Hit Inwood, IA last night to work with the Sioux Falls crew again for a big youth rally thingy that they were putting on.
I picked up good SERVE buddy, and frequent blog comment poster, Dustin on the way. He attends college in Sioux Center, IA at Dordt, and was more than happy to ride along and help out with the talk I had to give. I had him dress up in his nerdy, hiked-up-all-the-way plaid shorts, sandals with black dress socks, and pink polo shirt to impersonate an older guy dancing. Don't ask why, it was just a very funny visual, and it got a lot of laughs. Then I talked about Jonathon, son of Shammah, brother of David from II Samuel, and talked about killing giants. The evening went pretty well. The band was made up of Troy, Dawn, and a bunch of high school folk, and actually rocked pretty hard considering they threw their set together that night.
On the way home though, I had to drive through the freakiest thunder storm I've ever seen. For about the last three hours of the journey, it was pouring rain, and lightning was striking all around in non-stop bursts. For anyone in western Iowa who saw it, it was completely crazy. There didn't seem to be a single moment were I couldn't see lightning striking somewhere. It was so bad, that each strike sent static interference through my radio and made it almost impossible to listen to.
Tons of people were pulling over to rest areas on the side of the road. I thought about doing the same thing. There were so many lightning strikes that seemed so close that I was actually a little scared of getting hit. But then I figured that if I kept moving, there was less of a chance of the lightning hitting me than if I just sat in one place, surrounded by a hundred other cars. I don't know how scientifically accurate that may be, but I didn't get struck, so I guess it worked.
It was fantastic to see Troy, Dawn, Luke, and Dustin again. We sat for a bit and laughed about how great Mark's wedding was a few weeks ago. We caught up on ministry stories, laughed till it hurt, and planned on seeing each other again in January when we head up to Michigan for a retreat.
Was this a really boring post? Seems like it. Let's see, what can liven it up? Hmmm. Dustin and I were amused greatly when I stopped at a gas station to get a fountain drink. On the side of the cup there was a cartoon picture of a dinosaur taking a shower. Think about that picture for a second. I really have no idea what it meant, or why it was on there, or who in this world thought, "You know what our fountain drink glasses need? Showering Dinosaurs!" But it was pretty hysterical. At least to Dustin and I.
I'm rambling. I'm tired. I think I'll just sign off now and try to get something more coherent down later in the week.
Till next time,
Jason
Monday, September 19, 2005
Monday, September 12, 2005
December in September
Drove up to Holland, MI for a quick stand-up show on Saturday/Sunday. It was at the Beechwood Church in Holland, and I was the opening act for southern-fried Christian rockers DecmeberRadio.
First off, DecemberRadio was fantastic. I had to take off early for the seven hour drive back to Pella, but I heard them warm up, and I heard the first few songs of the concert, and needless to say I was very intrigued. The only way I can really describe them is say they sound like a Christian version of someone like Lynard Skynard. They've got a sound that's greatly lacking in Christian music, and they're extremely talented. I got to snag one of their CD's on the way out - a collection of praise songs - and I'm giving it a listen as I type this. Very enjoyable. Check them out.
The show was outside on the lawn of the Beechwood Church. And, although I was breaking one of the cardinal rules of stand-up (never perform outside), the show went pretty well. The crowd was smaller than expected. It was a BEAUTIFUL night in Michigan, the Lions were playing, and there was another Christian concert not to far down the road, so not as many folks showed up they might have hoped, but it was still pretty good. And those that did show up still got a great rock concert, so it was definately worth it.
The stand-up went as well as could be expected for an outdoor event. The breeze was a little strong, the crowd was pretty far back from the stage, and they were pretty spread out. All of which is pretty on par for stand-up at an outdoor event. All that being said, there were some laughs to be had, and the staff of Beechwood smiled big, shook my hand, and had very kind words for my departure (which is always a good thing for a comedian).
All of which brings up an interesting topic I've been meaning to write on: The Top Five Unspoken Rules of Performing Stand-Up. "The rules", as I'll call them, were not developed by me, but by comedians that came before me long ago and far away, and have been passed down through the generations of willing saps who think they can tell a joke on stage. The concept is very simple. If you want to have a good stand-up show, try to stick to the following five things. (Listed in no particular order.)
