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.
I took some pictures of my girlfriend, I'll post them here:
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.
I took some pictures of my girlfriend, I'll post them here:
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]
[Language in this video, but good demonstration of discussing stereotypes]
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
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
DEALING WITH FAILURE [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 12]
I'm taking a few post-master's classes for my state Principal licensure, and my teacher assigned us a few leadership videos to watch. The video posted above is not one of them, but the same producer of a different video we were assigned.
It discusses the ideals of failure. I'm a huge fan of failure, but freaked out by it. In my private life, I love failing. In my public life, however, I hate it.
Tomorrow night (my debut performance), it's very possible that I will fail, and that's okay. I picked stand up comedy for this BLOGRIMAGE because it scared me the most. It still does scare me.
I practiced some jokes on my friend today and he did not laugh nearly as much as I would like. The jokes felt sterile and the content seemed lacking. Then, I tried my jokes on my roommate, and as usual, he laughed at them all. I think my jokes are a little more funny If I am a character. I might play that up tomorrow night by creating a character that is not me. We'll see.
I have to finalize my material and memorize it. Yikes.
However it goes, it's going to be awesome.
-Pradeepan
THREE MINUTES [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 11]
On Monday, I'm signing up for the open mike at the Acme Comedy Co (one of the top 5 comedy clubs in America) and I don't feel prepared. Newcomers only get three minute sets and depending on how you do with performing and etiquette, you can perform again for five minutes the following week.
I'm primarily nervous because bombing the set could hurt my chances of performing again in this great environment. Nonetheless, I must try, despite potential failure.
I'm also nervous because I really want to be good at this.
Today I went to a coffee shop, wrote and practiced my jokes on my girlfriend. It's crazy how eliminating a word here or there and rephrasing something can turn a bad joke into a good one. One liners are fun to write, but are hard to think of. I kind of just wait for something to pop in my mind, and then I write it down. Writing stories is a lot harder. For some reason, my stories have been my weakness in comedy. This is surprising because it's my strength in real life.
To keep me thinking, I could use some help.
Please comment with half sentences and I'll finish them.
For example, a comment could look like, "The other day I walked into a grocery store and..." or something crazy. And I'll try to finish it.
-Pradeepan
JOKES AND SUSHI [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 10]
Another Friday night with my family means another chance to practice joking. We went to a sushi restaurant, and a lot of people were interested in the comedy challenge. Naturally, I got to practice a few of the one liners I had been working on.
This environment felt especially natural after the sterile couch performances from last week. A lot of my one liners went over really well--not all of them, though. There were a few times when I naturally told a story and everybody laughed and said they liked that joke. The thing is, I wasn't trying to tell a joke, it was not preemptive humor, and it went over well. Then I'd try to tell the joke again to another person and it'd become all sterile. Must bridge the natural to stage humor gap!
Hanging out with groups is great for gathering material for two reasons.
1. Conversations and jokes naturally happen
2. It makes everyone paranoid (I loved writing in my notebook whenever my cousins would speak and then make eye contact)
Today, I watched the dvd Zach Galifianakis: Live from the Purple Onion.
It's the most unique comedy dvd I've seen. It felt more like a documentary than a stand up set. His routine is highly abstract, and while it is entertaining, it's not my favorite. I respect the genius of it and give him mad credibility, but I wouldn't want to watch the dvd again. Maybe a few certain parts, but I think part of the appeal of his persona is not knowing what to expect.
Peace.
Pradeepan
This environment felt especially natural after the sterile couch performances from last week. A lot of my one liners went over really well--not all of them, though. There were a few times when I naturally told a story and everybody laughed and said they liked that joke. The thing is, I wasn't trying to tell a joke, it was not preemptive humor, and it went over well. Then I'd try to tell the joke again to another person and it'd become all sterile. Must bridge the natural to stage humor gap!
Hanging out with groups is great for gathering material for two reasons.
1. Conversations and jokes naturally happen
2. It makes everyone paranoid (I loved writing in my notebook whenever my cousins would speak and then make eye contact)
Today, I watched the dvd Zach Galifianakis: Live from the Purple Onion.
It's the most unique comedy dvd I've seen. It felt more like a documentary than a stand up set. His routine is highly abstract, and while it is entertaining, it's not my favorite. I respect the genius of it and give him mad credibility, but I wouldn't want to watch the dvd again. Maybe a few certain parts, but I think part of the appeal of his persona is not knowing what to expect.
Peace.
Pradeepan
WRITING AND WRITING [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 10]
[Mitch Hedberg: One liner king]
Writing stand up comedy is probably the most difficult part of this whole process. Performing, memorizing and editing material is much easier once material exists. Creativity is a core issue for stand up comedy. Comedians that use "easy" material to get results are considered hacks. In order to maintain respect amongst comedians and audiences, it is important to develop original, innovative and consistently fresh material.
