Yikes! Well, I just made my long awaited return to stand-up tonight, performing on the Nietzsche's open mic stage. And, let me tell you, the dust build-up was evident. Let me explain a few things first. First off, I did something I've never done, and that is to invite close friends to see my perform. I can't really put my finger on it, but for some reason knowing there are people in the audience you want to impress throws a wrench in the works. I got nervous. Not just the regular preshow jitters, either. I mean, full blown butterflies in the stomach nausia. Secondly, I did new material (which I normally do). It was material that I had written awhile back but never reherst! And if there was EVER a tip that I could give to stand-up comedians it would be: 'Know your material'. Have that crap memorized. I felt myself forgeting the punchlines. I probably glanced down at my notes over 10 times. And finally, the audience. It helps so much if the comedians before you don't blow. You lose your audience. Sometimes though, and rarely, the audience just isn't your crowd. All the comedians that performed tonight were vulgar and runchy - definately not my style. So you can imagine how it was to have a clean comic come up and try to get them to change gears (btw, I was number 12 out of a 13 comic line-up). Another thing that I'd like to add as a bit of advice is (and this is partially due to it being new material and performing after such a long hiatus), 'Don't Rush'. I ran through my material so fast to get off stage as quickly as possible, literally jumping off stage and back to my seat. Fortunately (or unfortunately. We'll see.) my friend brought his cameria and recorded the terror. I think I'll post the video up as a sort of "What not to do" lesson, pointing out where I think I could've improved.

~Will