I'm Trying to Be Righteous Part 2

This is a continuation of the previous blog based on the "I'm Trying To Be Righteous" video clip from Patrice O'Neal.  He was asked, "What are you trying to do?"
Well, what am I trying to do?  I'm trying to make it.  But what is 'it'?
Early on in my career, I was doing conferences after I received some advice from Don Burnstick.  Native conferences are always looking for after-dinner entertainment.  That's where I come in.  They fly me in, put me up for the night, I do the show, they pay me, then fly me back home.  It was pretty sweet.  But conferences are few and far between.  I've never done the same conference twice, not because they didn't want me back, but because I didn't want to perform at the same conference with the same material.
After I moved to Vancouver, there were different goals.  Visible goals.  There are small comedy rooms, weekly rooms.  They have a local headliner each week.  That was a goal: to headline a small weekly comedy room.  It didn't pay much, but that wasn't the point.  Another goal was to become a middle or an opener at the local comedy club during the weekend.  Or headline the pro-am night at the comedy club.  This was a definite stepping stone.  You would be seen by the club booker or manager who might one day promote you to headliner.  That was a goal.  From there you could become a touring headliner, doing all the comedy clubs as a headliner.  But again, there are only so many comedy clubs.
At one time, that was what I wanted.  And if it was offered to me, I would take it.
The goal has changed now.  I would like to have a large enough fanbase to be able to perform at a theatre every weekend, maybe two or three shows.  Book a theatre, print some tickets and some posters.  Do the show, bring a friend or two to open, sell some CDs, then get out of town.  And just do this for the rest of my career.

I have a radio show and I always bring up Richard Pryor and ask my guest if they have any aspirations to be anything else besides a stand-up comic.  I use Richard Pryor as an example because he is considered by many to be the best stand-up comic ever.  But I always wonder how much better he would have been if he did not do all those other projects, acting, etc.  If he had devoted all his time and energy to stand-up comedy, how much better would he have come?
I'm a stand-up comedian.  That's what I do.  I think I'm good at it.  There's definitely nothing else I would rather do.  I think it's what I was meant to do.
The only way to continue doing stand-up comedy is to constantly produce more material.
I remember when I first started out, I met a guy that said he was a stand-up comic before.  He said, "I had about 15 minutes."  I never knew what he meant.  Now that's all I think about.  I'm trying to build an act, a minute at a time.  If you have 45 good solid minutes, you can be a headliner.  45 minutes is enough for an hour long comedy special.
I have enough material to produce a CD, which I will be recording and releasing in the very near future.  I will be shelving all of that material.  I have already started writing new material for my next CD.  Retiring material and starting over is a relatively new trend in comedy.  The documentary 'Seinfeld: Comedian' is partly responsible for this trend.  It used to be that a comic would build an act, an hour or so, and that was it, that was their act that they kept for their entire career and they travelled the country doing the same act for years.  There were exceptions of course, George Carlin comes to mind, who produced a whole new hour every year it seemed.  But it's now a trend.  Louis CK has about four comedy specials in the last few years.  When he started he had the same act for about eight years.  He had some success with it and even produced two comedy specials.  He wrote a whole new act and recorded it and retired the material.  Now he's one of the most prolific comics out there now.
That's the goal now: to keep producing quality material, enough to fill an hour long comedy special, enough to headline, and do this every year or so.  And to bring my bag of jokey-jokes around the country and not have people say, "He's just doing the same old jokes he did before".

I'm Trying to Be Righteous

I'm doing something a little different with this blog and subsequent ones.  I will be giving my thoughts on selected youtube videos.  The first one is "I'm Trying To Be Righteous" from Patrice O'Neal.  Patrice is one of the comics that I admire the most.  Not only is he funny but he speaks the truth, as he sees it.  He is not afraid to express his opinion.