This is so difficult.
I sat in a coffee shop and kept my pen moving--one of the best cures for writer's block. No matter how dumb my jokes were I kept the pen moving.
More than stories, I focused a bit on one liners today. One liners are great for openings, breaking the ice and building momentum. Many of the one liners I wrote are pretty bad, but I think some can work.
Here's a bad one I wrote:
When people tell me that I count, I tell them I can spell too.
Who knows what jokes work with a live audience. I sure don't. I want to get some of these in my arsenal for quick laughs and building upon small victories.
TOOK DOWN THE VIDEO [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 9]
Yesterday I posted a video of Aziz Ansari, and after 800,000 views and one night on my blog, it was taken down. I guess my blog brought too much exposure.
Today, I watched a Bryan Regan DVD called, "The Epitome of Hyperbole." I love his story telling using daily observations. Most of the day was spent on music, so after the DVD I didn't focus on comedy as much as I would have liked to.
Here's a crazy video of my roommate dancing to a song I quickly put together on garageband.
Today, I watched a Bryan Regan DVD called, "The Epitome of Hyperbole." I love his story telling using daily observations. Most of the day was spent on music, so after the DVD I didn't focus on comedy as much as I would have liked to.
Here's a crazy video of my roommate dancing to a song I quickly put together on garageband.
WATCHED FIRST OPEN MIKE [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 7]
Not all comedians are funny.
Feeling more confident after attending an open mike night for the first time. I went back to the ACME COMEDY CO (one of the top 5 comedy clubs in America) and watched more than 20 amateur comedians.
This BLOGRIMAGE opened my eyes to a whole sub culture that I am very familiar with. Though I'm not sure what other venues are like, this club is very inviting. A few comedians bombed sets and the audience didn't heckle or insult the act. Actually, the audience was very forgiving and let the people try until some of the jokes came through--the audience wanted to laugh.
Not everyone was very funny. You can easily tell the polished people from the rookies. Stuttering over words, forgetting lines, making horrible jokes are all indicators of bad comedians. This night also help me to indicate something.
I can do this.
Next week, I'm signing up for the Monday night open mike. Newbies only get 3 minutes to perform and may not get stage time at all. Either way, I'm going to have material ready to go. Even if I suck, I feel like this can be a good experience. If I do my homework, practice and get some local feedback, there's no reason I should bomb the set.
Some of my observations from the night:
-Be confident
-One liners are great for building momentum or changing subjects
-Jokes need to be concise
-When the audience doesn't relate or understand, the humor is lost
-Jokes don't have to be in order. Changing subjects rapidly works
-Start and end strong. The middle can be paced a little more slow
-Body language really emphasizes
-Don't be annoying
-Build on laughter. Don't wait for the crowd to stop laughing
-Forgetting a line isn't the end of a set. Move on
-Some people look like they are going to be funny
Hope you enjoy the video above. Do you think she was one of the funny or unfunny comedians?
-Pradeepan
Feeling more confident after attending an open mike night for the first time. I went back to the ACME COMEDY CO (one of the top 5 comedy clubs in America) and watched more than 20 amateur comedians.
This BLOGRIMAGE opened my eyes to a whole sub culture that I am very familiar with. Though I'm not sure what other venues are like, this club is very inviting. A few comedians bombed sets and the audience didn't heckle or insult the act. Actually, the audience was very forgiving and let the people try until some of the jokes came through--the audience wanted to laugh.
Not everyone was very funny. You can easily tell the polished people from the rookies. Stuttering over words, forgetting lines, making horrible jokes are all indicators of bad comedians. This night also help me to indicate something.
I can do this.
Next week, I'm signing up for the Monday night open mike. Newbies only get 3 minutes to perform and may not get stage time at all. Either way, I'm going to have material ready to go. Even if I suck, I feel like this can be a good experience. If I do my homework, practice and get some local feedback, there's no reason I should bomb the set.
Some of my observations from the night:
-Be confident
-One liners are great for building momentum or changing subjects
-Jokes need to be concise
-When the audience doesn't relate or understand, the humor is lost
-Jokes don't have to be in order. Changing subjects rapidly works
-Start and end strong. The middle can be paced a little more slow
-Body language really emphasizes
-Don't be annoying
-Build on laughter. Don't wait for the crowd to stop laughing
-Forgetting a line isn't the end of a set. Move on
-Some people look like they are going to be funny
Hope you enjoy the video above. Do you think she was one of the funny or unfunny comedians?
-Pradeepan
MORE RESEARCH [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 6]
Today was not too eventful or exciting. For today's challenge, I continued to research (watch other stand up comics) and write a little bit. Trying to write comedy like the people I see is a bit challenging. What material works and what doesn't s kind of a mystery. Hopefully I'll find out before I try entertain a crowd.
