Against cry-outs from my nerves and every self-conscious fibre in my being, I tried stand up comedy two weeks ago. It was in a small open-mic venue, Mug and Kettle. I had 4 minutes to deliver my material, which ended up being personal and almost all crass.
I'm glad I did it, that's for sure.
Again, against my will, I'm going sky-diving in less than 2 weeks. I have a weak stomach and am afraid of heights, so I wonder if that will overwhelm me with dread more or less than the stand up.
My set did go well, it was cathartic in a way. I spoke about most unhealthy or deviant things I do in under 4 minutes. I also had a lot of fun. I might like to pursue this further.
I went to a larger, more notable comedy club a few nights ago and it had a great audience of non-comedians.
I have around 10 minutes of new material, which I might trial at this smaller open-mic over a few rounds, before attempting a legitimate paid-evening.
I made an internal agreement with myself whereby I 'locked me in' to the night, the 16th, and so had to get my shit together before the performance. Now that I've accomplished that and have no pressure, I'm having trouble committing myself to memorising more material.
Below is my set, filmed by Claire, my ex-partner. It is quite crass in content and language, but what the hey.