The video is a clip from Unmasked with Ron Bennington and Patrice was asked, "What are you trying to do?".  He said, "I'm trying to be righteous.  When I wake up, I know I was honest with myself."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1svdF4ONcXY

This is what I think he meant:   he would rather do his act the way he wants, to tell his own truth, rather than 'play the game'.  There are comics that are more famous than him, more successful, more of a household name than him, but are they funnier than him?  No.  Are they memorable?   No.  But will he be remembered long after everyone forgets about these other comics?  Yes.  I would rather be memorable for affecting people than have people think I was funny but forgettable.  Don't get me wrong, the first job is to make the audience laugh.  But as I was reminded, there is more than one way up the mountain.  But when I see comics getting laughs from 'fluff' jokes or stolen jokes or hacky material, I think, "How do they live with themselves?"  I'm sure it's easier with the paycheques they receive.  But is that all your after?  It's pretentious to say that what we do as comics is art, but I consider it a craft and I have respect for comics that treat comedy as such.  If you're good at it, like Patrice or Pryor, you can raise it to the level of art.

But like I said, I would rather be memorable rather than funny and forgettable.  I'll give you an example of what I mean.  I've had friends that went to comedy shows and I'll ask them, "Who did you see?" and they don't remember.  "Well, what did he talk about?", I ask.  "I don't know, but he was funny."  I'm sure he was.  But if you were to see Patrice O'Neal, you would remember what he says because what he says affects you.  It has an impact, it makes you think, it might even offend you.  Chances are it will offend you.  He has a bit on his last CD, "Mr. P" where he compares his dogs to his woman.  Now, in the hands of a lesser comic, an analogy like this would turn everyone against them.  But Patrice gets huge laughs, probably the biggest laughs on the entire CD.  Why?  Because he's able to get you on his side, to come around to his way of thinking.  And you sit there nodding in agreement at the same time as you're laughing your ass off.

But back to the video.  This video has made a huge impact on me because I'm ready to record my first live CD and the material I am going to include on it is funny, but I feel removed from it, distanced.  Some of the jokes were written up to seven or eight years ago and I don't have the same connection with them that I once had.  They're my jokes but they're not me, y'know what I mean?  Because I've changed, my comedy has changed.  Because of guys like Patrice, I am doing something new with my comedy where I am telling the truth.  Not that I was lying with my earlier material, but I am being more honest with not only events that have happened in my life, but also being honest with my opinions and my beliefs.  There were always elements of truth in my earlier jokes, but then I would change things up to get a laugh.  Now it's nothing but truth.  When I sit down to write new material, I think of a quote from Wab Kinew, host of the acclaimed CBC television series '8th Fire'.  He said, "People who tell stories have a role in society where they can not only deliver the truth, but they can help shape the truth".   That's my goal.  I had poet Janet Marie Rogers review my youtube videos and she said, Brian "delivers the truth without apology".  I thought that was the greatest compliment ever.  But why apologize for the truth?  That's like apologizing for your opinion.

All comics get excited about their new material, but I'm really excited about the new direction my comedy is taking me.  When I perform these new jokes, I can say, "Y'know what, that's me."  I'm being righteous.  I'm being true to myself.  I already have a title for my second CD.  "I Swear, To Tell the Truth".  It'll be ready when it's ready.

Last Weekend

Last weekend I got to share the stage with Native comedian Howie Miller over three nights.  We did three shows in three different towns.  The first was in Mackenzie, about two hours north of Prince George.  It was at a golf club that held about 60 people and it was full.  After the show, I felt like I had got rid of the 'ring rust' from not having performed for the past two months.  I had three shows the week before, but I didn't feel comfortable up there.  Maybe because I was trying new material.  But after this show, I felt great, even the new material from last week was working.  But the drive to and from Mackenzie made the trip for me.  Spending time with comics is always fun.  We were telling stories of comics we all knew, sharing horror stories of the road, and telling jokes.
The next day, Howie came into the studio for an interview/discussion on my radio show.  You can listen online at cfisfm.com, on Mondays at 8 pm Pacific.
The next night was in Vanderhoof, a bar show.  It had all the signs of a bad show:  small town, bar, lots of alcohol.  But it went great.  I even went into the audience for one joke and she ended up giving me the finger!  It was great.
Saturday night was here in Prince George.  Nice hall, packed house, good meal.  I had a great show.
I did all these shows without bringing my set list on stage.  That was the best part.