Tonight's the Night

Well, it's finally here at least. My preliminary in the Boston Comedy Festival is tonight at 8pm. I went last night, and the shows were not sold out, so I guess Tuesday's crowds were not indicative of what to expect for the rest of the week. Well, the prelims end tonight, and I have no doubt the semis will sell out, but contrary to my panis attack Tuesday night, you may actually be able to get in if you show up a bit early.

Last night's prelims were interesting. The first one was wide open. We all sat around with really no clue as to who was going to win. I was a little surprised at the results, as they didn't really reflect audience response, not that the winners always have the biggest response, sometimes that goes to a local guy because he brought half the audience.. There were two guys from NYC that I thought were great, but I think one of them might have gone over his time which is basically a disqualification.

The second show was the best I had seen from the first comic though the twelfth. This kid Ryan Stout (from San Francisco) probably had the set of the contest so far. No one was surprised when his name was called at the end of the show. The guy who came in second was a Jewish dude with a huge afro. The show was so good and the field so wide open that I wouldn't have been surprised no matter who got the other slot. This guy was good, and pretty strong all the way through his set, but so were at least four other comics.

My friend Rich Gustus went on first (took the "bullet") we call it in the "biz". He did a real good job. He is a low key guy, not a real physical comedian. The one hole is tough for most people to come out of, but for an intellectual dude like Rich, it can be even harder. I thought he did real well.

The second comic was some guy from Detroit with a guitar who was very good, and quite off beat, a nice change of pace. They just kept rolling with good set after good set. Like I said, the only guy that I thought really separated himself from the pack was Stout.

So I did everything I could do to prepare myself for today. I have completely avoided even looking at my material until last night, and threw together a set that is a little to close to the 6 minute limit for comfort. I will work on it today and show up tonight after praying my ass off.

I took the precaution of staying up way too late last night and getting a terrible night's sleep, as I like to do before nearly every important day of my life. I feel exhausted and crappy- perfect. I'll try to grab a nap-a-roo later. It's good to know the old self-destructive mechanism is still on auto-pilot, it makes me aware of the reality that I am totally screwed iunless I throw myself on the mercy of the court. It makes me more able to just throw in the towel and accept Guidance. Once I realize I am done, and that I am not going to "figure anything out", things usually go pretty well for me.

I am going to do my meditation etc, have some much needed coffee, and get this rollin'.

I look forward to seeing some of you cats tonight.

Peace:)