#(he LOVED the concept for the hypothetical penis monologue lmao. especially the stuff with the ghost of sigmund freud)

[magentagalaxies]

I forget if I ever actually posted my Aubrey open mic performance but if you haven't seen it here it is!! This is the mic I went to with Scott back in July which was the first time he ever saw any of my comedy. I flubbed the order of a few sections and the microphone being taped to the stand threw me off but overall it was a good time. Also I have no idea why the audio pans weirdly with headphones and idk how to fix it so sorry about that:

the rest of this post is me deliberating about an aubrey decision bc i find the best way for me to figure things out is by explaining them to someone, so if you want an insight into my creative process read on, otherwise hope you enjoy!!

ok deliberation time lmao!!

i hadn't rewatched this set since right after i did it and honestly i think i feel a lot more positively towards it than i did before, but i'm also sitting here thinking, do i want to do this monologue anymore?

because the "uncle reg" monologue is the one i've performed the most times, and more than that, i think the introduction of reg really unlocked aubrey's characterization beyond anything else i've written. reg allows aubrey to contrast against someone, find unlikely common ground, and also is an outlet for comedy about some of the most unique relationships in my life

but the monologue itself? i mean, it's fine. it's not horribly out of character or anything, and the jokes work. it's a little more firm in one label than the aubrey i currently know, but it still scans.

but idk, i've written so much more aubrey and reg material since then (both monologues and sitcom-like episode concepts, some of my favorites being "nom de plum", "reg's funeral-orgy", "re-claiming the f word (friendship)", "don't grill the baby", and "hospital hookup"). and when i look at this character introduction, i feel like it gets bogged down in the little squabbles about labels and doesn't really have a story to it like the newer material does. it has a little bit of a story, with the pride stuff at the end, but that's barely developed (and my ideas for what else happened that day might work better as a sitcom episode).

and y'know maybe that's also reflective of how my own intergenerational-queer-friendships have evolved since i first wrote uncle reg, no longer getting bogged down in labels and arguments and instead going on zany adventures. but even tho the monologue is called "uncle reg", uncle reg isn't confined to one monologue

and i know i could always keep doing this monologue and just mix in others, or rewrite it to give it more of a storyline, but i kind of just want to leave it as "aubrey stage one". part of me wanted to keep doing it until i got a "perfect" recording (not flubbing any lines), but this might be the best it gets, and i'll keep getting better with the material i actually want to do lmao

idk i think the reason this is on my mind is bc as i'm going over the plans for scott's tour, i already had this goal that any time we stay in a city for an extended number of days, i'd seek out local open mics and do my own unofficial aubrey tour. and one of the other tour-members has a lot of connections to small clubs, so he said he might be able to get me booked shows as aubrey (and someone from toronto said the same thing at scott's new years party). so i'm wanting to firm up my material and practice it in my hometown a bit before taking it on the road. and also it's interesting navigating this culture-war-bullshit as this character, because i don't think aubrey can only appear to queer audiences or gen z or liberals etc. (you might disagree, but i don't want to perform in a bubble) but i need to figure out how to strike the right tone, and i think i have other material that works better for that (sometimes even edgier material, like the "hypothetical penis" monologue is still in)

idk it's daunting bc even tho i have a lot of aubrey material (two and a half notebooks worth), i haven't put it into a polished-monologue-format in a while bc i've been procrastinating. and the "uncle reg" monologue is the only one i ever completely memorized. but i want to get better at this so i just have to do it!!!

anyway thank you for reading this far if you did! i think i'm pretty much settled on not doing this monologue anymore (or at least just putting it on the shelf for now so i can motivate myself to do other material) but feel free to give your thoughts. and before you go...