My friend Nate (aka “Super Nate”) have decided to institute a new tradition: Wine Wednesday. Every Wed evening, we do a stand up comedy set at Wiseguys Comedy in Salt Lake City. Following the comedy club, we convene at my studio for an informal wine tasting party. This week was the first such pairing of wine and wiseguys, and I could not have asked for more.
My first stand up set at Wiseguys was not fun. I was far more nervous than I anticipated being. I raced through my jokes in order to cram them all in to a 3 minute set. Bottom line: I was not funny. I only got a few laughs, and I think they were mostly from the 3 friends I had in the room. Last night was different – I have since taken lots of notes, done a few more stand up sets at The Complex, and feel like I took the stage with a much more informed perspective. I got up there, looked around the room, and just held some silence for a moment. Just THAT got the crowd laughing (or it may have been the Fuck You Paul Duane t shirt I had on. Or maybe both ) I tried some new material out, and I’d say 70% of my stuff got good laughs from the crowd. I felt like I started to find my pace up there. As for myself, I have to feel really connected to who I am in order to go up there and really own the stage. I got a compliment from another comic that I don’t even know as I returned to my seat. Bottom line: that felt good. I have lots of areas to work on, but I am also really excited to get up there and work on it again.
We returned to my place and prepared for a few guests. A few guests did come. We poured wine and had some laughs.
The evening evolved further, into something far beyond anything I had ever imagined for Wine Wednesday. I’m reticent to get into details, because here again, I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging. For now, I’ll just say that I had one of the hottest encounters of my life.
Reader, what do you think? Should I talk about what happened? I’ll always change the names and all identifying information, but… is this something you want to hear? Or is it enough to say that I experienced something that 99.999% of the population only dreams about?
I get awkward in moments like this. Somehow, my life has evolved into something that I never would have BELIEVED was possible when I was 16. If I could get in a time machine and meet the 16 year old version of myself, and tell him what this last week was like… his head would explode and I’d cease to exist in the future. Okay. Bad idea.
I’ll share a few quotes from the evening, none of which were said by me, but by those present:
At one point in the evening, I was with a beautiful girl whom we will call Jessica. We stopped at a 7-11 to get some supplies. While paying, some guy walked and said to us, “What are you two, some kind of rock star couple? Wowee man, you know it when you see it. You all must be famous or somethin’. Can I get your autograph?”
“I feel like I’m in Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas right now…”
“This is straight up, Hunter S Thompson status tonight…”
“Wow, I just totally forgot where I was for a minute…”
“You should try this…”
“I’ve never experienced that before…”
“Masturbation jokes?? Psssshhh……. yeah, they all just became obsolete”
The following morning, after getting no sleep, I emerged from the dimly lit scene into the daylight. Such nights give you a new appreciation for how bright the sun really is. I walked a few blocks to find a Trax station to return home. Luckily, I had 1/2 package of Twizzlers to snack on for breakfast on the way home.
As for Wine Wednesday, I have to say this: I have zero expectations of Wine Wednesday ever delivering such things again. I’d be thrilled if all we ever did was lounge around my studio, get geeky over the wine we are sipping, and make some new friends. I hope to see you there next week!
