Thursday, April 29, 2004

Mexico Lindo! Ay ay ay! Of course I had my favorite small combo cheese enchilada. I am committed to that food item. Commitment is a good thing that we don't see enough of in this world. I was the host -- my first chance ever -- and it was hella fun! There were only a few audience members, and a few of them weren't even that interested, so I mostly riffed, which was fun and a good release and I felt relaxed and I didn't even have my usual 2 Margaritas first! Everyone did a great job: Sharman, Colleen, Melanie, Dr. Scott, Scott Fell (hilarious! 3 snorts, 2 applause breaks and some release of bodily fluids -- plus you should have seen the audience reaction!), and of course, my hero, Michael Slack. Mexico Lindo is a great place for dinner and comedy. Come on out!

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Big Rooster T. Feathers finals. Too excited to eat. Well, I did have one California roll (that's a kind of sushi for my friends in the midwest). I had a great set, and a great time, but did not place this year. Hell, I'm just surprised and proud I actually made it to the finals! Thanks so much to all that came out to support me, too numerous to mention here. Thanks to the SFCC for all their support, and thanks to Sandi Selvi for arranging the limo and the party at the Grand Hotel. It was grand!

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Another day, another contest. Club Avalon. Dinner was the wonderful buffet that they had for all guests, it really was worth the experience of performing there. Noreen Sullivan and Ian Jensen and Dave McRae and Matt Morales and Dave Deluca, Leah Eva, Dan Edwards, David Powell. Did I forget anyone? I just had a blast with Noreen and Ian and Dave. Okay, here's my version of what happened: I drew number 1, which sucks, but what are you going to d?. I was promised a light at 6. I have my tight set timed out to 6.5. As I know I'm getting to the end of it, no light. Okay, maybe I rushed, I'll add another one-liner. Still no light. Now I'm asking, "did I get the light? Where's the light?" which I think is not very professional, but I was starting to freak. Now I have absolutely no idea how much time is left, so I don't know what bits to start into. Finally I said, "this is the longest 7 minutes I've ever spent" which I'm sure didn't make me look good in front of the judges, but I was freakin up there. I'm not complaining . . . BUT, the other thing that was messed up was that I was first, and the host didn't have his paperwork with him, so he just introduced me "Here comes Beth!" Everyone else got a full on introduction with all their credits, etc. Will I try again? It's stage time. So probably yes.

Monday, April 26, 2004

First competition of the week! At the Rose & Crown, which I love going to because of the atmosphere and I meet all my favorite comedians there and of course because they serves Boddy's on tap. But I never really seem to be able to connect with that audience. They seem to like jokes about f**king, or being f**ked, or how to properly perform oral sex. Plus, I got freaked watching all the other comedians doing really well with their dick jokes, and so I changed some material around at the last minute, which threw me off. But, I went into it knowing I wouldn't place. It was just another opportunity for stage time. Anywhooo, for dinner I had rarebit, with sourdough toast, made right there at the Rose & Crown. I loved it, but it did smell like feet. Nora Lavelle thought it smelled like ass. I think someone's been sticking their feet up her ass. Just kidding! I love Nora. Among the placers were Guy Brannum (I still don't think I'm spelling his name right) and Dattner, who both are really clever comedians who don't rely too much on blue material. You HAVE to check out Dattner's Web site: www.monkpunk.org. Erikka was also there, not competing, but I do love to see that little smurfette!

Sunday, April 25, 2004

After a long day of lawn comedy in the hot Santa Cruz sun, I had beef chow fun with black bean sauce for dinner. Probably should have had cold soba or something. Anyway, the heat did not deter me, but the smell emanating from my underarm region did, but only a little. I try to work within my limitations, which means not putting my arms up over my head if I don't have to. Anyway, the gig at the Actors Studio was great! Good crowd, great comedians, and some actual customers who found about it from one of the local papers. Advertising works! Awesome.

