Quiet for a while

I've been busy lately.  I'm getting ready for a comedy competition on 3/7 at Rooster T. Feathers in Sunnyvale and I've been honing material like crazy.


The biggest concern is that my memory fails unpredictably.  No amount of rehearsal guarantees I can get through a 5-minute set -- or even 20 seconds of it.


My advice to you comics is:  Skip diabetes.  Skip degenerative brain disease.  But if you get it, tell club owners.  They tend to be considerate and view using notes on stage as an adaptive remedy for disability.


I'm in touch with the "Comedians with Disabilities Act."  They're all comics with physical issues.  If it works out, I'll begin touring with them.


I'm not sure about bringing notes onto the stage (on paper or my Kindle) on March 7th.  If I do, should I mention the reason why in the beginning of my set or wait until I need to use them?  Talking about it is a huge time killer.


I've been able to get through 5 minutes or more by sticking to long stories (2 or 3 minutes each), typically from my life.  While I don't have access to the actual memories (and haven't had access to those for many, many years now), I generally can remember what I heard other people say about the events.  Most of the time.


I also do well with brand new material.  It seems to go into a different spot in my mind than "tried and true" material -- it goes into a spot I can reach.  Maybe there's excitement in having written something new.


But I admit I'm far more comfortable doing a 10th or 20th rewrite than sitting alone, running through my set and finding myself suddenly unable to remember what to say.  And then I read it from the computer to myself or aloud and try again.  And the same thing happens, maybe in a different spot.  I get depressed.  I know I didn't used to be this way.  I'm losing my identity.


It isn't *physically* painful, but the distress is real.


As it is, I'm working with 11 new and 7 older bits.  A few are political (and one of those is effing brilliant -- destined to be repeated in print and internet newspapers), more are sexual (but crafted to *not* be "old man" creepy), and there are a very few "get to know me."  My mission is to edit it down and make it cohesive and well-timed.