#Laydee Records

[masterkofficial]

Our new Track "Elysium" is OUT NOW!

If you like Trance from the 90s / early 2000s, this Track is for you! =D If not, check it out anyways ;)

Thanks to Lydia Pockaj (Vocals - E-Rotic, Apanachee, Missing Heart, Laydee, Gyrlie) and Sebastian Hirsch (Intro Sample) for the cooperation, it was a pleasure to work with you guys.

WORLDWIDE AVAILABLE ON ALL POPULAR MUSIC PLATTFORMS!

Youtube:

https://youtu.be/FEc0NC9qRDk?si=1yKY8wk3cdVzEc_-

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/album/1vvR25j0b42Z5UgtcwnbPl

Apple Music:

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/mode7/1525927265

Amazon Music:

https://www.amazon.de/music/player/albums/B0CRSQ8VL7

Deezer:

https://www.deezer.com/us/album/532756972?ext_publisher_id=305075&awc=28443_1707040141_bc2466d7f716a54359219d4d1481e179

Juno Download:

https://www.junodownload.com/products/mode7-elysium/6450479-02/

Boomplay:

https://www.boomplay.com/albums/83129652

You can also listen to our Track on the Internet-Radio Channel Kibo.FM (Eurodance Charts #10 - February 2024)

https://www.kibo.fm

[coochiequeens]

A violent man in a dress was recorded insulting and encouraging violence towards women but didn't like it whapen his crap was recorded. Because how can Trans Laydees claim to be the victim when his hatefullness towards women was recorded?

By Genevieve Gluck October 13, 2023

A women’s rights activist was kicked out of a bar in Glasgow last night, reportedly because she “looked like a TERF.” Jenny Watson says she was surrounded by trans activists and forced out of the bar after silently recording a drag queen insulting Harry Potter creator JK Rowling and other women who are critical of gender ideology.

Following the incident, Watson took to her X account to explain that she had been sitting silently and recording a drag performer at the Polo Lounge in Glasgow as he made derogatory remarks about women he classified as “TERFs.” While the acronym means “trans-exclusionary radical feminists,” it has been applied more broadly to any woman critical of gender ideology, and is often used alongside threats of violence.

“For the first time in my life, I have just got chucked out of a gay bar,” Watson said in a series of videos she shared. “There was a drag act… I took a video of him saying that there’s going to be ‘a thousand TERFs’ in Glasgow tomorrow… we hate the TERFs.'”

Watson described how she was swiftly challenged by the crowd when she began filming the drag performer as he made statements against “the TERFs.”

“Everybody surrounded me, and they were [saying], ‘You look like a TERF, you shouldn’t be here. This isn’t the right place for you.’ I was literally just there, sitting with my drink. I was not being rude, doing anything… and they were telling me, ‘You look like a fucking loser.’ Then the bouncers came over.”

In another video clip of the incident Watson shared on X, drag and burlesque performer Tom Harlow can be seen standing on stage naming women’s rights campaigners such as JK Rowling, Julie Bindel, and Member of Parliament Joanna Cherry, all of whom have vocally opposed sex self-identification policies which allow men to be legally designated as “female” without restrictions.

“Joanna Cherry, Julie Bindel, and JK Rowling are all meant to be speaking this weekend,” Harlow says, while audience members react with disgust. Harlow then informs the crowd that Glasgow Trans Rally had organized a counter-protest outside of the venue scheduled for the following day. He adds that he intends to attend the demonstration to “sing show tunes at bigots,” and says, “We fucking hate you, Joanna,” while miming a punch with a clenched fist

Harlow’s statement was a reference to the women’s rights conference known as FiLiA, a two-day event being held over the weekend. FiLiA was launched in 2013 with the purpose of “strengthening the Women’s Liberation Movement” and upholding women’s sex-based rights, including the right to female-only spaces and protection from male violence.

Trans activists had attempted to have the conference shut down in the days leading up to the event. Glasgow Trans Rally encouraged their supporters to target the venue and harass event organizers on social media. Two days before the conference, the venue’s management attempted to cancel FiLiA’s reservation, but backed down after being told they should expect a legal challenge if they followed through.