1. Don't perform outside. Supposedly, small, dark, cool places are more conducive to comedy, and, for the most part, I'd have to agree. The closer the quarters, the more laughter seems to be contagious. Plus, being indoors, there are far less distractions for the audience. They're forced to focus forward onto the performer. While outdoor venues, on the other hand, are supposedly more ideal for music. You can spread out, get comfortable, and have a lot more choice about how loud you want the volume to be since you can choose how close you sit to the stage.
Is it true? Actually, for the most part, I find that it tends to be. I've only performed stand-up outdoors a few times, and the best I could ever say it went was "pretty good". There's just someting about being outdoors that seems odd for comedy. I got to see a couple of my favorite Christian comedians, Jay Laffoon and Taylor Mason, perform at the RISE Above music festival in Orange City, IA earlier this summer. They both were hilarious, of course, but even they weren't quite as effective outdoors.
2. No proms. I've blogged about this one before. The only entertainment that seems to work at proms is something that's interactive - hypnotists, magicians, karoake type stuff. The general rule of thumb is that the students are too tired, and more than likely have something other than comedy on their minds. It can often be a heckling nightmare.
For the most part, I turn all proms down now. Out of the handfull I've done, I've only ever had one successful one. They're brutal. I had one once where I was supposed to perform for an hour between the dinner and the dance. Well, twenty minutes in, no one was laughing, and I mean no one! I wrapped up and walked off. Turns out, as I was later told, the kids didn't want a comedian. So they decided that if they just refused to laugh, I'd quit earlier. They were right. One of the worst performance nights of my life.
3. Don't perform for crowds less than 50. The smaller the crowd, the less contagious the laughter. I'll give a message, read poetry, or peform improv for a crowd of 10 on any night, but stand-up needs more people. The smaller the crowd, the more self concious they get. Are the other 20 people laughing? I don't want to laugh real hard if they're not laughing! The larger the crowd, the easier it is for them to let go. I've found this rule of thumb to be right most of the time, and I always feel way more confident when the crowd is 100+.
4. Don't peform Before 1 PM. I think the actual rule is like 6 PM, but I don't mind lowering it a bit since I do a lot of camps, retreats, and the like. I think the thought here is that most people's brains aren't firing as quickly before noon, and I'd generally have to agree. There's nothing scarier than having to do a 9 AM show for a droopy-eyed group that looks like they'd rather be in bed. People are just way more serious before noon.
5. Don't peform just because it pays. This can be a hard rule to follow, especially when the rent's due. But some people just don't know when it's appropriate to hire a comedian. I don't turn down a lot of shows, in fact, I take a few every year that I probably shouldn't, but sometimes you just have to say "No, thank you."
I was once asked to do an hour of comedy in what I was told was going to be a retirement home. Well, I got there, and it wasn't a retirement home as much as it was a long term care facility for people who were dying. I'm pretty sure very few of the people were really coherent enough to know what was going on. There was some crying and yelling during a lot of it. Nurses were constantly coming in to help patients. And they wanted me for an hour???? At the twenty minute mark, I thanked them and walked off. While I understand that these folks need entertainment, I don't think that a 20-something youth director telling puke stories is quite appropriate.
I've had to say no to a lot of things - girl scout conventions, elementary school classes, library Christmas parties - but sometimes you have to tell the prospective employers that a comedian may not be in their best interest. It's hard, especially when the they're offering a nice check, but some shows just aren't worth the mental punishment on you or the audience.
Do I follow "the rules"? Eh, sometimes. I break them more often than most people I know. I tend to be an optimist when accepting shows, and take most everything. I've tried to diversify what I do enough that I can satisfy most crowds with enough preperation so that I can tell people, "Well, I don't know about stand-up, but I've got some pretty funny poems and stories I could read." For the most part, I've found them all to be fairly grounded in some pretty good truths, though.
This weekend I travel up Inwood, IA for a big youth rally with the Sioux Falls Crew I love so much. I'm giving a spiritual message, which I'm excited about after a rocky month or two of stand-up shows.
Andrea says she's got some great pics from Mark Elgersma's wedding from last week that I'm gonna try to blog soon.
