14 Years of Comedy

So today marks my 14th year of doing stand-up comedy! The dream started in 1984, when I was just four and I've always enjoyed making people laugh. I still remember making Katy Malloy spit milk out of her nose in kindergarten. When I was 21, that's when I decided to give it a shot. I was working at Pizza Hut on the westside of Albuquerque, where I met a lot of my closest friends. Nate Tramontina was the one who really pushed me into doing it. He was probably only 18 at the time and he said something like, "quit talking about it and actually do it." The night that I really got serious about it was when we had a big party at our house. I was living with Nate Guyre and Larry Campbell. Nate Tramontina's band, AnesthesiA, was playing and we had probably about 75 people at the house. It was pretty noisy, and the cops ended up showing up. Luckily no one got in trouble, but the band had to quit playing. Everyone ended up leaving, but about half hour later all of our closest friends ended up back at the house. Someone convinced me to hop up on the microphone and start telling some jokes.

I hadn't really started writing any material up to that point, and I was probably too hammered to remember it anyway, so I got up on the microphone and just started talking some shit. I don't remember anything I said, but I remember just roasting everyone basically and getting a lot of laughs. That's when I knew that I could give it a try. I did some research on the local comedy club, Laffs. They held their open mic the first Sunday of every month, so I picked August. I gave myself about four months to prepare five minutes of material. I talked to my good friend from Iowa, Matt Evans. Matt was and is one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life. I asked him if he had any ideas for jokes, I had no idea how to write a joke. So, Matt would send me joke ideas and some bits that he came up with. Most of them were kind of long, and I wasn't comfortable telling longer bits. When I wrote my own stuff it ended up being a lot of one-liners and shorter jokes. I did try some of Matt's jokes out, they were funny, but didn't really fit with the style that I wanted to do. I ended up using some of the funny lines and just shortening the bits. Matt finally got to see me perform a few years ago in Fort Dodge, Iowa. If it wasn't for him I would have had a really difficult time getting started.

My good friend, Dennis Verrall, was very helpful, too. He gave me some jokes that he had written, when I was first kinda starting out, too. I'm such a hack! I finally talked Dennis into doing stand up several years later. He only did a handful of shows, but I got him gigs in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and South Dakota. Not bad for someone who probably only performed like 10-15 times. I think if he really tried he would be really good at it. He's a talented sumbitch.

I started to become a regular at Laffs pretty quickly. The owner of Laffs, Russ Rivas, was very helpful and took a lot of time working with me and helping me get better. As I got to know him more when I worked at the club, I realized that he never did that, so I appreciated it years later. I know there are a lot of people who don't like Russ, but he really took me under his wing and made me into the comedian that I am today, and I am very grateful.

Don Morgan was another guy who helped me out a lot. I met him in Denver just shortly before I moved back to Albuquerque a few years back. We kept in touch and I ended up living with him in Denver for a few months after my divorce. He was very helpful, he's a good friend. And he's super funny, I love traveling with him. We got to spend a few days in Iowa performing and hanging out with my family and had a blast! My family really enjoyed him, too. Especially since he made fun of uncle Melvin! I think Don will do some great things in comedy, too, he's very sharp and likable.

My good buddy and writing partner, Marc Shuter, has always been a huge inspiration throughout my career as well. I was pretty bummed when he quit doing stand up, he was always one of my favorites to watch. We started writing a script a couple of years ago and we're pretty happy with it right now, can't wait for everyone to see it! Marc's a talented fella and I think he has a bright future in writing.

The past 14 years have had so many ups and downs, but I really love the lifestyle. I have met so many people and I've had an opportunity to travel all over the country and see some really beautiful things. I have performed in 24 different states, in December I'm performing in Utah, that will put me at 25! I have done over 1,300 shows and I've performed at some of the best venues in the country. I've even got to share the stage with Jim Norton, Brian Poshen, Josh Blue, John Caponera, T.J. Miller, Theo Von, Dante, Jackie Kashian, Harland Williams, Dan Soder, Ben Kronberg, Steven Michael Quezada, Michael Malone, Robert Hawkins, Carl LaBove, Troy Baxley and Chad Daniels. I've made so many great friends in this business, too.

Unfortunately, I've lost some good friends along the way, too. My good friend, Dave Ashley, died earlier this year and that broke my heart. I find myself thinking about him a lot, he was a great guy. We hit it off right away when I met him in Tulsa. I feel so awful for his wife, Beth, who was one of the nicest comedy club managers I've ever met. Dave always wanted me to go visit them in Jacksonville and I never got the opportunity. Some other great comedian friends who have passed: Lori Callahan, Jimmy Wiggins, Scott Kennedy and Kelly Moran. I know there are definitely others, but those are the ones who came to mind right away. It's definitely a tough lifestyle being out on the road away from family, but it's what we do.

