KEITH BERGMAN OFFICIAL WEBSITE
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Video
  • Photos
  • Exile Media
  • Press
  • Merchandise
  • 100 Words

Playing the hits

2/2/2012

0 Comments

 
Monday was one of those rough nights that either grinds you down and makes you quit, or inspires you to dig deeper and get your shit together.  I went up to two open mikes in Michigan, both of which were pretty sparsely attended - not an unusual thing on a weeknight, but I was running on fumes and in a bad mindset from being tired.  I don't think either set went too bad, but little things became amplified - I went a minute over my time at Joey's in Livonia, a stupid rookie mistake.  I was in the middle of a new bit and didn't have a good "bailout point" figured out yet, so I blathered on, eating into someone else's time, for the benefit of the other comics and an audience of maybe six.  Embarrassing.

I'm at an odd place in my evolution right now.  I have some tried and true A-game material that works more often than not.  I have what I consider to be a "signature bit," a chunk of about 8-9 minutes of material that comprises a good bit of my feature-length set.  The problem is, I'm still not working as a feature much, so most of my stage time comes from MC'ing or open mic nights.  5-8 minute sets are the norm at these places, and long bits don't generally work as well, since you're expected to get up, get done, keep it tight and leave room for the other 14 people who want stage time.

As a result, I seem to devote most of my open mic sets to newer bits, trying to work out where in my "real set" they could go, or if they work at all.  My best material gets left out, neglected except for practicing my set at home.  My worry is that I'll get sloppy or rusty with that stuff, so that when I do get the opportunity to stretch out and do a feature set, suddenly my tried-and-true bits aren't the highlight of the show, as they should be.

If I get to the point that I'm featuring a lot, this problem will solve itself.  Right now, it seems like the height of luxury to have 30-40 minutes on stage on a regular basis, to hone that feature set, deliver the strongest stuff I've written to date, and work new material into that context.  I'm sure once I get there, I'll have some other weird issue that I overthink and worry about... but hopefully I'll have the sense to enjoy that larger window of stage time I'll have earned.

Tons of shows in the next week and a half, some new rooms, hopefully some guest sets that will lead to new opportunities.  Feeling pretty fortunate right now, and enjoying the hell out of the ride... just gotta make sure I get more sleep on show days so I have the focus to keep an eye on the damn clock.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Dickjokery

    Where I write about the stuff I do when I'm out doing the stuff I do.

    Archives

    February 2020
    December 2017
    June 2017
    December 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    January 2013
    November 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Video
  • Photos
  • Exile Media
  • Press
  • Merchandise
  • 100 Words