Boston Comedy Festival Part 2

Hi! I'm Jake!

I am in Boston for the Boston Comedy Festival. I had a heinous travel day flying here Tuesday. I was tired and groggy from the Seattle International Comedy Competition I was in up until Monday. I had slight trouble with airport security. I traveled for 8 hours and across 3 time zones. I barely ate. I barely slept. I was packed together with fellow travelers and we had crying babies on both legs of the trip. I made it though. I made it.


Below are some of my tweets I wrote about my travel that day. If you'd like to get my tweets directly, please check me out at http://twitter.com/jakeisfantastic. For now, just read the tweets below:

"Yay! I found my screwdrivers & my pliers! They were in my laptop bag. I'm flying today so I got to watch airport security throw them away."

I was super-bummed about this. My dad gave me those pliers. I have had them for 16+ years. Dang it! I wasn't as concerned about the screwdrivers. I bought those myself. Also, they let me keep one of them because it was under 7 inches. That makes no sense at all. I can't have toothpaste, but I can keep a 5-inch, steel, pointy, jabbing stick? Whatever. I'll follow your stupid rules.

"American Airlines packed us pretty tight. Also, the dork in front of me got to sit next to a conversational cute chick. I did not. Jealous."

I was not happy about this. However, on the second part of my flight, from Chicago to Boston, a lady wanted me to switch seats so she could sit with her kid. No problem. I lost my window seat and got stuck with a middle seat. I was super duper cramped now. However, I was sitting next to a cute girl. Cool.

The cute girl told me that was nice that I gave up my seat. That was my perfect in. We could have talked the whole flight. Also, she apologized if her McDonald's food was stinky. I told her "no problem." In my head, I apologized for all my stinky travel farts past, present, and future. For some reason, Tuesday was not a good day for my stomach, intestines, and nose.

Instead of talking to her, I sat facing straight forward the entire time. Sometimes I am weird that way. Maybe I shouldn't have been jealous of the dork. Maybe I am the dork.

"Just got to Chicago. Wish I could stay a bit. O'hare is cool, though. Moreover, I look forward to Boston. I love that city!"

This part actually happened before the part about the 2nd cute chick. I had a short layover at O'Hare. I should have texted my host in Boston to let him know I was on schedule. Instead, I drained my phone playing video games. Also, I blogged a bit. I wrote that blog about the Bellingham, Washington show. Now, I kind of wish I hadn't written about Jan. She was a nice person and I feel like I might have been a bit to hasty to put all that negativity out there.

Good news, though: I heard my Denver friend, Andrew Orvedahl is doing really well in his 1st round of the Seattle International Comedy Competition. This week is a whole new round of 16 comedians competing to make next week's semi-finals. On the 1st night, while I was stuck in the air, Andrew took 2nd. Congrats! Andrew is heady but accesible. Should be a great combination for that contest.

"See me in the first round of the Boston Comedy Festival tonight! Hard Rock Cafe 24 Clinton Street, Boston, MA"

Anyway, I am in Boston now. I got in a little late because the plane circled a bunch in the air then taxied a bunch on the ground. Also, It took awhile for the airport bus to get me to the redline. In Boston, their mass transit system is called "the T."

I took the T's redline to my hosts's place. I am on couchsurfing.org, a website designed to let people like me stay with interesting people across the globe. The site allows you to expand your cultural horizons. It also allows people like me who are on a budget to stay somewhere for free. My hosts are also on couchsurfing as well. I would love to host them if they come to Denver.

I drew the 11th slot in the contest last night. The Hard Rock Cafe was a tough room. I'd say 6 of the 12 comedians had a chance to make it to the semi-final round. I had gone over my set a TON of times to make sure I did better than I did in Seattle. In this competition, I only had one show, one shot.

Normally, before my set, I like to do a bunch of yoga and/or listen to hardcore punk. I like to bring a powerful energy to the mic. At the Hard Rock, though, the only way to get onstage is to go up a ramp that comes from the showroom. So, you have to sit in the audience during the set before yours. Not cool.