My first week as a professional comedian at Laffs in Albuquerque with Lonnie Bruhn and Jason Russell.

Marquee in McAllen, Texas - Cine El Rey Theater.

Me and Jack Bullard outside of Loonees in Colorado Springs.

Sold out show at The Box in Albuquerque. Maybe I should finish my DVD soon.

My first writing credit! The AVN Awards on Showtime.

TV promo for The After After Party.

The Des Moines Funny Bone with Johnny Beehner and Dwayne Perkins.

Me, Marc Shuter and Matt Peterson in Angelfire, NM.

Me, Theo Von and a fat trucker named, Chris, at the Loony Bin in Oklahoma City.

Brian Posehn show in Albuquerque at the Envy Nightclub!

Me, Robert Hawkins, Carey Cool Tripp, Butch Lord and Josh Blue at Hyenas in Fort Worth.

Me, Josh Blue and Adrian Lara at Hyenas in Dallas.

Me, Mark Poolos and Johnny Beehner in Atlanta.

I'm on TV! The Morning Brew with host Dan "I love to wear scarves" Mayfield.

Envy Nightclub in Albuquerque with Niki Mangin and Steven Michael Quezada.

Sarah Kennedy, me and Jim Norton at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque.

TV again! The Duke City Comedy League.

TV once more! The After After Party with Steven Michael Quezada.

Vinny Oshana, Matt Peterson and me at Loonees in Colorado Springs.

Dante, Jay Dee and me at the Tulsa Loony Bin.

My cousin, Devon Green, Don Morgan and me at Patty's Pub in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

2011 Recap

Now that 2011 is over and 2012 is upon us, I've decided to do a little recap of 2011. My wife and I moved back to Albuquerque in December 2010 and we've been living with my sister and my nephew. We were crammed into an apartment for the first part of the year, but now we're renting a house on the Westside of Albuquerque.

I didn't do as much stand-up as I have done in 2009-2010, I decided to get a job and make some money and get caught with bills and wanted to go back to school. Caitlin and I just started at CNM, our first day was today!! It was crazy getting back in the classroom after ten years.

I performed at some of my favorite comedy clubs Hyenas-Dallas and Fort Worth, Loonees-Colorado Springs, Wits End-Westminster, CO, Laffs Comedy Club-Tucson, and even worked a new club Fat Daddy's Comedy Club in Sioux Falls, SD. I even headlined my first club, MinneHaHa Comedy Club in Shakopee, MN. I co-headlined Hyenas Dallas with Jake Sharon on January 1, too!

It's tough living in Albuquerque since there's no comedy club here and I don't get to see comics that I have known for years anymore. I really miss hanging out after the shows. I met some new comics I had never worked with before; Theo Von, Charlie Weiner, Mike Smith, Bil Dwyer, James P. Connolly, Rocky Whatule, Chris Porter, Claude Stuart and Spanky to name a few.

In May I filmed a set for "The After After Party" a late night talk show filmed here in Albuquerque with host Steven Michael Quezada, from "Breaking Bad." The episode I filmed also starred, The James Douglas Show and R.J. Mitte, also from "Breaking Bad." R.J. was really cool to hang out with before and after the taping, really down to earth.

In June some buddies and I drove out to Hollywood, I was part of a live dvd taping at Jon Lovitz Comedy Club, thanks to my buddy, Dante! He was filming six different shows for dvd's he's putting together called, "Dante Presents." They will be done sometime early this year, can't wait to see them! Had a blast on that trip and Jay Leno was there filming, too.

In September I participated in the World Series of Comedy in Las Vegas, a huge comedy festival, about 150 comics were there that week. Saw a lot of people I hadn't seen in awhile and met some bookers. Didn't have the best show while I was there, but still had a blast.

In October I found out that I made it into the first round of the Laughing Skull Festival as well. I have been accepting for every festival that I've auditioned for which makes me feel pretty good! I did a corporate gig in October that didn't make me feel very good. I almost got my balls chopped off by a dumb redneck read about it here.

Spent the last couple months getting ready for school and not doing many shows at all. I've been trying to write new material for next year, I really need to make some changes in my comedy if I want to make it to the "next level." I think if I work a little harder I can do it! 2012 I won't be doing as many shows either, but I'm trying to fill my calendar for the summer while I take a few months off of school. So if you know anyone that needs a comic this summer hit me up! My dates are on my website www.funnyfletcher.com

Hope everyone has a great 2012! My resolution is to cut out all the filler from my act and my life and just be solid! I think going to school will really help my stand-up act.

wits end

Once again sitting at a Greyhound station, which is great motivation to get to that headliner spot. Had a great weekend in Westminster, CO, at Wits End Comedy Club. My buddy, Dante(www.comicdante.com), was the headliner, I met him last year, super cool guy. Elliot Woolsey was the mc, he sold his bed last year, neat story.

