Saturday, March 1, 2008

1:03 AM - Friday Night.

I'm sitting in my apartment in Harlem. Here are a few things that have been on my mind the past week or so. I am constantly surprised at all the things that pop back up in my life from my past. I'm slowly beginning to realize that every little thing you do matters. Sometimes I blow things off as not really mattering, and I only put forth a half-hearted effort, but then somewhere down the road it comes back into my life, and I realize I could have done better at it. I don't have too many good examples of this. I suppose an easy example is when I'm not as nice to someone as I should be, and then somehow they end up playing a bigger role in my life than I thought they would have. Not that I was mean to them to begin with, but I just don't always give my full effort in talking with people, or listening to what they have to say because I am trapped up in my own world. I meet people all the time when I am out doing comedy or when I hang out with friends, and then months later I will meet them again, even though I thought I would never see this or that person again, and at this point I wish I would have remembered more about them, or paid more attention the first time I met them, etc. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm just trying to give everything my all in every little thing I do.

This weekend is shaping up to be a pretty solid one so far. I have 2 friends from DC staying with me this weekend, so that is nice. Its always nice to see old friends. Tomorrow and Sunday are looking pretty busy as well. I have a lot of stuff I plan to get done.

I've been meditating a lot recently, and I think its really helping me out. I am such a fast paced person, and I am constantly on the go. Even if you sit with me for a meal, which should be a relatively relaxing event, my knee will constantly bounce up and down, or my body will make all these weird little twitches, just because I always have to be moving, as long as I am awake. I'd actually kind of like to videotape myself to see how much I move in my sleep.

My comedy is going well. I have a bunch of shows posted on my myspace. There are a lot of good ones on there, and I am very excited about the next 2 months. Comedy has got to be one of the most confusing things I have ever done. For the past month, I have had great sets almost every night, but now, for the past 1.5 weeks, I have been just mediocre, and stale. I think it is a sign that I need some new, fresh material. Sometimes that is the case. Just last night I did a show, and in the middle of my set, this guy goes, "How about some jokes!". It's amazing to me that this guy shouted this out during my set. I didn't get angry, its just interesting to me that someone's brain would tell them to say something during another person's performance. I can definitely understand the notion that someone does not like a joke, that is clear to me, but why someone would not just be quite and keep it to themselves is beyond me. I started off the set by telling 2 really good jokes, and they both got nice laughs, so then I went into a new story that I am working on, and it doesn't hit as hard as the first 2 jokes, so this guy yells, "Let's hear some jokes!" The thing about comedy is that everyone thinks its easy. Some people will drink a few beers, and then think they are hilarious. I didn't get mad at this hecklar at all. I just talked to him honestly. I was like, "Really dude, you didn't think I told any jokes?. I'm working on this new story and I thought I could try it out here but I guess not." Then, I got some nice laughs just talking with this dude, and then I closed my set by telling him that I was going to do a joke just for him, and I told one of my better jokes directly toward him, looking at him the whole time, and the joke got 3 - 4 laughs in different places, and even he was laughing, and I went out on top. Moral of the story, don't try to mess with someone who knows more about something than you do. This guy thought he could say his hacky hecklar line and get a laugh, but in the end he lost.

Alright, guess that's it. I'm off to bed.

Later,

Lance Weiss
"Makin' It Happen! 2008"

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