Till next time,
Jason
First off, DecemberRadio was fantastic. I had to take off early for the seven hour drive back to Pella, but I heard them warm up, and I heard the first few songs of the concert, and needless to say I was very intrigued. The only way I can really describe them is say they sound like a Christian version of someone like Lynard Skynard. They've got a sound that's greatly lacking in Christian music, and they're extremely talented. I got to snag one of their CD's on the way out - a collection of praise songs - and I'm giving it a listen as I type this. Very enjoyable. Check them out.
The show was outside on the lawn of the Beechwood Church. And, although I was breaking one of the cardinal rules of stand-up (never perform outside), the show went pretty well. The crowd was smaller than expected. It was a BEAUTIFUL night in Michigan, the Lions were playing, and there was another Christian concert not to far down the road, so not as many folks showed up they might have hoped, but it was still pretty good. And those that did show up still got a great rock concert, so it was definately worth it.
The stand-up went as well as could be expected for an outdoor event. The breeze was a little strong, the crowd was pretty far back from the stage, and they were pretty spread out. All of which is pretty on par for stand-up at an outdoor event. All that being said, there were some laughs to be had, and the staff of Beechwood smiled big, shook my hand, and had very kind words for my departure (which is always a good thing for a comedian).
All of which brings up an interesting topic I've been meaning to write on: The Top Five Unspoken Rules of Performing Stand-Up. "The rules", as I'll call them, were not developed by me, but by comedians that came before me long ago and far away, and have been passed down through the generations of willing saps who think they can tell a joke on stage. The concept is very simple. If you want to have a good stand-up show, try to stick to the following five things. (Listed in no particular order.)
1. Don't perform outside. Supposedly, small, dark, cool places are more conducive to comedy, and, for the most part, I'd have to agree. The closer the quarters, the more laughter seems to be contagious. Plus, being indoors, there are far less distractions for the audience. They're forced to focus forward onto the performer. While outdoor venues, on the other hand, are supposedly more ideal for music. You can spread out, get comfortable, and have a lot more choice about how loud you want the volume to be since you can choose how close you sit to the stage.
Is it true? Actually, for the most part, I find that it tends to be. I've only performed stand-up outdoors a few times, and the best I could ever say it went was "pretty good". There's just someting about being outdoors that seems odd for comedy. I got to see a couple of my favorite Christian comedians, Jay Laffoon and Taylor Mason, perform at the RISE Above music festival in Orange City, IA earlier this summer. They both were hilarious, of course, but even they weren't quite as effective outdoors.
2. No proms. I've blogged about this one before. The only entertainment that seems to work at proms is something that's interactive - hypnotists, magicians, karoake type stuff. The general rule of thumb is that the students are too tired, and more than likely have something other than comedy on their minds. It can often be a heckling nightmare.
For the most part, I turn all proms down now. Out of the handfull I've done, I've only ever had one successful one. They're brutal. I had one once where I was supposed to perform for an hour between the dinner and the dance. Well, twenty minutes in, no one was laughing, and I mean no one! I wrapped up and walked off. Turns out, as I was later told, the kids didn't want a comedian. So they decided that if they just refused to laugh, I'd quit earlier. They were right. One of the worst performance nights of my life.
3. Don't perform for crowds less than 50. The smaller the crowd, the less contagious the laughter. I'll give a message, read poetry, or peform improv for a crowd of 10 on any night, but stand-up needs more people. The smaller the crowd, the more self concious they get. Are the other 20 people laughing? I don't want to laugh real hard if they're not laughing! The larger the crowd, the easier it is for them to let go. I've found this rule of thumb to be right most of the time, and I always feel way more confident when the crowd is 100+.
4. Don't peform Before 1 PM. I think the actual rule is like 6 PM, but I don't mind lowering it a bit since I do a lot of camps, retreats, and the like. I think the thought here is that most people's brains aren't firing as quickly before noon, and I'd generally have to agree. There's nothing scarier than having to do a 9 AM show for a droopy-eyed group that looks like they'd rather be in bed. People are just way more serious before noon.