Watson continued to explain that one of the bouncers who had her removed from Polo Lounge informed her that the staff were taking “extra precautions” due to the FiLiA conference.

“I had no idea who this drag artist was,” she says, incredulous. “Then I got a few messages from people saying, ‘The person you’re recording is unhinged.'”

Watson continued in a statement: “The Polo Glasgow is unsafe for lesbians. If you are a lesbian do not go there, especially alone, you will be put at risk. You will be told that ‘you look like a pathetic loser for going alone.’ You will be surrounded by a mob and then the bouncers will kick you out, simply for having a drink and recording (as one does) part of a drag act.”

Watson explains that she had been approached by groups of people who “recognized” her from social media, and were clearly looking for a hostile exchange.

“I engaged civilly with them, yet still I was the one who was kicked out. I repeat – this establishment is dangerous for lesbians. This is new homophobia and lesbians are at the bottom of the hierarchy.”

Watson has been the target of abuse in the past due to her experience speaking out for the rights of lesbian women to hold single-sex events. Earlier this year, she came under fire after voicing frustration with the trans-identified males claiming to be lesbians who were attending weekly lesbian speed dating evenings she organized in London.

Watson described to journalist Julie Bindel how one trans-identified man pushed himself against a lesbian in the restroom.

Another was seen sporting a visible erection while wearing purple spandex. Several trans activists created a WhatsApp group in order to coordinate their attempts to have her lesbian-only events shut down by urging participants to complain to venue staff. She has also been reported to her London council employers as “transphobic” for insisting that “lesbians don’t have penises.”

As he stated he would, Harlow turned up outside of the FiLiA conference with a small crowd of protesters, where he has been recorded shouting “fuck you” at the women in attendance.

In a brief biography of Harlow provided to Miss Burlesque Scotland, a competition for which he has performed and competed, Harlow is described as “an international and award-winning showboy” known for his “classic stripteases with a male twist, bump & grind as well as his unique vocal blend of showtunes & FILTH!”

Harlow previously drew criticism in July after Glasgow museum The Burrell Collection hosted an all-ages LGBT event where Harlow performed. The museum hit back at critics by stating, “The Burrell Collection is an inclusive, welcoming museum and the Pride event celebrates this. Tom Harlow is performing classic cabaret and giving insight into the art of performance make-up in a set for all ages.”

Harlow’s website features photos and purchasable prints of himself naked. As previously reported by Reduxx, Harlow has performed as a merman in an adult strip show called “The Salty Seaman”. He would later adapt the character to be aimed at children.

Last fall, a cabaret performance by Harlow intended for children under 12 was cancelled following public outcry.

[mybandnames]

Zen, and the Art of Men

Japan has been responsible for a lot of great art, philosophy, technology and cheap guitars. And while we all know of the huge technical influence they've had on modern society, not so much is known (discounting a few standouts such as Isao Tomita and Charles Tumahai of BeBop Deluxe) of their musical influences on British and American music. This is especially true in the funk dept where they've produced many masterpieces.

So today we're going to look at two examples of bands whose work, sadly, never scaled the ramparts of western pop. And these two are the late 70s Clook Roam (an unfortunate linguistic mixup as this was supposed to be Cloak Room) and a group of Zen monks called One Too from Fukuoka (yes, really).

Clook Roam

The band were not amused when they spotted the typo in their name, which was an allusion to their fandom of any superhero who employed a cloak as part of their figure hugging costume. Unfortunately for them, their manager had printed all the band's publicity materials with the mistake, so there was no going back.

In some ways it turned out well, as many people turned up at their gigs because they wanted to find out just what the hell a 'Clook Roam' was. What they got - a dirgy, formless form of Goth - never seemed to satisfy their enquiring minds. So the beginnings of each gig were halls packed full of expectant, smiley faces that quickly turned into polite stampedes for the nearest exit. And tears, lots of tears.

