singing that Eva Tanguay song for hours upon hours after both nights Melody’s group was performing, which I suppose is good and bad. OMG the Bored Room sketch. Too much. SO good. And the Lie Detector sketch. LOVE Mr. Show.
2) Team Eric/Christel: Reminded me loads of our performance last year, structure-wise (which makes sense, considering the Tothmeister directed my section.) BUT… our transitions were better. I’m just kidding. But we had that weird onesie Bruno was crabwalking around in– However, this year they had an exceptionally well-choreographed Thriller transition, which was rather impressive. The Lumberjack song – a classic! It was also fun to see the Lawrence Welk song revisited – and as funny as it was to see a lanky dude in drag, I still couldn’t get the image of Camille Cote out of my head singing around and chasing bubbles. Oh, and OMG the Hunger Strike sketch is amazing. LOVE Mr. Show.
3) Team Baumander: Lewis’ group seemed more, disciplined, more sharp. Does that make sense? I don’t know. All I know is that adding the CSI intro to the Wayne & Shuster bit was a stroke of genius. And the Smothers Brothers song was super well done! The Jerry Lewis opening was FANTASTIC! Holy cow! It seems that some people were more heavily featured in this group than the others. You would see some performers a lot more than others. I’d be curious to know Lewis’ decision-making process for allocating roles. It was fun, again, to see some of the performances revisited from last year ie: the Marx Brothers one (well done!), Bronx Beat (still heard Rachel & Camille in my head the whole time) and the Hail Satan one, thought not my favorite… I just wanted to make sure I mentioned that I LOVE Mr. Show!
All in all, the performances were very well done and SO much fun to watch. First years should congratulate yourselves on a job well done – and a good chunk of dough raised for LAMP. I’m glad to have been part of the whole thing. 🙂
And now I’m filled with the desire to research and watch some classic archival sketch comedy over the reading week break!
Brie Watson 