"The grass ain't greener, the wine ain't sweeter either side of the hill!"
Baldwin City, KS
Tonight I'm performing at Baker University in Baldwin City, KS. It's a small school of about 2000 total students at like 4 different campuses. It was founded by Methodist ministers years and years ago and it's the oldest university in Kansas.
"Wow, Matt tell us more!"
We're about 3 hours till showtime and I've spent most of the day in a BBQ joint on the main drag, "downtown." The school provided a hotel room last night because tonight I am doing the show and then driving to Joplin, MO then to Ft. Smith, AR tomorrow for a flight to LA for Last Comic Standing Auditions on Monday. The bummer is because I was in the hotel last night this morning I had to check out at 11am. I went to the library till noon. Since 12 I have been in this BBQ joint. I watched FSU beat Miami, MD beat VA, Nova drop a tough one to WVA, Kansas beat Mizzou and Louisville won their final game at their old arena against #1 Syracuse.
I've spent the day writing PG jokes for the students of Baker because apparently this school is sort of religious and the students need Parental Guidance. I thought college was the time when we started guiding ourselves but what the hell do I know?
I drove over from Lawrence yesterday after spending five days there. To be perfectly honest I'm kind of over the whole Kansas thing. I don't really understand the appeal. I mean, somebody sell me on it. Go! ... I thought so.
The midwest. Go! I don't get it. Oceans? No. Mountains? No. And you know the weird thing. I don't even really need oceans and mountains. Skyscapers? No. Crime? No. Pollution? No.
I need me some city! And no Kansas City doesn't count. I love the mess. I love the chaos. I'm too poor to sit still in a place like this while people mix it up elsewhere.
Don't get me wrong everybody is really nice. The food is good. But that's it.
I got in yesterday and had the chance to walk around downtown... 97 times.
So I'm moving to NY.
I came to this decision the other day after a show in Topeka. I was headlining at Bullfrogs Live. Nice enough place. Good people. Nice crowds. Very kind. But here is the difference. They like a show, they like to be involved but too many people wanted to derail the show by talking. And trust me, where some comedians just plow through it I like to address it. Involve them. And I realize that this in many cases just instigates the crowd. I was close to ejecting someone and then I realized that really the blame lay on me for pushing it.
The problem though is that most comedians who value what it is we do put alot of effort into their set. Their jokes are important to them. And when people talk through a setup, catch the punch and then stare like it's my fault, I just find that really irritating.
And for some reason people think comedy is this art form where audience participation at inappropriate moments is okay. And it's not. If you're paying to see a comedian and then you talk, why go in the first place? I think it's because laughter is such a hot commodity in our lives.
Making people laugh is dope. It's a high. There isn't anything in life that is on the same playing field. What's the best medicine? Laughter. And people in crowds get excited. They want to add to the show to be a part of it. But somewhere this conflicts with a comedians desire to have people appreciate what we've worked so hard on.
I wish more bookers appreciated the idea of doing shows that are more thought provoking. I spoke to a booker the other day who said he wasn't interested in hiring me because my laughs per minute weren't high enough. I said that's fine and offered to send a 45min from my USO Tour show. He said that wasn't the same as a club crowd that it's easy to make soldiers laugh because they are so starved for entertainment. Frankly I disagree and I also feel like if in order to play certain clubs I need to be some fucking hack with shitty one liner dick jokes then I may never make it on stage in some of those clubs. I'm happy with my LsPM.
I love doing crowd work. I feel like I'm slowly getting better at it and I wouldn't want to do a show without it but when it comes to dealing with a room full of people yelling out and not adding anything to the show it becomes frustrating.
There are many reasons for this decision to move to NY but here are a few...
1. Great place to do a lot of stand up.
2. Close to home.
3. Fellow comedians who impress me.
4. Audiences that will appreciate new ideas and performers who take risks.
5. Home to the comedy shows that impress me, intimidate me and make me want to work towards being a great writer.(i.e. The Daily Show, Colbert, SNL, 30 Rock, Letterman & what the hell Jimmy Fallon(Give him time he'll awwight.) Not to mention The New Yorker magazine.
6. It's NY and I can wear my O's hat and eventually one day we'll beat them and win the World Series.
7. The Red Sox suck.
8. Toronto and Tampa are fine places but they don't meet any of the above criteria.
Those are my thoughts and they are always disputed.
-Bored in Baker
Matt
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