Thursday, April 22, 2004

Happy Bearthday to Edo! How did you celebrate Earth Day? I drove my car a lot. Went up to "the city" (Sean hates it when people refer to San Francisco as "the city," but what does he expect? Sacramento is not a proper "city") to be part of the Thursday 50 Mason Street Showcase and open mic. The smattering of comedians throughout the room had to pass for an audience (although something like 4 people actually paid to get in!). For dinner I had my leftover 1/2 of a fish burrito. Are you supposed to keep that kind of thing in your car all day then eat it? Guy Branum (not sure of the spelling of his last name) is hysterical. Sean keeps spreading the rumor that I'm Jewish. Not that there's anything wong with that. In fact, I'm probably by bloodline at least 1/4 Jewish, but that's the same percentage as Sean! Being mistaken for Jewish just might help me get ahead in this biz.

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

Had an opportunity to try out a room in the city called The Exit Theater. It is a very cool small space. It was mostly comedians in the audience, but it was still a fun night. I got to see a few people perform that I've never seen before, and also saw buddies like Dattner, Vlad, and Jason Downs. For dinner I had this really delicious "wrapp" (I'm not sure what the extra P does) of brie, garlic, roasted red pepper and black olive. Just the kind of thing Edo would probably hate. I washed it down with a few Anchor Steams. Thanks to Jason Wheeler for giving me some stage time!

Friday, April 16, 2004

Had a chance to perform at the brand new SF Comedy Club at 50 Mason Street. It's a nice room, although small, and they are still working on getting the beer and wine license. Dinner? Nothing actually. How could I have forgotten, that so rarely happens. I was the headliner following a great group of comedians I'd never really seen before. Thanks to Pamela and Brenda who came out to see me. But the guy who invited all his students needs to tell him that it's poor form for them all to leave after he's finished. I don't remember his name, but I didn't even think he was funny, then his fans all bailed and I KNEW he wasn't funny. Noreen Sullivan was a hoot, especially with Ian and Sean as her fly-boys. And Jennifer in the bridesmaid dress was really darling. She just needs to drop the notes. I did about 20 minutes and did well with what was left of the audience. I can't wait to work there again!

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Mexico Lindo! I don't even know what I did there. It seems a haze. Not because of the two Margaritas that I had, but more because the audience was in some ways (yelling things out) a very participatory one, but in other ways (laughing and applauding) not so much. Actually, I had a lot of fun with a couple of guys sitting at the bar, and I had a good set overall, despite the fact that most of the customers left when I told them they'd have to pay $5 to stay. As for dinner? DELICIOSO cheese enchiladas, what I always have at Mexico Lindo. Ronnie the bartender remembers me from last "season" because and I some friends used to go watch the games there. Ronnie gave me free drinks that night, but keep it on the DL.

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Road trip! Sort of. Sandy Stec and I carpooled up to the city (San Fran, that is) to try a new open mic at the Canvas Cafe. What a great place in a great part of the city! They had tremendous food. I had a walnut gorgonzola salad thingy (I have no qualms about gorgonzola) and 2 Cosmos and 2 Espresso martinis. What did I care? I wasn't driving. Again my buddy Vlad was there as was Raymond Lue and Eli Tapley, but mostly Sandy, Vlad and I chatted. That Vlad totally cracks me up. Anywhooo, I did a 7 minute set to another weird audience. The room was really big and there were like 5 people up close and the rest were all the way in the back of the room. But, I think it will grow and get a good reputation, and it is totally worth it to go back again.

Friday, April 9, 2007

Co-headliner at Rooster T. Feathers, Rick D'Elia, asked me to do a guest set, but of course I cleared it with Heather first, and got to do 7 minutes at the Friday night late show. It wasn't quite as smooth as the Wednesday show (I'm my own worst critic of course), but I still did really well. It was such a great line-up at Roosters. Rick D'Elia and Brian Collins were co-headliners, and my buddy Jeff Applebaum was the opener. I think I had nachos for dinner that night. Jimi was my escort since my car was on the fritz, and she claims to have had a blast!