Thursday night was Cinco de Mayo, so we had kind of a light crowd, but they were great. I think I actually like smaller crowds at Wits a little better. After the show we went to Buffalo Wild Wings with a local Denver comic, Troy Walker, he's a funny dude, check him out.

Friday night Dr Kevin Fitzgerald did a guest set, and channel 31 was there, they interviewed him and the club owner and filmed part of his set. He was great, I had never met him before. Both shows were a lot of fun, especially the late show. Late shows are fun, they usually like my humor a little more. The owner of the club said he is a big fan of mine, which is awesome.

Saturday night was the big 3 show night, that's almost like a real full time job. We had a couple guest sets, including the Alien Warrior Comic! Very cool! He's a guy who dresses as an alien and he's about 6'9", he's huge, check him out on youtube. Shows were all great as usual. It was great working with Elliot and Dante. Elliot had great shows all week. It was fun watching him. And its always fun watching Dante, he always rocks. And he was awesome enough to offer me a gig for a dvd taping in June out in LA! I'm excited about my first comedy trip out there.

I'm heading back to Albuquerque for a couple days then its off on the road for two weeks. Wednesday thru Sunday I will be at the Loony Bin in Oklahoma City with Theo Von from MTV Road Rules, should be a fun week!

Texas Trip

I just spent about a week and a half in Texas, it was 100 degrees every day! No rain or anything.

First week, I was at Hyenas in Fort Worth, working with Billy D. Washington, the opener was Shaun A, I'm not gonna try to spell his last name. Shows were great all weekend, Shaun was an awesome opener, really got the crowd into it! Billy D rocked, I'd never seen him before. He remembered me from the Comedy Works back in 2005 when I did a set for the contest. The staff was super cool, Jerod, the manager was awesome. Can't wait to go back for sure! They also have a couple of Dimebags guitars hanging on the wall, which is really neat.

Monday I went to San Antonio with Kris Shaw, we had a couple gigs in S. Texas, so we left on Monday. We went and hung out at River Center Comedy Club downtown and watched their open mic showcase. It was a nice club, got to see an old friend, Todd Larsen, and met some other cool comics. Tuesday we had lunch with David Beck, who was in town featuring, I met him once when I worked at Wits End, really nice guy. We went to lunch at some Italian place, I wish I could remember the name, it was awesome!

Tuesday night's show was in Weslaco at the Paradise Roadhouse. The crowd was pretty decent size, but not great laughers. I didn't have a very good set. But, it was fun. And the opener was Dat Nigga Tre. That's fun to say.

The next night was a lot better. We performed in McAllen at the Cine El Rey Theater, which is an amazing venue! Very good size crowd, kinda slow on some of the jokes, but I had a great time!

Thursday I headed back to Dallas to perform at Hyenas with Dante! I love working with Dante. The opener was Casey Coleman, it was his first time opening and he did a great job. Kind of reminded me of me when I was just starting out. Which sucks for him. Lol, jk. Well, Thursday night was pretty weird. Pretty small crowd and they didn't like to laugh at all, so it felt like a bad show. Everyone after the show seemed to enjoy it though and that's all that matters I guess. The weekend was awesome, had 4 sold out shows!! Billy, the manager, was great, too.

Met a lot of cool people on the trip, all the people at the clubs were awesome. Definately looking forward to going back to these clubs!

Excited for College Football to Start!

September 4th is Iowa's first game! Should be a blow out against E. Illinois. The following week is the big in state rivalry with Iowa State. I'll actually be up in Iowa, which will be pretty cool!

I lined up a gig at Little Willies in Clarion for that night! Did a show there back in April, it was a lot of fun. First time performing back in my hometown. Can't wait to do it again. Got some other gigs lined up that week in Wisconsin and possibly Minnesota as well! Check my schedule, I'll update it when I get the info. I'm typing like people actually read this.

Tonight I am doing a set at the downtown Comedy Works! I love performing there, the crowd was response is always amazing.

Thursday I'm bussing down to Dallas, I'm performing at Hyenas in Fort Worth Friday and Saturday, then I've got a couple one night gigs in S. Texas in Weslaco and McAllen on the 10th and 11th with Kris Shaw. Then back to Hyenas in Dallas for the 12th-14th with Dante! I worked with Dante a few months ago for the first time and had a blast.

I won't have much computer access while I'm out there, so no blogs probably.

Today I am going to a job fair at the airport. I'm really hoping to get a job there, it would be a nice part time job when I'm not on the road. And cheap flights!

Got in with a new booker today, too, Eric Yoder. Pretty excited about that!

And with college football about to start I'll make my top 25 list, I always like to do that before the season. I'm a huge nerd.