Spotting an opportunity to claw some cash back from the innocents at the start of the gigs, their manager, the aptly named Maikīmanē, pressed a few hundred copies of their first/only single, which he then sold to the unsuspecting fans before they got to the auditorium. The single's title, 'My love to Death' was written in English, which translates roughly to 'Watashi wa jibun no shi o aishite iru' was helped to the lower reaches of the local pop charts by the smiling, cherubic faces of Maikīmanē's teenage children. Once again the band were not amused by the cheap trick of facial substitution (actually a good move as none of the band were lookers) but preferred to focus on the small degree of fame that the minor success brought them.

And that's where their story dries up. No more is known of the band or their manager, though there are rumours that more than one band member followed their musical quest to the burlesque clubs of Berlin.

One Too

A play on their Zen philosophy, One Too, were well-educated young men who knew a thing or two about western pop music and had decided to raise some money for their temple by exploiting this knowledge in the form of a pop band. This being the mid-60s, anything was possible, and they being Zen Buddhists, knew nothing was impossible.

Hailing from the ancient city of Monno Naimon, the six-piece band hired themselves a selection of instruments from Tokyo and started learning them. Things went well initially, with the band recording their first album - Free Four All - within six months of first plucking a string. The album sold well, for rural Japan, and they raised a modest amount for their monastery.

However, things started to get very un-Zen-like when the band were asked to play at a music festival in the nearby Gifu.

The organisers had misunderstood the nature of the band (thinking they'd be a traditional hocchiku band - I believe someone said that one of their songs was called 'Hoochie Coochie Man' - not a phrase to fall lightly upon the Japanese ear) and got something of a surprise when the monk's opening song crashed into existence. Stolen quite blatantly from Jimi Hendrix, but remodelled for a local audience, their opener was called 'Purple Sage' and whilst unrecognisable as a copy, did feature a very long and highly disturbing (to local ears) guitar solo. Halfway through their second number, 'Fuxey Laydee' the local fire brigade, on the orders of the organisers, pumped up their hoses and aimed them at the Marshal amps stacked up behind the band. And bang! That was the end of One Too. The entire band electrocuted in about 30 seconds and tens of thousand of Yens worth of rented musical equipment all now available in charcoal.

Rather ruthlessly, the company that hired the equipment out, wanted it paid for and demanded the monastery, which of course they couldn't do given that the instruments were supposed to be raising money for them. However, the monks did have a few assets, the main one being the monastery itself, which overlooked a river and had charming views across many arable fields. Some say that if you squinted sideways during the early dawn, the patchwork fields looked remarkably like a golf course - a sport that was becoming more and more popular with city dwellers and business men who had money, time and no interest in philosophy.

Something the hire company understood about Zen though, was the idea of wandering monks, and that monks that wandered both physically and metaphysically were more enlightened than their stationary brothers. And off they went on their quests. Having liberated the monks, the monastery was re-modelled into a hotel with an attached golf course. One of the first in the country.

So, while the band, the instruments, the monastery and the monks, and several hundreds of years of philosophy and tradition were gone, they'd all been replaced by something far more valuable. Progress.

[magnetictapedatastorage]

Being in a fucked up business where the boss lives in jersey and is sick like a horse about to be shot 25/7 and other than him and mr.IT its 100 women in a box incl a manager and a supervisor and literally no one is accountable and no records are kept of infractions or productivity. Closest thing to a payroll is the old lady in a muumuu who prays for us by name every morning and everyonr who needs to make an announcement to a department just goes Ahem.. Ok Laydees!!

[winstonhcomedy]

“Dope A-F” 1/9-1/10  “Tonight Shows and Bro Re Nata”

Sweet baby lord had two hot ones last night at two dope shows. Had a super fun night of standup at two of my favorite mics! 

After work I headed over to Short Pump Town Center to get to The Funny Bone for the open mic hosted by Liz Carr. I was there super early so I decided to do a little shopping first. I picked up a new jacket at H&M. It’s a big puffy red, white, and blue jacket that has a real 90s ski movie vibe to it. I throw it on and then head to the candy shop right across from me. Where I proceed to spend 8 dollars on taffy because I am a toddler.

I do some writing in my car and head up to the club. When I get there comedian Brett Leake (5 Tonight Show appearances) is coming in the door. Brett is a comedian living with muscular dystrophy so he is not out at shows as often as he’d probably like.  So it is always a treat to see and talk to him.

