Last Week

Over the last week, I did one full length show and two opening spots.  I did a show at the Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek.  It was for Louis Riel days.  The lady that brought me in was very nice.  She hugged me as soon as I got there.  When I arrived at the college, it was just in time for dinner.  We had salmon, deer meat (I think) and salads and stuff.  It was good.  I had time to freshen up and settle into my dorm room after dinner and before the show.
When I arrived at the venue, a lecture theatre, I was informed that they were running behind.  In addition to me, there was going to be some drumming and some Metis jigging.  A fellow comedian was going to be opening for me.  I met him in Vancouver and we are both big Pittsburgh Penguins fans.  He hadn't been onstage for about a year, but he did okay.  We are going to work together sometime in the future.  The lady that brought him in knew him as Doris' boy.  That was kinda funny.
The show went great.  My friend says I was onstage a little over half an hour.  It was kinda strange, because the room was still lit and I could see the audience quite clearly.  But at least they were laughing.  And I kept it clean, for the most part.  It was suggestive.  By that I mean, I only hinted at dirty stuff.  I wasn't blunt about it.
My comedian friend commented on how polished my act was.  I have been doing full sets for awhile, so it was easy to rattle it off.  The difficulty is when I have to go back to doing 5 minute sets when I open for other comics.
The following night, I was opening for Vancouver-based comic Charlie Demers.  He's very funny, clever, and smart.  He doesn't take cheap shots with his comedy.  It was a pleasure to work with him again.  He was happy to see me as well.  He said it was good to see a familiar face.
Sometimes as a road comic, when you travel to a new town for a show, you don't know anyone there.  And this was the case with Charlie.  As was the case for me when I did my show in Dawson Creek.
But the comedy community is just that, a community.  We can relate to each other.  Comedy is our commonality.  We may not know each other very well, but we sit down together after a show and it's like we've known each other forever.
But the opening spots back at Nancy O's went great.  I did a couple of new jokes the first night.  I might keep them in the act.  The second night, there were fewer comics performing so I did a little more time.  So I did a mix of older, tried, true material, and some more new jokes.  One of the jokes is a definite keeper.  I love it.
So it was a good week.  Did a show, a couple of spots, worked out new material, and re-connected with old comic friends.  Good week.

Thank You for Listening

I end every set with the words, "My name is Brian Majore.  Thank you for listening."  I'm not sure when I started doing this, but it's part of my routine now.
And that's all I ask from an audience.  I want them to listen to what I have to say.  I would like them to laugh, don't get me wrong, that's the objective.  But if they're not going to laugh, they should at least listen.  If the audience listens to what I have to say, they will learn something about me, they will learn what it is like for me as a Native person living in what is now Canada.  And that's what I want them to take away from my show.  I want them to walk away from my show with a better understanding of what it is like for us.  Thomas King says he is holding up a mirror to White society and saying, "See, this is what it's like."  I feel like I'm doing something similar.
Thank you for listening.