NOTES AFTER NON-GIG #12:
This week I was unable to do any open mics.
Rather than consider the week a waste, I decided to use the break to take a step back and take an inventory of songs. I have turned my focus onto musical stand-up comedy, as that is where my strength definitely lies. At the same time I feel that maybe this choice is a cop-out. Because for me, doing musical comedy is much easier than doing non-musical comedy.
For now, I will focus on the musical comedy. But I’m not sure whether this is a long-term equilibrium. If it is, it’s an uneasy one at this point.
Doing stand-up is a game of generating as much material as possible and then trying to raise some of it to the highest quality possible. And it’s a game of counting good minutes. For any aspiring comic, two central questions are: (1) How many good minutes do I have? And (2) how can I increase that number?
So I’ve divided my songs into a few categories: “A-list” is my top quality material. “B-list” is the next level—good enough to do at showcases but not quite A-list. “Unevaluated” means I still need to work the piece more, in front of audiences, before I can evaluate it. And “Sorry Charlie” means I’ve decided the piece will not cut it. The numbers represent number of minutes.
A-LIST (14.5)
1. For the chosen (2.0)
2. In other words (3.5)
3. Observations 1 (5)
4. Solitaire (3.5)
5. Whenever I'm down (0.5)
B-LIST (2.0)
1. Art thieves and photographers (2.0)
A+B: 16.0 minutes
UNEVALUATED (16.0)
1. Bang (2.0)
2. Dolphin lobster tuna (3.0)
3. Elephants, kangaroos, and bears (0.5)
4. Handel / The Knack (3.0)
5. Karen (2.5)
6. Lottery (2.0)
7. Quarterback (3.0)
SORRY CHARLIE (0.0)
Nothing yet
This song inventory is pretty encouraging. After 12 weeks of work, I have 16 showcase-ready minutes. (Granted, 9.5 of those minutes consist of songs I’ve written in the past for Cupid Players and Stir-Friday Night!) This is great, especially considering that most showcase slots are in the 8- to 10-minute range. Additionally, probably a third of my unevaluated stuff will eventually make it onto my A-list or B-list. So I’m in a really good position as I start to do longer sets.
Now basically my job is to get that 16-minute figure up higher and higher over these next few weeks. My next goal for it is 20.