New Mexico/Arizona and Food Poisoning

Well, Thursday night Nov 18th, I was originally booked in El Paso at a bar gig, but the bar closed down. Sad times, I'm out 100 bucks, but get to spend an extra day with family! Also, my friend, Rusty Rutherford, had a show lined up in Albuquerque at Terrene Hookah, a comedy contest! We actually emailed each other at the exact same time, I asked him for a spot, and he asked me to do a spot, kind of a weird thing that happened there. So before the show I had some time to kill, so I called up my buddy, Nate, to see what he was up to. His band was jamming from 5-7 so I cruised down there to check out the jam session. AnesthesiA is extremely talented! Just watching them jam is amazing, I hope they make it far, they certainly deserve it. Steve's drum set gets bigger every time I see them, it's amazing how he can keep track of all those drums. Wish I could have made it to their show at the Launchpad.

After the jam session I decided to head down to Joe's, which is right next to the Hookah bar. Chatted with some of the comics before the show, met some of the new comics in town, too. The show started a little after 9, I was the 7th comic to go on out of ten. I hung out outside with some friends and missed part of the show, there wasn't much room to watch the show. I had a really solid set, ended up winning first place, Sarah Kennedy got second. I ended up winning some prize money! Got me to Tucson pretty easily which was nice.

I got to Tucson Friday about two hours before the show, I was able to shower and then met up with the headliner, Paul Hooper, from Charlotte, who I had worked with in Oklahoma City back in 2008. He's an awesome comic, if you haven't heard of him yet, you will. Especially if you are reading this. So, the shows in Tucson over the weekend were great! I liked the Friday crowds a little more than Saturday, but can't complain since they were all awesome. I always have a great time at Laffs, the staff and all the local comics are super cool, too, which is always nice.

For some reason Saturday night, Paul and I went to the Denny's by the hotel. It was good while we were there, but not the next day. I got up about 830 and my stomach wasn't feeling very good, i won't go into detail about what happened or anything like that, that's gross. I took Paul to the airport and felt fine then. But, when I got back to my hotel, things weren't really sitting right. I knew it was going to be a long day, so I just decided to rent the hotel for an extra day. It ended up being an awful day! Felt like crap, didn't get anything done, I was pretty bummed. And the Hawkeyes lost a close game to Ohio State the day before, that was pretty sad times, too.

So, now I am back at home in Denver, and I'm feeling better, I just don't have my appetite back yet. I doubt I'll ever go to Denny's again. I am going to McCormick's tomorrow for Thanksgiving with Caitlin! That should be fun, a new place to try. Hope I have my appetite back for that! Caitlin and I have also decided to move back to Albuquerque right around Christmas time! Nothing against Denver, we love it here, but Albuquerque is where most of our family is, and the climate is better.

Laughing Skull 1st Round

Well, I advanced to the first round of the Laughing Skull Festival at Cap City Comedy Club in Austin, Texas. Here's a rundown of what went down.

MC-JR Brow: One of my favorite comics to watch, had to warm up the crowd. Always a pleasure to watch him work.
Julie Kitayama: Came from out East, had a funny set, very likable. Crappy that she had to go first, but she did a great job.
Amy Snowden: Very funny, unique comic, should have gotten a better response. She was one of my favorites of the night though.
Jim Kirkland: Very physical, funny, got great response from the crowd. And he was super cool, he took 2nd.
Stan Silliman: Only old person on the show and was very funny.
Lucas Molandes: Had the set of the night, great material. He got first place. Cool guy, too.
Rob Read: I can't remember any of his jokes right now, but he was a good writer. Also, super cool. Pretty new comic, too.
Jay Dee: Had a good set, he gets better every time I see him.
Me: Had a great set, took 3rd.
Nicholas Aluotto: Good writer, pretty dead pan.
Brian Gaar: Has some great material, with more experience he's gonna be solid.