As I research, I'm acknowledging that there are many different styles. Joe Wong (the comedian I posted in the video above) is so unique. He's comfortable in his own skin, timing and content. Yet, his unorthodox material works.
A five minute set is not long at all. If I start off poorly, though, it will be very long. Tomorrow, I hope to attend an amateur night. I don't plan on competing but who knows what could happen.
-Pradeepan
WATCHING MY FIRST LIVE SHOW [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 5]
Tonight, I watched my first live show! The energy, crowd, atmosphere and the entire feel completely energized me. Instead of associating stand up with fear, seeing the ACME COMEDY CO invigorated and pressed a desire inside of me to be on that stage. The crowd wanted to laugh--everyone could feel it. More than anything, they weren't that scary. It felt like a family living room with everyone talking over each other to share the next funny story.
Also, for the first time I said, "I think I can do this." Something about the stage would bring out a different side of my humor. I think part of the unnatural presentations problems I've had resulted due to unnatural environments.
I'm excited to write material that works. I'm excited to work on body language and communicate. Causing a crowd to laugh and riding that rush has got to be amazing.
Right now, I suck, but hopefully by the end of 30 days, I will write a piece that works in real life.
-Pradeepan
Also, for the first time I said, "I think I can do this." Something about the stage would bring out a different side of my humor. I think part of the unnatural presentations problems I've had resulted due to unnatural environments.
I'm excited to write material that works. I'm excited to work on body language and communicate. Causing a crowd to laugh and riding that rush has got to be amazing.
Right now, I suck, but hopefully by the end of 30 days, I will write a piece that works in real life.
-Pradeepan
Family Performance [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 4]
At 6PM today, spring break began for me! Now, I can focus on the projects--including comedy--that I've wanted to do. For the comedy project, I began "free writing" comedy pieces. Within five minutes I write down as many stories, jokes and thoughts as I can. This practice has not caused a lot of fear or restriction.
The fear and restriction come from performance.
The unnatural sterility of delivering jokes comes every time I try to do stand up. This comedy gig is going to take a lot of work. I've been thinking of jokes all days. Ultimately I will have to get my performance down or I am going to get heckled or booed off the stage.
Performing in front of my family felt awkward, but the practice and criticism I receive is helpful. Because I don't have anything memorized, I read a lot of my skit. I talk too long in the setups and make everyone feel sad--not joyful. This is definitely not the goal.
You can see this in the video posted above. The second part of the video includes a second round of presenting the same material again. I pretty much sucked both times. I need to make progress!
I personally like the second take because my family suggested I try laughing to myself during the jokes--so that's what I did.
-Pradeepan
The fear and restriction come from performance.
The unnatural sterility of delivering jokes comes every time I try to do stand up. This comedy gig is going to take a lot of work. I've been thinking of jokes all days. Ultimately I will have to get my performance down or I am going to get heckled or booed off the stage.
Performing in front of my family felt awkward, but the practice and criticism I receive is helpful. Because I don't have anything memorized, I read a lot of my skit. I talk too long in the setups and make everyone feel sad--not joyful. This is definitely not the goal.
You can see this in the video posted above. The second part of the video includes a second round of presenting the same material again. I pretty much sucked both times. I need to make progress!
I personally like the second take because my family suggested I try laughing to myself during the jokes--so that's what I did.
-Pradeepan
RESEARCH [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 3]
Examples help me learn. Once I see something, almost anything, I feel like I can do it with a little time. So, today I searched through stand up videos. I started by looking through some older stand up by Bryan Regan, and then went through the Last Coming Standing finales material.
Even viewing this material with the intention of copying it gives me greater confidence. My strategy involves dissecting their introduction, body movements and style for making people laugh.
Before I can get into all of that, however, I need to pick a subject. Something that has popped into my mind a couple times tonight is writing a 5 minute routine about people in Minnesota thinking I’m a terrorist and then wanting to “act like a terrorist.” Others of you have suggested that I write something about the Master Cleanse, which would also be and was hilarious.
I have a family gathering tomorrow, so I should write a little bit before that and present to them (while filming it of course).
Most importantly I want to write and perform stuff that is funny to me while being me. It’s encouraging for people to tell me that I’m funny—hopefully it translates to the stage.
What are some comics you’d suggest I research?
SOMETHING FUNNY:
My roommate scolded me for not recycling, and I told him, "Jeeva's don't recycle." He mentioned this to my sister, and yelled at me saying that Jeeva's do recycle. Within one minute of that, I changed the intro of the recycling wikipedia to say "Jeeva's don't recycle." I love technology!
-Pradeepan
MY FIRST PERFORMANCE [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 3]
Stand up comedy is hard! How do you even start a routine?
"Hello everyone! Who enjoys laughing? Great. I do too. Let's laugh together."
