DENIED [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 20]

Went to the open mike today, and didn't make the list. More than 50 people signed up to perform, and only 20 made it to the stage. Tonight a documentary crew came to film some amateur comedians, so the club pulled out a lot of the regulars.

They do, however, always incorporate first time comedians into the show. So the first 5 or 10 comedians absolutely bombed their sets. Since I've been watching stand up comedy, tonight was probably the worst set I've ever seen. It made me especially upset because I didn't get to perform. Even though it was a bummer, I was a little encouraged by the lack of quality I saw by first timers. Hopefully this doesn't sound arrogant, but I saw the difference in talent. Some people will have to work much harder to become stand ups than others.

On an encouraging note, a different club owner approached me and said that he remembered me performing last week and that I should perform at his venue. He'd give me more time and a guaranteed spot. I might do this just to get more experience. The venue won't have as many people or be as prestigious though.

Oh well. The experience will be well worth it if I choose to go ahead with it.

-Pradeepan

BACK [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 19]

Hello, thanks for excusing my posting hiatus. Sri Lanka played against India, and, unfortunately, lost in the World Cup. Since the games were in Asia, I woke up at 4am to watch the matches, and took my schedule, and posting, on a spin.

Anyways, I thought of another cool BLOGRIMAGE idea today. Make a short film every week. Shoot the raw footage, and edit a little bit a each day. You could even make a month long show with a daily episode. Shoot a bunch on the weekend, and then edit that raw footage each night.

Tomorrow is Monday, so I'm going to to an open Mike again. I haven't written anything yet, so I hope I can come up with something good. Last week, I tried so hard to write something and I didn't end up putting anything in stone until right before the show. I shouldn't be as nervous this time, but I am--it sucks not having  a ton of material. Writing is still the hardest part of this whole game.

A lot of the other comics repeat the same material week after week. I want to write new material each time I do an open mike. It's a challenge, but that's what this is all about.

MENTOR? [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 16]

A student asked me to mentor her in comedy today.

This is so strange, considering I hardly know what I'm going.

A student came up to me and said, "you got to try my fried chicken if you stay you don't like it."

I'm still gathering a lot of material, and the people around me give a lot of jokes.

STUDENT TEST [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 15]

At school, my debut video was presented to the entire school and supporting community. I really never thought that my students considered me very funny--we have entirely different backgrounds. Suburbs vs. Inner-city.

My students, to my surprise, really got into my stand up comedy, clapped and celebrated me after. A couple of students came up to me, shook my hand and said that my set killed.

This BLOGRIMAGE has developed a habit in me to constantly observe. I never know when I'll gain new material, so my eyes are open and my pen is ready to capture anything hilarious. It could be a thought, a comment or an event that triggers a hilarious joke process.

I'm looking for more open mikes and I will continue to perform.

On a funny note, I just got some cool photo opportunities. In a couple of weeks, I'm doing a shoot with the Miss Teen USA from MN 2010, two weddings in May, and a graphic design job for a non profit. I'm stoked about these "artistic jobs." They pay well, and I get to work art that I enjoy. Never thought I'd shoot A Miss Teen.

Comedy!

-Pradeepan

LESSON LEARNED [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 14]

I really appreciate all the love people have given me over my debut! Thanks to everyone of the kind words and support.

At work today, some of my coworkers listened to the stand up and told me that they really enjoyed it--so much that they want to present it to the entire student body (I work at a high school).

While feeling pretty good about myself, I talked to my sister and found out that she was disappointed in me for being racist. At one point in the joke, I say that I'm not black because I'm not good at basketball and hate fried chicken. After this, I also make a reference to Sri Lankans liking curry. My sister, with great intentions, was looking out for me and trying to prevent any heat.

This got me paranoid about being racist. So I talked to my co workers (most are African-American), and asked if anybody was offended by the stand up. The overall consensus stood that it's not offensive in comedy, and it's cool because I was making fun of myself as much as other cultures. They also said I shouldn't be paranoid and the material was extremely clean and appropriate. Whew.

My family grew up with tons of diversity. At one of our famous Jeeva parties, it wouldn't be odd for 15 different nations to be represented. Growing up in this manner, got all of us to be very comfortable with matters of race. Stereotypes and all racial nonsense seemed so ridiculous to us because we were so American. None of us were hardly the things we were said to be, but embraced so much of our culture at the same time. Joking about each others stereotypes was funny because of this. That being said, I'm very comfortable joking about race matters from a perspective that not a lot of people have been given. I'm not racist.

It's a great lesson to be learned. I don't want to be a dirty comic or get easy laughs from risky subjects just for the sake of ease. On the other hand, I want to freely discuss the issues that I observe.

My sister is challenging me to be a comic that jokes about reality and makes people think. I'd love to make people think, though I'm having a hard enough time making people laugh. Baby steps, baby steps.

Not a racist,

Pradeepan

MY STAND UP COMEDY DEBUT!!! [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 13]

Stand up comedy club open mike nights only allow 20 comics to perform. Some are national headliners, some are regulars and other are newbies like me. I got to the venue at 6:00pm, signed up on a list (put a star by name to indicate it was my first time), and waited to see if I made the cut. At 7:30 the club posted this list. I wasn't sure if I'd make because this is one of the top five comedy clubs in America, but I made it!

Notice that my name is the first on the list! I made it, but I was the opening act! I was just happy that I wasn't one of the other twenty that didn't make the list.

This morning, I didn't have a script memorized and nothing memorized. I just did not feel confident with any of my material. Eventually, as the time drew near, I had to pick something and go with it. So for 1.5 hours before the show I paced the club hallways memorizing my material. I was scared out of my mind, but the BLOGRIMAGE must go on.

As the first act, they called my name and I took the stage. It all kind of feels like a blur to me. What a rush, though! Hearing the crowd laugh, knowing some of my material worked, and that I had accomplished a goal made all the anxiety worth it.

The crowd actually laughed at a lot of my stuff. I felt confident on the stage and enjoyed every moment of it. Only at one point did I blank, but I can't even notice it on the video. After I got off the stage, one of the audience members high fived me. Mind you, none of the other comics received any high fives!

I'm glad this BLOGRIMAGE is happening. I'm so thankful for the people who came to support me--especially my girlfriend. She is the best and has truly supported me through this whole process.

One of my personal highlights is that a comic asked me if this was my first time performing. When I told him it was, he said that I need to continue doing this. Thanks, man.

Well, I'm going to keep going and try to get better. Who knows what will happen by the end of the 30 days.

-Pradeepan