Regardless, I went up there and got an applause break on my first joke. Also, I had a great ad-lib in my Japanese suicide bit that got a 15-second laugh. I was going to move on to my next joke, but the crowd wouldn't hush up.

I ended my set with a really nice, long closer. It was physical, kind of edgy, and the last line was musical. It had a lot of tones.

Normally, after a contest set, I either feel totally awesome or I feel total regret. When I feel regret, I just hope that somehow the judges can see past the kooky gum incident or whatever and judge me for the overall quality of my act. When I feel awesome, I just know that I am in. Last night, I had that feeling. I felt really good about my set.

I didn't end up advancing, but several people said they thought I should have. It's not the same as moving on, but it is nice to hear.

2 ladies came up to me and told me they thought I was definitely moving on. They also told me they had googled me before the show, found my Prison Pocket video, and thought it was hilarious. Here's a link to that video. Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPphbnbCWug Note: the emcee introducing me is the very funny Ben Roy. He is about to be famous. Look him up.

Actually, I have a pretty funny story about the last time Ben Roy and I came to Boston. Ask me and I'll tell you.

Before leaving the Hard Rock, I congratulated all the winners. Unfortunately, they didn't bring them up on stage. After 12 comedians, it is hard to keep everybody's names straight. I had to go around asking who moved on.

Then, I was STARVING! I went to this Mexican restaurant, Zuma. I needed food soooo bad. However, I work a lot in the Southwest so I wasn't about to eat Boston's version of Mexican food. Gross. I enjoyed a burger and the company of a bunch of comedians. A few of the Twin Cities crew was there: Andy Erikson, Erik Allen, and a guy who might be named Dave. Sorry Dave. Is that your name? I'll probably see you tonight and have to ask you again.

Had some good conversation. Mike Cody sat next to me. We were in the preliminary round together. He had a great set but also did not move on. I told him he very well could have. I meant it. He's really funny.

Mike was a Twin Cities comic for a few months, but mainly he is from Cincinatti. The comedy club, there, Go Bananas, is one of my friend's Troy Baxley's favorite clubs to work. I mentioned that and then all of a sudden, the next 10 minutes we swapped Troy Baxley stories. They really like him in the Twin Cities too. One comic called him "A force of nature." True enough. True enough.

Also, I got to talk to a couple of the festival coordinators, Helen McCue and Kelly Reagan. Kelly is really sweet. I was concerned because the last time I came here, I showed up early like I was supposed to. Then, they said "We'll draw for slots in 30 minutes. Come back then." I came back in 15 minutes and they had already drawn for slots. they made me go 1st, the death slot. I was not about to let that happen again.

Anyway, Kelly worked the registration table and just went around helping people. She got me in the right place at the right time and made sure everything went smoothly. Thanks, Kelly!

Brian, Walter, and Alex were also really helpful. Alex helped me get my hosts comped in to see the show. Thanks, Alex!

We left Zuma at 12:49. The T-rail subway system had shut down for the night. I had to take a cab back to Somerville. I told the cab lady I had been doing stand-up a long time. She told me my version of a long time, and her version of a long time are 2 completely different things. She told me the last time she paid for a haircut was 1965. The last time I paid for a haircut was January 2008. I didn't tell her that, but I am telling you. Fun fact. Enjoy it.

As she was driving me up to my hosts's place, she remarked about how the addresses were all poorly displayed. I told her I was from out of town and barely knew where I was going. She told me you should never tell a cabbie that. You could end up spending a lot of money. I said "I realized that I was saying a stupid thing as the words were coming out of my mouth.

I was back at my hosts's place. They had enjoyed the show but they had left almost immediately after because they both have jobs. My brain is still on Pacific time so I watched Ong Bak 2 using my roommate's Netflix account. Good movie.

Today, I got up and started typing. I made a few phone calls, but mainly I have been typing this. It's 4:44 Eastern Standard Time now. I should probably get dressed and eat or something. I have been on this air mattress jacking up my back for 12 hours now.

Also, I am coming down with a cold. Fun fact.

Bye! I'm Jake!

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