JR introduced everyone the same, "this comic is a very good friend of mine." He did a great job the show had a nice flow to it. I worked with JR in 2003, my second road gig at Laffs in Tucson. He gave me a lot of pointers that week and I always appreciated the help. He's one of the nicest guys in the business.

Another comic closed the show, I can't remember his name. He went up without trying to be funny, it was pretty entertaining. At that point I didn't care if I placed or not, I knew I had a great set and I was happy to perform at a new club with great comics. I met most of the comics and they all seemed really cool! Seems like the have a great comedy scene in Austin.

Tonight I'm doing a set back in Albuquerque at Terrene Hookah! Should be fun, I've never done the show before. Heading to Tucson for the weekend!

New Travels

Tonight me and the misses are heading down to New Mexico to spend some time with the family. Saturday and Sunday we're gonna hang out in Fort Sumner and Clovis! Monday we'll be in Albuquerque, my nephew is turning three! Tuesday I fly to Austin to perform at Cap City for the Laughing Skull Comedy Festival! Wednesday and Thursday I'll be back in Albuquerque hanging out.

Friday and Saturday next week I'm performing with Paul Hooper at Laffs Comedy Club in Tucson! Paul is an awesome comic, Laffs is a great club. Going to be a fun weekend. I'll keep you posted how I do in Austin! If I make the top 2 I'll advance to Atlanta in April! Lots of ! in this blog, sorry about that. !

Illegal Petes Final Show

Last night was the final show at Illegal Petes. I'm kind of going to miss it, because I was supposed to headline December 4th and get 50 bucks and a free burrito. But, last night was pretty fun, tried a new joke and got a free burrito!

Yesterday, I took a class called Step Up Your Stand Up with Jeff Singer. It was a fun class, it was good to see some of the younger comics. I think the feedback was really helpful for me as well, which is what I was hoping for.

I'm really excited for the show in Austin November 16th! Here's a list of comics I'm competing against: Nicholas Aluotto, Jay Dee, Brian Gaar, Jim Kirkland, Julie Kitayama, Lucas Molandes, Stan Silliman, Amy Snowden, and Rob Read. Jay Dee is the only one I know out of the group.

Comedy Works tonight

Tonight I got to mc at the Comedy Works downtown. Definately wasn't expecting to get on to perform let alone mc. I didn't have a great set or anything, I should have been more prepared. The comics were great tonight, saw a few comics I hadn't seen before. My cousin Dave left me a voice mail, while I was mc'ing, so I called him after the show. His best friend just got in a pretty bad car accident and has had a lot of problems this year, so Dave asked me to do a benefit show for him in Algona, Iowa. Dave's a cool cousin, I'm glad we got in touch after so many years. I hadn't seen or talked him since the mid 90's, but he found me on myspace a few years ago and we've got to hang out when I go back to Iowa which is nice.

Added a couple new bookings to my calendar, I'll be doing the Loony Bins in Oklahoma City and Wichita in May 2011. I haven't been to Wichita in quite awhile. The Oklahoma City club I featured at in May 2009, I worked with Paul Hooper, that was a fun week. I'm working with Paul in a couple weeks in Tucson!

I've been writing articles recently forBuxmag.com I've been doing reviews and previews of college football games and other things on there. It's been a lot of fun, even though I don't know much about Colorado, Colorado State or Air Force. Growing up in Iowa, I was always a Hawkeye fan, and always will be! And they whipped Michigan State's ass with a belt on Saturday!

Comedy Works and Laughing Skull

Last night I did a set at the Comedy Works south club for the "Bring It On" comedy contest. I hate contests, even ones I win, which I did last night! Still, I don't like them. The crowd was a lot of fun, they really liked my stuff. I wasn't expecting much since it was Halloween and it fell on a Sunday. But it turned out great, and I got to perform with some great comics.

After I got home I got an email that notified that I got in the Laughing Skull Festival first round and I'll be performing in Austin, Texas, on November 16th at Cap City Comedy Club!! I'm really excited about it, I've never performed in Austin.

I'm eating breakfast.