When it’s okay to feel good about the next guy eating it…

(I worry this title might somehow end up in the wrong message board.)

Thanks for your patience on the entries.  I had PRK surgery a few days ago (like LASIK only more  painful) so I can’t see the screen all that well just yet.  I haven’t been on stage in over two weeks which I haven’t done in years, but at the last show I was in, fellow St. Louis comic, Josh Arnold and I were talking about some of the tough rooms we had both worked.  Turns out he doesn’t do well with hipsters either.  It made me feel better because anyone (other than that room of hipsters) who’s seen Josh knows he’s hilarious.  (Seriously, I’m not doing an open mic BS intro, he’s very funny.)  We got to talking about how some nights as a feature you don’t have the greatest set, but then the headliner goes up and has a challenging time too.  Disregard what Seinfeld says about “it’s never the crowd,” …sometimes it’s the crowd.  And it’s not that we root against the headliner 99% of the time, it’s just a bit of comfort to know that someone who’s probably funnier and more experienced can’t win them over either.  “It’s not me, it’s them!”

The point is this…Before you beat yourself up over a bad set or praise yourself for a good one, decide how the other comics on the bill did and if they’re similar enough to compare your set with.  Some comics might have no idea what I’m getting at here and that’s fine.  But I’ve had this conversation with enough people in the business to know it’s worth sharing.  And now if you’ll excuse me and probably a couple of typos, I have some eye drops to put in.