My last standup gig was in August of 2009. I played Showcase Live in Foxboro, Mass, opening for Louis Ramey. It was a pretty sweet gig. I had my own dressing room! And a personal waiter! And I didn't even have to order from the kids menu! And then someone asked me if I had my guest list. I didn't even know I was getting a guest list! I started texting furiously to see if I could get anyone to come out and make me look like a big shot. And at the end of the night they even gave me a CD of my performance. I'm still trying to convince myself that the smattering of laughs on it was due to the fact that they didn't mic the audience...
The next night, the Gobshites played there, opening for Young Dubliners (presumably so we could rub their nose in the fact that I decided to skip their show to see the 'Shites instead the year before...). It just seemed like a fitting time, and more than a little symbolic, to take a break from comedy at that point. I just wasn't getting the same thrill out of it anymore, you know? I wasn't writing nearly as much, and just the grind of trying to chase bookers down was getting to be a bore.
I was also starting to get a little bored with my material. I knew I was never going to be a Patton Oswalt or Louis CK, but I just wasn't even really feeling it anymore, even the stuff I knew worked really well. I could still pull off a good 30-40 minutes feature set, but just good. I wasn't getting great. I wasn't even striving to be great anymore. So I put comedy on hold for a bit.
Out of sheer habit, I still keep my notebook with me, telling myself that one of these days I'm going to start jotting things down again. And I will. One of these days. I haven't totally written off getting on a comedy club stage again. I'm sure I could get some spots around Boston and Providence if I wanted to. There's even a weekly open mic right around the corner from me, and I've been thinking a lot about heading over there some Wednesday night.
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