5. Don't peform just because it pays. This can be a hard rule to follow, especially when the rent's due. But some people just don't know when it's appropriate to hire a comedian. I don't turn down a lot of shows, in fact, I take a few every year that I probably shouldn't, but sometimes you just have to say "No, thank you."
I was once asked to do an hour of comedy in what I was told was going to be a retirement home. Well, I got there, and it wasn't a retirement home as much as it was a long term care facility for people who were dying. I'm pretty sure very few of the people were really coherent enough to know what was going on. There was some crying and yelling during a lot of it. Nurses were constantly coming in to help patients. And they wanted me for an hour???? At the twenty minute mark, I thanked them and walked off. While I understand that these folks need entertainment, I don't think that a 20-something youth director telling puke stories is quite appropriate.
I've had to say no to a lot of things - girl scout conventions, elementary school classes, library Christmas parties - but sometimes you have to tell the prospective employers that a comedian may not be in their best interest. It's hard, especially when the they're offering a nice check, but some shows just aren't worth the mental punishment on you or the audience.
Do I follow "the rules"? Eh, sometimes. I break them more often than most people I know. I tend to be an optimist when accepting shows, and take most everything. I've tried to diversify what I do enough that I can satisfy most crowds with enough preperation so that I can tell people, "Well, I don't know about stand-up, but I've got some pretty funny poems and stories I could read." For the most part, I've found them all to be fairly grounded in some pretty good truths, though.
This weekend I travel up Inwood, IA for a big youth rally with the Sioux Falls Crew I love so much. I'm giving a spiritual message, which I'm excited about after a rocky month or two of stand-up shows.
Andrea says she's got some great pics from Mark Elgersma's wedding from last week that I'm gonna try to blog soon.
Till next time,
Jason
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
The Wedding Singer Part Deux
So Andrea and I headed up to Minneapolis, MN to visit good friends, and new midwesterners, Mark and Lisa Leiknes and their baby Lucy. We had a fantastic time. They just moved back from California. Mark is one of my old friends from when I used to do sketch comedy in Grandma Mojo's Moonshine Revival at Iowa State University. He's probably the funniest guy I've ever met, and he currently works as a freelance graphic artist (which I think is a paltry use of his amazing comedy talents, but alas, he's a pretty awesome graphic designer, so what are you going to do?). Lisa is a school teacher and quite a bit of good fun herself. I don't think I've ever seen her without a smile on her face - except for when she told us about the accidental toxic poisoning of their cat (who they've named "Ourselves" so that they could say, "We named our cat after ourselves!") which resulted in the loss of part of its liver. Who knew the dangerous lives of cats? Good thing they have nine, huh?
We went out for supper, watched Mark berate a Mexican restaurant employee for their lack of air conditioning, ate some good food, bought a pizza, watched Shaolin Soccer, and basically laughed non stop for about a day straight.
The baby is gorgeous and extremely well tempered. I got to give her the nightly feeding on Friday and she promplty fell asleep in my arms. I may have to get me one of those some day.
Overall, it was a great night, and it makes me really glad that the Leiknes' have moved back closer to Iowa from California. Mark also got some great career news that I'm really excited about, but alas, it is top secret, so I will have to wait to post about it. But it's really cool, and as soon as I get the go ahead, I will write away.
Then it was on to Sheboygan, Wisconsin for the main event of our Labor Day Weekend - The wedding of good friend and ministry partner Mark Elgersma to his lovely bride Cassie Smies. For those of you who may not know, I've gotten to become friends with Mark E. during the last three years over the course of all the Sioux Falls SERVE projects I've spoken at. Mark is the sound man, running all the sound for the band and my microphones. He's also just an amazingly great guy, hilarious prankster, and a real man of God. He's helped me so much in my own ministry ways over the last three years.
Well, the wedding was on Labor Day Monday at 11 AM and I was asked to emcee the reception, but the families of the betrothed couple invited everyone up early to enjoy the wonders of Sheboygan.
The town is beautiful. It's right on lake Michigan, has beaches and water like an ocean, tons of great shops and restaurants, and the weather is beautiful this time of year. We walked, ate at a place called The Mucky Duck, had a picnic, played cards, and had an unbelievable amount of fun with all the Sioux Fall-ites that trekked up for the adventure that was Mark's wedding.
