The Aristocrats, Robin Williams, and Easter Comedy

I have the day off from work so I sit down to watch the Aristocrats. I can only take this for a few minutes, but I can see why we comics like this joke. It is purgative improvisation. It's letting our hair down while still performing. It's vomiting out all that expectation we put upon ourselves for the audience. A performance artist is obligated to be free on stage after all the preparation that goes into it. It's the teenager in us.

I then turn to Robin Williams live on Broadway. This fatherly looking guy has a foul mouth. This guy is talented, funny, and I adore him, but this show sucks! It's the gift of success in comedy. Good comedy comes from true feedback. As an unknown comic I am only the worth of my jokes. If my joke is funny, people laugh, otherwise I get bored stares. Known comics or celebrities don't get that honest feedback. No wonder comics peak with their first great headline set. The rest of the career is on the coattails of that initial break.

In the middle of all this DVD-watching I get called for a set at the local San Francisco comedy club. I was going to try out at an open mic and a scheduled set in a club is always much better.

At 8PM I show up at the club. It is Thursday before Easter and it is jinxed. Everyone's waiting for the resurrection. On top of that it is Spring Break. The Feds are not helping, Monday is tax day. Even with free tickets, only 2 people show up to see the show. There are 5 comics in the green room. The show is canceled.

Since my family is out of town and time is not a constraint, I decide to explore more of the San Francisco Comedy world. I walk over to the "Little Theater" two blocks away. I have never been to this room and on the way I pass a young comic. He tells me not to waste my time going there. They only have two people in the audience.

I go anyway. The Little Theater is LITTLE. It barely holds a stage. The audience is cramped into a single row between the stage and the wall. The stage is nice. It is wide and decorated with plastic flowers on the black background curtain.

There are only 2 people in the audience, and at least 5 comics. It makes for a weird setting. I decline to perform and sit down to watch.

With this intimate environment, the comics talk to the audience. The two members are fun and involved. I change my mind and sign up to go on.

It is fun being on stage even with 2 people. I realize that all the comics I perform with are fun and have interesting things to say. Especially today the comics don't feel the pressure of performance and some don't even do comedy but talk about their experiences.

The 2 audience members are enjoying it, so who cares.