Comedyland Feb 27th, 2008 - CarniColada

As I type this I still have the remains of a hangover due to some drinking that took place after the show last night. We had a very strong line up and I was hosting, something I have only done a few times before but am realy starting to enjoy. I left the car at home so I could have a drink during and after the show. I packed all the equipment on a hand trolley and walked from my new appartment in Astoria to The Beer Garden in under 15 minutes. Unfortunatly my hand trolley colapsed at one stage blocking the entire street as I repacked spot lights, bag of tricks, mic stand and heavy amplifier. Upon setting up the show I realized that the amp was damaged, Murphys law i guess. there was to be no sound tonight!! Thankfully Rob Gordon was first up and proved that pure energy and hillarity alone can replace such needs as electrical amplification! I could hear his set from the bar upstairs as I ordered the first of many Spaten beers.

The regulars turned up again and have been providing us with heckle free, genuine friendly audience. Long may it continue. I feel the show may be starting to grow legs now after all the work we have put into it. After our headliner, Alysia Wood, who stopped by from Seatle on a cross country tour, I again tried to advertise the "CarniColada". This is a drink designed by the bar staff for the show. At $5 it packs a punch that I am still feeling today. I am a beer drinker and I failed spectacularly in promoting a little pink drink with a dainty slice of lime. It is now my dream to hear of the CarniColada being mentioned on a TV documentary or News program. Such as..

CNN
"John Buckly, 34, allegedly consumed 15 CarniColada's before leaving the pub and making his way home on bicycle where he then murdered his wife and dog. Neighbours say he kept mostly to himself and enjoyed attending Comedy shows"

Forensic Files
"The autopsy report showed that the victim had traces of semen in her rectum and cocaine deposits in her navel. This tells us that the last hours of her life was a drug fuelled sex session. Although her blood report showed that she had spent the early part of the evening drinking CarniColadas before she was picked up by a kinky murderous drug dealer".

And so on..

After the show, I packed up the equipment onto my trusty hand trolley and proceeded to stay late drinking with Jen Grant, Stacia, Alysia Wood, Rob Gordon and a few regulars. I walked home chatting to Rob about god knows what, struggled to my apartment and silently crept into bed beside my sleeping girlfriend Marisa.

I awoke this morning into a hangover hell. It was worth it though.

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Heartburn

I sometimes get words mixed up. It's understandable if they are spelled or used in a similar fashion. On occasion it can be embarrassing. I have been known to get Zantac (Antacid-which I take) and Zoloft (Antidepressant-which I do NOT take) mixed up.
Just recently at work my co-workers were under the impression that I cannot eat a lot of Italian food as it makes me depressed. "Lasagna, I love it, but if I eat it for lunch I'll be popping Zoloft all day".

Comedyland

I am one of the few people in this world who reads blogs but does not write one. I feel creepy reading some one elses blog without them knowing about it. So, as part of a writing exercise, I will now endeavor to write a blog as often as possible covering various topics such as: My music, Comedy, writing and travels. Most importantly my family and friends back home can read this and use it to fill in the blanks between my rare phone calls from the oul U S of A.

I co-produce a weekly comedy show called "Comedyland" - See below...

Comedyland is a weekly stand up comedy show hosted every Wednesday @ 9pm by Stacia Jensen and Colin Dempsey at the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in Astoria , Queens NY (29-19 24th Avenue www.bohemianhall.com) . That’s right, the famous Beer Garden . Excited, yet? You should be. Because Comedyland features some of the best comics in New York . The most magical part: IT'S FREE!! Totally FREE!! Come for the comedy, stay for the kielbasa. And beer. Lots and lots of delicious beer.

Stacia and I have been producing this show since december but I promised to start keeping a note of how it progresses. This was also suggested by a regular attendee who said he had seen an improvement since the first show. We have been lucky that with all our posters and advertizing that we have had non-comics attend from the begining.

Anyway, first note....

Comedyland: February 20th,2008:

I got to the beer garden early and began setting up which is a little difficult as I broke my right hand two weeks ago. It’s the same set up every week.
Leave work.
Get home to shower and change.
Pack the car with the following - Two spot lights, microphone stand, large amplifier and bag of tricks. The bag of tick contains my Ipod(music for show), extension cables, microphone, leads, lead extensions, rubber bands (always helpfull), post it pads, notebooks and books collected from antiques stores, from which I sometimes read from. The books are from the late 1700's to early 1900's. For example...

Medical Dictionary (1888) with an entry "Amaxophobia" defined as "A morbid fear of carriages and wagons."

The Book of Street Slang (1789) with the entry "C*nt" defined as "A dirty word for a dirty place."

The Catholic Handbook (1949) with valuable and bizzare quotes from characters in hypothetical situations such as "Some men are worse than bad women, Joe." or uses the example of squirrel hunting to define accidental muurder as a sin. Come to the show and you will understand!

The show proceeded as it typicaly does:

Set up stage/set up lights/set up amp and microphone/test lights/test sound/rearrange chairs and tables/test everything again/order food/ catch up & go through bookings/make "to do" list for next week/make lineup list/greet arriving comics/panic in silence at small crowd/relief as regulars turn up/announce show/have show/pack up all stuff back into car/talk with crowd/go home/go to bed exhausted but happy/get to the day job late thursday morning/promise to write more msterial.

Repeat everyweek untill we rule!!

From next week I will talk more of the show and not the set up. I just moved into the neighbourhood so I can now walk to the show and have a few "Carni-Colada's" which have been created by the bar staff. Oh Yeah!!!!