Cariboo Brewing

Striker’s Tales: 02.18.12

• Feb
  18th

Last week one of my dreams came true. After thirteen years of writing jokes in my little joke book and telling myself one day I’m going to try stand up comedy I’m getting the opportunity.

Thanks to Cariboo Brewing for pulling some strings and signing me up for the Champion of Champions Variety Show @ Edgewater Casino Stadium Club, downtown Vancouver February 25th.

Tuesday’s at The Fray on Fraser The Legion of Stand-Up Comedians has been having a $100 Winner Take All Variety competition. ONLY the top winners from previous variety shows will be featured in this HUGE $500 Champion of Champions competition on February 25th! So basically I’m getting snuck in and chucked in balls deep my first time ever-on stage. I’m popping my stand up cherry! I’m going against ten other voters’ choice comics and you know they must be good! We’re going to see some of the most interesting Variety Show winning comics the city of Vancouver has to offer!

The night of the showdown each of us will get up to six minutes to show off our star talent. At the end of the night the audience will vote for their favorite comic and the winner will receive $500 cash! Second place gets automatic entry into the next Champion of Champions competition and thanks to Cariboo $150 bucks!

Now I like to be ready for this night and my big debut. You just never know who will be in the crowd watching especially because its comedy fest in Vancouver and we have lots of eyes in town. Dream big! You just never know.

When I found out I was performing I had three weeks total to prepare before I hit the stage. My first week I did nothing but write down some pointers, any hints or tips that I think will help me prepare. Here are twenty-five great tips that ill be using to help me on my first time on stage. All these things really stuck out to me.

1. Don’t try to get laughs give laughs. Give a great show.
2. Do open mikes.
3. Be conferrable and confident.
4. HECKLERS let the heckler talk as much as possible… then nail him with whatever he gives you.
5. Listen to your crowd not other comedians, your crowd is your critics
6. When you kill it act like you’ve been there before. Be focused; listen to what your saying and you’ll kill even more!
7. Make the crowd be there communicate with them.
8. Before hand watch the crowd,,. What topics they laugh at, the rhythm of speech comic uses they’re laughing at. Certain things he’s saying and why they’re laughing. Adjust. Watch the crowd see what makes them laugh.
9. Work the crowd; ask a person a question you already have jokes for. Also working the crowd brings out yourself and your organic jokes.
10. I’m meant to do this.
11. Jokes get better in time.
12. Get writing. Or picture yourself bombing on stage. That will get u 2 write. Write some jokes.
13. Put the jokes in order.
14. Decide what your stage persona is going to be.
15. Rehearse your act.
16. Work out your timing.
17. If you have a knack for music, impressions or visual gags, you can incorporate funny songs, celebrity impressions or stage props into your act.
18. When you desperately need audience validation (their laughter), you don’t get it. And when you don’t try so hard, you get it in droves.
19. Step on the all-important pause before delivering a punch line, and you ruin your joke. Fail to pause after you delivered the punch line, and you show your anxiety.
20. Learn very quickly to cut the fat, choose the right word, and eliminate the fillers, such as uh, er, and I mean. Clarity is key in all messages.
21. Learn to perform stand-up.
22. An audience that laughs with you will probably stick with you. -
23. Know where your going with your joke and have fun getting there
24. Punch line shouldn’t be longer than setup
25. Subject, context (time place), structure (what happen), punch line.

Now I’m on week number two of trying prepare. This week I’ve been trying to find time to get everything I ever wrote down and copy it to my computer. I’m trying to envision my act on stage. Who I’m going to be and what I’m going to do. I’m trying to figure out what I should use how I should use it. I’m re writing jokes making them more solid. It’s just hard to prepare when I’ve never done it. I have lots of questions but I know it just takes practice and what I’ve been reading everybody bombs so no point of even thinking of that. Bottom line I got to kill it and I have a week and a bit to figure out my attack!!

The MC of the night will be: The Iron Mike Sharpe of Comedy and Patrick Maliha!

Here is the competition! NOT THE ORDER OF THE NIGHT. They will do random cards drawn to determine the order.

1. Joshua Owen Green (Winner Dec. 6th, 2011)
2. Russ Kennedy (Winner Dec. 13th, 2011)
3. Bryan Kettles (Winner Dec. 20th, 2011)
4. Matt Grant (Winner Jan. 10th, 2012)
5. Michelle Shaugnessy (Winner Edgewater Casino Variety Show)
6. Sean Emeny (Winner Edgewater Casino Variety Show)
7. San Aung (Winner Jan. 24th, 2012)
8. Donovan Tildesley (Winner Jan. 31st, 2012)
9. James Masters (Winner Feb. 7th, 2012)
10. (Winner Feb. 14th, 2012)
11. Bricin Lyons (Cariboo Comedy) fuckin rookie!!
12. Tyler Holm (Cariboo Comedy)

RULES:
-Must be 19+ to participate…Im in!
-No fire or animals allowed in any of the acts…what I cant fuck a sheep?
-Maximum of 6 minutes per act. Any act going past 6:30 automatically eliminated from the competition. Any act going past 7:00 will be unable to participate in any other competition for at least 6 months…wow no shit! This is serious!
-Open only to winners of previous Variety Show Competitions… hahhaah yeah-right Cariboo snuck my rookie ass in!!!
-Any discrepancies are solely decided upon by the MC…no worries
-Voting done by audience via Single Transferable Vote (STV) VOTE FOR ME!

Very important information:
When: Saturday Feb. 25th, 2012 9:00pm (Doors open 8:00pm)
Where: The Stadium Club Theatre in the Edgewater Casino (750 Pacific Boulevard, 2nd floor)
Price: FREE! That’s right, FREE! So tell everyone you know ☺
Prize: ONE lucky winner will walk away with $500 CASH!
Parking: FREE!

The Edgewater Casino Stadium Club has a 430 Person Capacity! 290 Stadium Style Seats! Three 18-¬‐ft High Definition Projection Screens! State of the Art Sound System! Theater seating, booths and settee seating with free parking for guests!

I hope to see everyone out for this epic night! It can only be my first time once so lets start this sucker with a bang! The last time I blew a sound system I MC and new years party at a strip club! Tell the world!! Please do not miss this!!

This past weekend I went to Pender Harbour with my long lost brother I only met a couple of times.

He’s a pilot flying for the United Nations in Africa. While saving the Africa he showed me how to do a South African shotgun. When you shot gun a beer in Canada we have nothing on the South African style shot gun. It takes two people and the shot gunner has to get on one knee. Once he’s on one knee he pokes a hole in the can like we normally would and then plugs it with his thumb. Now this is where the second person comes in. the second person stands above the shot gunner and holds the can as the shot gunner gets his mouth on the shot gun hole ready to giver. The second person then opens the can and blows air into the can from the top forcing all the beer to be shot down your throat. Its incredible!

Getting back to our trip. It just so happened that we got to go see trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey, and his perpetually shirtless assistant, Randy boo bandy! They are doing a tour across Canada and I thought it would be a perfect way to warm myself up to comedy stage life and to meet the boys again.

Last time I seen Mr. Lahey I was in Halifax shooting as an extra on set for season seven episode two of the trailer park boys. I really wanted to see if they remembered me. A show in Pender harbor, yes a perfect chance to get some good pics and a great way to prepare myself for February 25th the night I perform my first comedy act!

Strike out!

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