Not only is being funny on demand hard, there are hecklers to deal with--that's crazy. Anyways, for today's journey, I spent time researching stand up comedy. I asked some of my friends how it works and what they look for in comics. Then, I journaled about 20 or subjects for a routine.
Here are those subjects:
Sri Lankan family, music with hair metal mentor, living in Korea, Mennonite Indian girlfriend, college stories, working at a high school, Minnesotans, Fashion photography, Education, Grad School work, My old truck, My family trips to Sri Lanka, starting a band, girlfriend's job training, online education, being a boyfriend, french dining, getting a new roommate, boxing, cooking with my dad, the Church, Cultural assimilation, public order, applying for jobs, trying to eat healthy, the master cleanse, jumping rope, the future, and some others.
These subjects are the building blocks for a future set. I found out today that open Mike stand up routines last five minutes here. So, I have to do that.
Which subject should I choose?
Today, I performed at a campfire and it felt unnatural. Before I told them I was going to do "stand up" I told a lot of stories and got a great response. As soon as it was intentional, however, my whole setup got long and unnatural. I need to funnel my "natural humor," as my girlfriend said, and be myself. It was a start and recorded on the video above.
Okay! I got to keep writing. Let me know what I should write about.
-Pradeepan
"Hello everyone! Who enjoys laughing? Great. I do too. Let's laugh together."
Not only is being funny on demand hard, there are hecklers to deal with--that's crazy. Anyways, for today's journey, I spent time researching stand up comedy. I asked some of my friends how it works and what they look for in comics. Then, I journaled about 20 or subjects for a routine.
Here are those subjects:
Sri Lankan family, music with hair metal mentor, living in Korea, Mennonite Indian girlfriend, college stories, working at a high school, Minnesotans, Fashion photography, Education, Grad School work, My old truck, My family trips to Sri Lanka, starting a band, girlfriend's job training, online education, being a boyfriend, french dining, getting a new roommate, boxing, cooking with my dad, the Church, Cultural assimilation, public order, applying for jobs, trying to eat healthy, the master cleanse, jumping rope, the future, and some others.
These subjects are the building blocks for a future set. I found out today that open Mike stand up routines last five minutes here. So, I have to do that.
Which subject should I choose?
Today, I performed at a campfire and it felt unnatural. Before I told them I was going to do "stand up" I told a lot of stories and got a great response. As soon as it was intentional, however, my whole setup got long and unnatural. I need to funnel my "natural humor," as my girlfriend said, and be myself. It was a start and recorded on the video above.
Okay! I got to keep writing. Let me know what I should write about.
-Pradeepan
30 DAYS OF STAND UP COMEDY [stand up comedy BLOGRMAGE: DAY 3]
To be honest, I am frightened by the next 30 days. The BLOGRIMAGE begins. During these next days, I will work on performing stand up comedy while daily blogging it.
I’M FREAKING OUT!
I’m extremely busy right now. Between a full time job, three post master’s graduation courses, working for a magazine doing high fashion photography, getting a folk hip-hop band off the ground and doing life with my important people, I probably should not entertain stand up comedy.
This quest is not a wise use of time. This quest makes me extremely nervous—the throw up in your mouth kind of nervous. This quest is perfect.
The BLOGRIMAGE is the perfect avenue to do something you don’t “have time” for (as if any of us could ever “have time”) and for things that FREAK YOU OUT.
THE PLAN:
-Write stand up comedy for 30-60 minutes a day
-Deliver sections of my comedy to friends or strangers daily
-Try to perform at Open Mike’s once a week or every other week
-Get a large gig
*I’m open to suggestions on how I should do the challenge)
Lots of people have told me that I am funny, but lots of people tell their friends that they have a good voice and should try out for American Idol.
Being funny is easy when people don’t expect it. Being funny on demand is entirely different. Try it. Go up to someone and say, “be funny,” and see what happens.
Well, wish me luck.
-Pradeepan
Korean Doll Shoot
Two weeks ago, at my school in Korea, I saw a girl who looked and acted like a cartoon character. This was perfect because I set a goal to take a Korean on a shoot before I left (only two weeks left!).
We had a lot of fun on this shoot. She had never done anything like this and started off really shy, but within 5 minutes she was posing all over the place. Check them out below. Let me know what you think.
-Pradeepan
We had a lot of fun on this shoot. She had never done anything like this and started off really shy, but within 5 minutes she was posing all over the place. Check them out below. Let me know what you think.
-Pradeepan
Korean Baby Shoot
Shot a Korean-Canadian Baby. It was fun. They parents brought me to an ultra-cute baby studio. The place included clothing, props, sets and staff to make the baby smile. Typically shooting babies isn't by deal, but I had fun. This baby was a blast.
I wanted the pictures to be soft and extra bright (this how Koreans like media, so I thought I'd try it out).