Ernest T. Bass is my hero!

I'm sorry to hear of the passing of the comedic actor Howard Morris (1919-2005), best known for his character Ernest T. Bass from the Andy Griffith Show. His hillbilly giggle always cracked me up! Website

Well, on to today's post...

Since last time I posted, I performed a short set at The Funnybone Comedy Club in Newport, KY last week. It was scary and exhilirating (oh! did I just use a highfalutin word!) Surprisingly, I seemed to overcome my pre-show jitters. I still was a little nervous, but I got through it ok. On the bill were some relative newbies (myself included), some seasoned vets (1-5 yrs experience) and a pro headliner.

I observed and learned some important things about timing and punchlines. I like my 'story' style of joking, but I really need more 'punch' type bits. i.e. I have my set pared down to: intro, dog, hypochondriac/tourettes, sex addict, monkey/sausage, colonoscopy, end. The dog bit is pretty straight forward setup/punchline. The hypochondriac/tourettes is more storylike, sex addict is a longer setup/punchline bit, monkey sausage is a set/punch that leads into a short story, and the colonoscopy is a true story which is about the final 25% of the set.

After watching the more seasoned comedians last Wed. I saw that they seemed to get more spontaneous laughter, whereas I got more sustained giggles leading up to the final big laugh when I finish my 'stories'. I think I'm gonna try more set/punch stuff and see how it goes. Since my stuff is sort of whacky (mostly fantastical) I'll probably go for a Hedberg / Wright approach... If I can only remember a bunch of jokes, that is! :-)

Great job everyone who got up: Ray Price, Tina Klusty, Dave Waite (the), Brett Patterson (I think), Ken Ferguson, Tim Jones, and Jeff Jena. (did I forget anyone else?)

Oh well, that's all for today... don't make me throw a rock through your window! Hehehehe!