After Brett and I get signed up we have an absolutely wonderful conversation about comedy. I get to ask him questions about his Tonight Show appearances. He walked me through the entire process the first time he was selected, and everything that went into that set. 

We then discussed the differences between comedy then and now. How when he started there was no real comedy about identity. Everybody just wanted jokes in the club and they wanted you to steer away from certain topics. He said that he wouldn’t talk about his MD too much on his first Tonight Show because they didn't want him to talk about it too much. Which is in stark contrast to comedy today. I really wish I had recorded this conversation because it was an invaluable discussion about standup. 

Times like this are why I’m glad to be a comic. He talked to me like a peer and a friend and that was really special. If you ever have a chance to talk to Brett or see him live go do it. He now does a mix of comedy and motivational speaking and he is always fun to watch.  Here is one of his appearances on morning radio.

We do the comics meeting and I notice there is a lot of newer comics here. I think other than Liz, Brett, Richard Woody and I no one on the list have been doing comedy longer than a year. I am also interested how shows like this are going to go. We then get the show rolling. Brett opens the show up and has a fine set. He is working out some material about numbers and some questions he has about a couple different religions. 

We then get into a string of newer comics. I can’t really remember anything too much about many of them. There are a few who have taken Patrick Buhse’s class (and it’s always exciting to see these people out at mics actually continuing to do standup). 

The show is going pretty well. Mu Cuzzo goes up right before me and he’s dressed up like he’s about to give a sermon. He has a hot set, and then it is my turn. I feel super good about my set. I worked on my new joke about witches and then riffed an idea about Trump not being the worst president. It got a laugh as well. I had a pretty good set and I’d give it a B-.

Rick went up later that night and ended up doing ok. He was doing new stuff, and people had left. He couldn’t really connect, but it happens. He stayed in the pocket and finished the set.

I then headed over to McCormacks to do some time. I get there and find out I am third and the show is about to start. There are a few comics that I hadn’t seen in a long time, and also a lot of newer comics as well. Looked like a good crowd and they seemed to be into comedy from the start. So as long as you could deliver you would be set.

I went third and I still heard a few hot takes about R.Kelly which is always fun. Nothing like newer comics taking a hot topic and beating it into the ground. I know that I could probably get some good material by focusing on what is in the news, but it just all feels so hacky right away since everyone is giving their take it is a deterrent. I need to get over this because some of my best jokes are about hot topics in the news, or news stories. It is a thing I am actively working on this year to get over that. 

I go up after and have a super hot set. Everything works. I do my two brand new bits, and add a bunch of tags to a third. I got a bell ring from the bartender which was dope, and didn’t have a down moment in my set. It felt really good and one of the better sets I’ve had at McCormacks in a while. Just feels like proof that the hard work is paying off. I’d give this set an A-. After my set I grabbed my stuff and headed home. All in all not a bad night for comedy!!!

The next night was my night to host a showcase at Pro Re Nata Brewery in Crozet. JR Stoffel is the usual host of this show, but he is in Las Vegas for CES for his job. So he handed the reins over to me. I got to book a fun lineup (Rick Williams, Paige Campbell, and Richard Woody), had a guest spot (Alex Castagne) and Chris Alan headlining. 

We had a pretty good crowd actually. I think at our peak we were at about 45+. Which is a solid number for a freezing cold day in Crozet. This show is continuing to grow and bring in business. JR has done a great job building the room. 

I went up first and had a pretty good set. I did new jokes and some light crowd work. I basically just wrangled the crowd for 10 minutes and get them in the mood. A fine hosting set, but I didn’t kill. I”d give this set a C+.

After me was Alex. He did pretty well. He had some lulls and he wasn’t happy with his set, but from the outside looking in he held his own and had some jokes get some pretty big laughs. 

Then Rick went up. He had a good set too. Most of his material worked and he actually got an applause break for a joke he has about kickball. He didn’t close crazy strong, but people definitely dug his set.

Richard Woody followed him with one of the strongest sets of the night. From beginning to end everything he did was working. He got some huge laughs and held crowd control for the duration. He did some material which included him reading his online dating interactions, and it did super well to close.