Being the emcee for the reception was a lot of fun. I'll admit that for the first time in a long time I was pretty nervous. I'm usually not one to fall prey to those nasty butterflies, but they were biting pretty hard on Monday afternoon. I suppose it was because there were so many people I really liked and respected in the crowd, but, as Andrea will attest, it made me rather testy to be around for awhile till it was over.
I told a few stories about Mark - the first time I met Cassie and wondered how he got someone like her - watching Mark and and Dan Tenapel chase each other in their underpants one night - and the crowd seemed to enjoy them. Troy Kooima shared the legendary story about the "underwear ninjas" which I may have to expound on someday in the blog. And Son's of Thunder band member Danny Fergen basically just stood there looking like a heart throb in his tux and stole everyone's thunder.
Then Dan Tenapel and Troy Kooima joined me for a new rendition of the wedding song from Jill and Rob's wedding, and the crowd seemed to enjoy that as well.
It was a gorgeous wedding, a perfect weekend, and a ton of fun. Plus, I got to go on a long romatic walk with Andrea down a mile long pier and around a lighthouse which was a pretty big plus!
I'm heading off for Michigan, and possibly Chicago, this weekend to lead some worship services and speak at a rally. I'll hopefully have another update in less than a week!
Till next time,
Jason
We went out for supper, watched Mark berate a Mexican restaurant employee for their lack of air conditioning, ate some good food, bought a pizza, watched Shaolin Soccer, and basically laughed non stop for about a day straight.
The baby is gorgeous and extremely well tempered. I got to give her the nightly feeding on Friday and she promplty fell asleep in my arms. I may have to get me one of those some day.
Overall, it was a great night, and it makes me really glad that the Leiknes' have moved back closer to Iowa from California. Mark also got some great career news that I'm really excited about, but alas, it is top secret, so I will have to wait to post about it. But it's really cool, and as soon as I get the go ahead, I will write away.
Then it was on to Sheboygan, Wisconsin for the main event of our Labor Day Weekend - The wedding of good friend and ministry partner Mark Elgersma to his lovely bride Cassie Smies. For those of you who may not know, I've gotten to become friends with Mark E. during the last three years over the course of all the Sioux Falls SERVE projects I've spoken at. Mark is the sound man, running all the sound for the band and my microphones. He's also just an amazingly great guy, hilarious prankster, and a real man of God. He's helped me so much in my own ministry ways over the last three years.
Well, the wedding was on Labor Day Monday at 11 AM and I was asked to emcee the reception, but the families of the betrothed couple invited everyone up early to enjoy the wonders of Sheboygan.
The town is beautiful. It's right on lake Michigan, has beaches and water like an ocean, tons of great shops and restaurants, and the weather is beautiful this time of year. We walked, ate at a place called The Mucky Duck, had a picnic, played cards, and had an unbelievable amount of fun with all the Sioux Fall-ites that trekked up for the adventure that was Mark's wedding.
Being the emcee for the reception was a lot of fun. I'll admit that for the first time in a long time I was pretty nervous. I'm usually not one to fall prey to those nasty butterflies, but they were biting pretty hard on Monday afternoon. I suppose it was because there were so many people I really liked and respected in the crowd, but, as Andrea will attest, it made me rather testy to be around for awhile till it was over.
I told a few stories about Mark - the first time I met Cassie and wondered how he got someone like her - watching Mark and and Dan Tenapel chase each other in their underpants one night - and the crowd seemed to enjoy them. Troy Kooima shared the legendary story about the "underwear ninjas" which I may have to expound on someday in the blog. And Son's of Thunder band member Danny Fergen basically just stood there looking like a heart throb in his tux and stole everyone's thunder.
Then Dan Tenapel and Troy Kooima joined me for a new rendition of the wedding song from Jill and Rob's wedding, and the crowd seemed to enjoy that as well.
It was a gorgeous wedding, a perfect weekend, and a ton of fun. Plus, I got to go on a long romatic walk with Andrea down a mile long pier and around a lighthouse which was a pretty big plus!
I'm heading off for Michigan, and possibly Chicago, this weekend to lead some worship services and speak at a rally. I'll hopefully have another update in less than a week!
Till next time,
Jason
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