Thinly-veiled "I'm friends with Elon Musk" brag.

The worst part is that now no one will listen to my medical advice anymore.

Technically it's a bar, but it functions as a double-sided dildo.

Cool set OP.

Who are your favourite stand up comedians?

Do you like UK **** like Eddie Izzard/Ricky Gervais? Or even Jerry Sadowitz?

it's all starting to make sense now

Excuse me if this has already been asked and I missed it, but do you hang out with other comedians very much? Interact with them a lot while waiting to go on stage?

What venue did you do your first set in? First set outside of a living room/friend's apartment I mean.

That was really funny Spaceman.

Has anyone ever confused you for Nick Fondulis? And have you ever met Metaname2? That guy's hilarious.

Great stuff. Really enjoyed it. E-L-O-N bit was my favorite. Hope this leads to something big.

You should definitely do an AMA on your day job. That actually sounds pretty interesting too.

My favorites are Norm MacDonald, Mitch Hedberg, John Mulaney, and of current guys, Mark Normand (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UMFcUB-Z9g) and Joe Machi.

I watched parts of an Eddie Izzard special years ago and remember him being hilarious, but I'm not too familiar with most of his stand up. I love Ricky Gervais' TV and film; I think his stand up is good but he's better in those other mediums. I haven't heard of the third guy.

While we're at a club, we all hang out by the bar and chat while waiting to go on stage. It's usually pretty fun, because comics have really diverse personalities. I don't hang out with comics outside of comedy clubs, they're more like work friends at this point.

My first set was at a bringer show at the New York Comedy Club (the club is much different now, but back then they ran a lot of bringer shows in their main room and had pro shows in the side room). I had never performed anywhere before that, not at an open mic, not in a friend's basement. I had taken a speaking class that semester in college where they tape your speeches and make you watch yourself, and it made me realize that although I had crippling stage fright, it wasn't too noticeable outwardly. That relaxed me somewhat, and I made a couple of funny speeches during the class which gave me some confidence.

So I decided that summer I would try stand up. I wrote about 7 minutes of jokes, and went to an open mic at New York Comedy Club to try some of it out. But there were like 30 people signed up, and after 2 hours of waiting I gave up because I had somewhere to be. I asked the guy at the ticket booth for my $3 back and he said if I could bring a few friends I could come back that Thursday and perform for a real audience instead. So I scrounged up my buddies and did 7 minutes. Most people bomb their first time, but I did really well, so I was motivated to keep at it.


No, that's a new one.

Day job is interesting, but talking about it on here would make it feel like I was at work instead of being on here to take a break from doing work.

You definitely have a strong john mulaney feel to your delivery and cadence.

great job man. i remember vaguely seeing some of your MSpaints and thinking you were funny, it's cool to see that it translates into real life comedy. i am an amateur comedian (mostly improv) and i have a few questions (feel free to ignore any/all of these):

-how do you stay motivated? i hated doing tiny open mics for like 4-5 other comedians only, none of whom give a **** about what you say, but all the comedy advice ever given is like "do these open mics." in NYC i imagine it's 1000x worse because everyone's a comedian trying to make it

-i would also identify as more of a "writer" than a "performer" so i love writing jokes, even ****ty ones, but never really want to go tell them on stage. and when i do and a joke flops i basically discard it immediately. any advice for forcing yourself to perform and to try new stuff?

-opinion/general thoughts about improv?

-can't find you on twitter, do you have one? you should tweet jokes!

1. I used to think the same thing about those open mics. What good does it do to perform in front of people who are only half paying attention and who don't even laugh at anything? That kept me from getting on stage regularly for years, and I was only doing a handful of shows a year and was progressing very slowly. But now, I think the open mics do provide some benefits. First off, they're not all so ****ty. There are some that are actually pretty supportive, so you can get a reaction out of people and gauge your jokes that way. For example, here in NY there's a company called Laughing Buddha that puts on a zillion open mics, and they have a rule that you can't look at your phone or notes while you're in the audience, so you're pretty much forced to pay attention to the comic on stage.