Wednesday, April 7, 2004

Cock-a-doodle-dooooooo! I was in the semi-finals of the 2nd Annual Rooster T. Feathers Comedy Competition. I worked that day too, so I really don't think I ate anything. Maybe a hot dog or something while I was waiting to go on, but I have no recollection of that! At any rate, it was a great night with a great lineup. Supporting me in the audience were Kate and John, Wendy and Dan, Edo, Mary and her friend (sorry I don't remember her name), Tonya, Aimee, Cheryl, Ilene, William and a couple of his friends, Bill, Zara, Lurdes, and Zara's friend, Richie, and Jimi (but only from behind the bar). What a great show of support. You guys ROCK HARD! End result was that I took third place, so I'm going to the FINALS. Look for me at Roosters on Wednesday, April 28. Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!

Saturday, April 3, 2004

Now it was my chance to do the lawn thing. I got 10 minutes, again opening for an improv troupe (I don't really remember their names). It was decent. I had to riff, so I did. The more I do it the less I'll be scared of it! Didn't eat much that day. Attended a workshop on the business of comedy, and bought some sort of turkey croissant thingy at Starbucks (yes, they have Starbucks in Florida, too, but they are not yet as prevalent as the Waffle House), but I never got around to eating it until just before my second gig of the day, 10 minutes of Revolving Door Comedy at the Famous Door bar. There was zero crowd, except for us and some of the improv troupe people. It was weird. Still, fun. Then I was too exhausted to do anything else. All in all, the festival was more like a mini-vacation for me than a festival. I spent more time on the beach, shopping, watching the sunset, etc. than performing. But it was a good experience.

Friday, April 2, 2004

Big meal of the day I guess was barbeque with Bob, Sal, Reggie and Sharman. It was very good. But they gave us plastic forks and knives. Have there been terrorist threats against the restaurants of the Village of Baytowne Wharf? Probably not. Just cheap, I guess. Anyway, this was my big day. My main event. Doing 15 minutes at the Destin Commons Mall (that's right, I said MALL) to open for an "extreme improv" troupe called Name Change Pending. I did 15 minutes of bipolar disorder material. The crowd (2 guys, and one lady with a little baby) loved it. Kurtis says I'm the only mall comic he knows that would do bipolar material. So now I'm a mall comic? Went to watch the others finish up Revolving Door Comedy, and stayed for the next group which I think were called Asian sings the Blues. I got called up on stage to be the object of the "Ode to a Fag Hag" song. Later we saw Reggie Steele do his thing at the Punchline, and he did a great job. Much smaller crowd than opening night, but still a gig on the Punchline stage! Afterwards, Kurtis took me and a few others to the Doughnut Hole. I super-sized my Hole.

Thursday, April 1, 2004

My day off. Actually, Sharman had a day off too as I recall. We headed over to the Village of Baytowne Wharf (does that sound like a retirement community or what?) to watch the boys (Sal Calani and Michael Slack) do their lawn performances. Like pulling teeth to get a smattering of tourists spread out in the hot sun to get a good giggle on. They should have been serving free alcohol! Sharman and I had pizza for lunch/dinner. The best part of the day was watching Kurtis Matthews, our friend and mentor, feature on the Grand Opening Night of the Destin Punchline. Are there stars out tonight? You betcha. You should see the stage of the Destin Punchline. It's all constellationy and stuff. Kurtis killed. Good for you. You made your cuts.

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Destined for Destin, FL. Actually, Sharman and I arrived the evening before, after a short detour through Alabama (my bad! I have to work on that). Wednesday was a gorgeous day, we walked on the beach like lovers (I do love Sharman, but not in THAT way), I was taking lots of photos along the way. What a nice relaxing day, and we took a nap and everything! Then we headed over to 3thirty1 or three30one or whatever that restaurant was called. I had the pasta with seafood. It was free. Yeah! I did 10 minutes after dinner, as did Sharman and Bob Brindley. No great shakes. The audience was partly other participants in the festival and partly people who were just there for the bar. It was kind of like performing at the Rose and Crown.

More dinners . . .

Copyright 2003, 2004 Elizabeth A. Schumann. All rights reserved.