Stand up Stanford

A very quick one here 'coz I'm dog tired and have a whole day of interviewing ahead of me.

I had another go at stand-up today. Partly successful, partly not. It was the Stanford try-outs for the Rooftop Comedy's College Stand-up competition, so I figured I'd throw my hat in the ring.

I was first on, with a three-minute bit about Vegas I'd cobbled together over the last day or so. It went down fair enough - there seemed to be plenty of laughs in the right places and I didn't clam up, as I feared. In fact I was surprisingly nonchalant. I really didn't feel that nervous at all, and if I'd had a bit more time I would have happily stayed on stage, maybe trying some riffing with the crowd (don't get ahead of yourself, boy).

Unfortunately I didn't make it through to the next round, but I'm not too fussed about it, for the following reasons:

a) I bloody well got up there and did it, and I'm pretty happy about that.

B) Without sounding too pleased with myself, I really do think I was funnier on the night than at least three of the eight acts that went through. I suspect they had a lot more friends than me in the audience, and so got more votes, but I did OK for myself on the night. (Obviously this might all be crap, but that's what I'm telling myself at the moment).

c) I didn't talk too quickly. Amazingly considering my predilection for rattling through sentences at a rate of knots, I was reasonably measured in my delivery. I also stayed in one place and didn't use my hands too much. So maybe I can do this kind of stuff without coming across like a cocaine fiend.

d) It went OK. Yep, not great, but not terrible, and I can hold my head up at the end of it. With a bit more polish I reckon I can get together a pretty good set, and I've proved to myself that I don't get too nervous in front of (admittedly pretty kind) crowds.

A KZSU stablemate did make it through to the Cal match, though, so it might be a good excuse next quarter to head up to SF and catch that show.

I definitely want to do more comedy performances now: It's the only way I'll learn, and I think it'll give me a bit more discipline about writing funny stuff. I just need a way to make sure I'm in SF at least one night of the week, and that I'm definitely going to be on stage with new material.

T-minus...

Just had a good brainstorming sesh on the whole creative games thing. It's actually going pretty well. We've now got a distinctly amateurish prototype to show what we're up to, complete with activity cards, a sample website, an explorer's log, and stick-in challenges.

We got a few local kids to play with it today, and it seemed to work well. The main kid, Weston, was particularly taken with the whole dragon-slaying, sword-wielding element (which is my favourite bit too). He also tried explaining Bakugan to me, but it was a bit of a lost cause. Cool figures, though; spring-loaded.

Man alive I'm tired. It's pretty much the final week of term, so all the projects are due in the next few days. Basically it means I'm going to be sitting in front of a computer until I can get out of here, with the occasional mad dash up to Menlo Park to do some filming. But I'm very happy to be flying up to Vancouver this time next week. Everything I've heard about the city is fantastic, and I'm really looking forward to discovering Seattle and Portland on my way back to SF.

Portland's been on my radar for a good few years now - it sounds farking brilliant: lots of creative types, scaffy bars and greenery, with loads of zines and local microbreweries fueling the creative sparks.

There's also a slightly deranged, twisted humour about the place, best exemplified by Portland natives Matt Groening, Chuck Palahnuik and Katherine Dunn. It sounds amazing.

Yup simply cannot wait. And then a week or so of bronzing in Hawaii before hopping back here for the final stretch. Come on break; just one week away.

Oh, and I'm loving Rex the Dog's Bubblicious, which is playing in my headphones as I type.