And even if you're at a terrible open mic where no one cares about your set, that gives you good experience for being comfortable even in tough situations. Being comfortable while bombing is a great skill that every comic needs to develop. Finally, you can often network with comics at the open mics and they might invite you to other shows that they run, or open mics you didn't know about that are better than this one.

I got my motivation back through regular shows that I started doing, first it was monthly bringer shows that had low requirements so I only had to hassle a couple friends. Then I started doing a monthly bar show that a friend runs. Then I did a couple of showcases where I was given a couple of regular club spots and then given the opportunity to intern in exchange for more spots. So the motivation came back because i was performing in front of real audiences. Then I used open mics to supplement those shows and work on new stuff. I'm not sure I would have the motivation if my only outlet had been those open mics, but still it is better than nothing if that's all there is in your city.

2. I love writing jokes, but mainly because then I get to try them out on people and see if I was right. Writing without having any outlet to tell you if it's funny, whether that's the stage, or the internet, or your friends, seems pointless. If a new joke bombs, I always reassess the joke and decide whether I like the idea enough to keep working on it. Usually jokes deserve to be told at least twice. If it bombs again the second time, you can probably toss it away.

Advice for forcing yourself to perform and try new stuff? Well, sometimes you never know what an audience will love. There are probably jokes in your notebook that you think are totally stupid, but if you try them on stage they will kill. As much as you can think you know what people will find funny, sometimes they will surprise you. The only way to know, is to get up there and try them out.

3. Improv is really popular now, and like stand up it's one of those things that is awesome to watch when it's good and really uncomfortable when it's bad. I think it's a great skill to have, and stand up comedians who do both definitely have a leg up when it comes to handling unusual situations on stage. Improv makes you think quicker and always think about how to escalate the joke. I personally have never done it, but I see it's value for sure.

4. My twitter is ElonYouSoCrazy...I don't tweet too often, just a couple times a week maybe, but I try to be funny. My follower count is anemic.

Let's do a show together, I get up that way every few weeks.

Twoplustwo Comedy Night!

There's an aspect to stage presence that I've noticed but haven't been able to figure out, so maybe you can:

Whenever I am at a big live music event and the musician says something, they always get a raucous laugh. No matter what they say. Some musicians (like Jewel, for example) think this means they are hilarious and should turn their show into a part-music, part-comedy show. Others notice that they get unwarranted laughter and can't figure out why. I was at a Ray LaMontagne show once and he told a quick anecdote that wasn't meant to be amusing and when the house fell down with laughter he said "if my music career stalls I guess I can always be a comedian... you guys think I am hysterical no matter what I say." That comment, too, was met with an explosion of laughter.

So what is it about that setting that makes the crowd so receptive and prone to laughter? You also see it with comedians once they get to be super famous. Louis CK just needs to make sounds now and everyone will laugh. Robin Williams made a career of that phenomenon... I don't know if he wrote an originally funny collection of words to say on stage after 1980.

I suppose it has everything to do with being loved and being famous, but I've always thought that if that phenomenon was better understood it could help newer comics construct a stage presence that was more conducive to getting laughs. I don't know, maybe not. But I'm curious if you or others in this thread can explain why that happens.

I just assume it's a combination of people wanting to be entertained by a performer they pay to see, and people showing amusement when they don't exactly know the "correct" response to something.

The other way to say it is most people are mostly stupid about most things.

Dr. Spaceman,

I haven't read any of the negative responses, but I'm going to assume they're mostly "I didn't laugh so it's not funny." So ignore them. You did well enough to make me think you'll eventually switch to comedy as a primary source of income given all the terrible full time comics out there. How many spots did it take before you started feeling comfortable going on stage to make people laugh?

I think with musicians, it's because everyone in the crowd is there for a personal moment with one of their idols. So when the singer does something outside of singing, like make a comment to the crowd, everyone goes nuts because they think "wow, this special moment happened on my night! Every other concert audience just got to hear Jewel's songs, but only tonight did she say 'boy, you guys must have drank a lot of Redbull today!'" And their way of expressing the joy of that unique experience is to cheer wildly, or maybe laugh extra hard. Other theory is that since the musician is their idol, the crowd becomes like sycophants and just laughs over the top at any little joke that is made.

