Last night was the opening night of the Detroit International Comedy Festival and a fun night it was. It was a night of headlining comics from the Detroit area and I headlined the show. It was great working and hanging out with my friends. As headliners we're seldom booked at the same time in the same place. Before the show I made sure to take some pictures and videos while I mingled. I had a chance to sit down with Corey and Joel, two local stand-up comics who have created a pod cast with great success. I will post a link to that interview as soon as it becomes available.
During my set I did my two newest jokes I'm working on up front. (At the beginning of me set) They got laughs but still need work. I look forward to working them out.
Afterward, I was able to see my cousins Renee, Dave, Patty and Jessica. They braved the cold to come out and laugh their ICE OFF! (that is the festival's theme) All in all, it was a very enjoyable night.
Now, I must move on to the article that was in the Detroit Free Press Sunday morning. They say that there is no such thing as bad press. I have to keep reminding myself of that. I only had an issue with one specific line in the article. I felt it was a back handed compliment, minus the compliment. Here it is:
"Green's material isn't groundbreaking, but his observational delivery and on-stage exuberance make it work. He rarely seems cynical or angry." Detroit Free Press by Erin Podolsky
My premises are not ground breaking. That's merely one location of where the originality, or 'groundbreaking' material can exist. I use very common premises like drinking and driving, buying tampons, differences between men and women, etc. Another location for the 'groundbreaking' material is the punch line, or the joke and my jokes, my punch lines are at least unique. For her to say it isn't ground breaking is to not understand the format of the entertainment you're reporting on and it really got under my skin. Can you tell? My delivery may not be angry but my Blogs are.
As I tend to do when I have something bothering me, like this one line in the article, I ran the issue by some people in my life I respect. (Thankfully), most of them felt I was being petty. So maybe that's true and I'll have to accept it but I also felt that this one line was a slight on the entire Detroit comic scene. In one breathe I'm being touted as the funniest comic you've never heard of from Detroit and in the next it's being stated that I'm not groundbreaking. What is that saying about my contemporaries?
One more thing and I'll let this go forever because that's how I deal with things. There is a thought in this industry that I have had to battle for years that you can't get famous in this business if you don't live in N.Y. or L.A. Maybe it is true and maybe that's because we can't even get the proper respect from our local media. This was supposed to be a simple story about the First Annual Detroit Comedy Festival not a review of my act. Lastly, make no mistake, had she given me a usable quote I would be splashing it on every web page I have. In fairness, I will be linking it to my website so you can read it there. If I am being petty, you can let me know here. I just felt that her statement didn't serve the story at all.
M.G.