For comedians, if an audience is there to see you specifically then you have this built-in goodwill or credibility with the crowd. They like you, they paid to see you, they admire you so much, so any joke you make must be a great joke because otherwise you wouldn't have made it. This doesn't take you too far; if Louis CK wasn't great 90% of the time, he wouldn't get the benefit of the doubt on 10% that might not be as great. But it still helps.

On the other hand, for an unknown comic, you need to come out strong and grab the audience and show them as soon as possible that there's a reason to listen to you. Otherwise, you might lose them and never get them fully on-board for the rest of your set. That's why they say you should try to get your first laugh in the first 15-30 seconds.

It's hard to say how long it took because I would go months between performances for many years before I started taking this seriously in 2013. But, in the first couple of years (maybe 20 performances?) I wouldn't eat for hours before a show because my stomach was in knots. Then for the next few years (40 performances?) I was more comfortable, but still had to be very rehearsed. So if I was supposed to do an 8 minute spot, I prepared and ran through my planned 8 minutes over and over again. Audience interaction was something I tried to avoid. But since I've started doing this regularly, I've definitely grown a lot. Now I basically don't get nervous at all before a regular show. I also don't give much thought to what set I'm gonna do until a little before my spot, and I can go off course to any other material if I need to stretch it out. I still have a ways to go, but I feel pretty good about my comfort level.

*grunched a bit*

Put me in the group of people who was quite impressed by your confidence and projection. Head is held high, delivery is deliberate, very impressive.

I'd like to see you do very well, so I'll give you some advice and you can do whatever you want with it. From most important to least important:

As you've already explained, the comedy circuit is a bitch. I quit/retired a decade ago here in Canada because I didn't want to keep up with the grind. But had I known about the route that a guy like Bo Burnham eventually took, I would have plunged head first into something like that. You've already shown yourself to be highly intelligent, diverse, and visually artistic. So why not create a significant youtube/twitter/web presence, where you have unlimited minutes to express and create? You need to turn yourself into a brand, and even though Bo rebelled against the very idea of that, he certainly fell head-long into it via youtube and vine. Promoters want to sell tickets, and managers want as close to a sure thing as they can find. You'll help build all of that if you start building web content to compliment your stage act. You'll also start selling just enough merch to make the whole thing financially interesting. Know your funny mspaints? Well I can only imagine the hilarious t-shirts you could sell on your own website, you've got that kind of potential. Outsource the design to someone on elance for $30, and you're off.

Next, and this part is subjective, I think your delivery is going to cap your success. I have a theory on why some of the more gifted comics have made it where they have. On top of top notch material, their delivery relies on something unique to them. Gaffigan does that little soft voice. Burr has one of his own every time he imitates his gf's. Louis has a couple he goes too quite often. Aziz has a very distinct delivery. Back when I still found him funny, Russel leaned heavily on his mastery of accents. I told myself if I ever got back into it for fun, I would completely reinvent the personality I chose to use on stage, and find my version of that. Something where people may not remember my name, but they know me as "that guy". It's extremely hard to do, but I think it's worth the effort.

And lastly and least importantly, don't worry about addressing the crowd every time one shouts out or makes a noise. The less you even acknowledge them, the less you'll have to worry about getting derailed by a particularly annoying crowd if they sense you'll interact with them at the slightest peep they make. They'll always be a line you will have to cross to address an annoying person, but short of that I prefer the guys who are so dialed in that some "wooooo" doesn't even register.


Good luck man, consider me a fan already.

Rafiki! Thanks dude, that is very helpful advice.

Do you know Mike Young, he's college buddy, performs a Gotham fairly often?

No, I looked him up on facebook and he doesn't look familiar although we have lots of friends in common. This was my first time at Gotham so we probably haven't crossed paths yet.

Cool, small comedic world I guess. Gl to you!

No worries man. If you ever have some creative process you want to run past me, message me. I love that stuff.

Good job, Spaceman.

You looked very polished. I would not have guessed that was your first live TV performance.

Given the massive hurdles (as described by Dr. Spaceman) someone has to overcome to even get a minor TV spot, I'd actually be a little surprised if someone just bombed their first TV appearance. It seems like before you even get a whiff of TV, you have to have a lot of experience doing stand-up well.