Paige Campbell had an uneven set. He’d hit really hard and then not get much. Which honestly seemed to be the theme for the entire night. Everybody would lose the crowd a little bit and then just get them back. They were enjoying the whole show but it was almost impossible to build momentum to really make them crack. No one did poorly, everyone did well and got laughs, but you felt like you could lose them at any second.

Lastly Chris went up and did 45 minutes. He was in his own head about it and didn’t seem to be enjoying his self. He was working out a lot of new material during this 45 minutes, and I was super impressed that he stuck with it even when it wouldn’t go anywhere. Then he would follow the lulls with a killer joke that would destroy. The audience could tell he wasn’t feeling it 100% but they stuck with him. I thought he had a good set, and a lot of his new material is super funny and is only going to get better. It was a solid ending to a super fun show. Chris is crazy critical of his self, and that’s what makes him a great comic. 

After the show people came up and were super supportive and said they’d be back for the future ones. I think JR’s room is slowly turning into one of the better comedy rooms in the area and I can’t wait to see what he does with it next. 

WHAT A HOT TWO DAY STRETCH FOR COMEDY! I will be at Cozzys tonight and tomorrow at 8! And Sunday at 8 I’ll be closing out the show at Hof Garden at 7. So come one and all. I love you laydees xoxoxo sugar!

[okaywavesentertainment]

Mama - Laydee Ruth [Lyrics + Video]

Mama – Laydee Ruth [Lyrics + Video]

Gospel Music minister, Laydee Ruth releases a brand new single titled “Mama”, a song I wrote for my mom 3 years ago. A couple of times, I had the urge to go to the studio, to record and release it on her Birthday or on Mother’s Day while dedicating it to all mothers, but I guess the time wasn’t right. “Fast forward to Sunday morning (November 22nd, 2020) while driving to church, from nowhere, I…

[futurejunglist]

Future Jungle Sessions turns 10! Join me as I celebrate with crushing tunes from Black Barrel, Skantia, Canada’s DJ L, and NZ’s own Flowidus, MidKnight Moon, and Deep Notion. Check fresh selections from recent massive LP’s - Function UK’s 50th ‘Shadows’, Technique  Recordings ‘20 Years’, Philth’s ‘Moments In Time’, and Mefjus’ ‘Manifest Remixed’, and watch out as I close with a ridiculous medley of 4 different versions of Digital’s seminal ‘Deadline’ Big up to all the listeners, supporters and artists, and as always, keep it locked!

Mixcloud // Facebook

LIVE on CUE Music ~ SAT 13:00-15:00 PM (NZST) / 00:00-02:00 AM (GMT)

LIVE on 8K.NZ ~ SAT 19:00-21:00 PM (NZST) / 08:00-10:00 AM (GMT)

Kanine - Depth

Dub Head - Bass Face

DJ L - Bad Boy Sound

Kiljoy - Ghosts Of Old

Black Barrel - Still Warm

Navigator feat. Bass Nacho - Kingston 11 (Code Red Remix)

Burnzy & Phoroptic - Rewind

Survey - Life Cycle

Foreign Concept & Monty - Ron Millonario

Drumsound & Bassline Smith - I Need Somebody (Digital Remix)

Calibre, Jet Li - Least Loved

Nomine - Samurai

Philth & HLZ - Everest

Dom & Roland - Transmissions

Digital, Spirit & Need For Mirrors - Infinity

KLUTE - Centre Of The Crystal

Skantia - Obsidian

Willy Mav - Begged Me

Critical Impact, Furniss, Youngman - Pretty Girl

Flowidus feat. Dread MC - Gaspan

Dimension - Whip Slap (Deep Notion Bootleg)

Deep Notion - Let's Get Grimey

MidKnight Moon - Feel It

Klinical - Fader

Fracture, Sam Binga, Rider Shafique - Bubble

Fre4knc - Sinjek (Original Mix)

AC13 - Baggage

Thematic - Escape Plan

Optical - Slip Thru

Laydee Virus - Reverse Dimensions (VIP Mix)

DLR/MC Fokus - Question [Hybris remix]

Mefjus - Sleazebag (Ed Rush Remix)

Tide & Kodin - Mouth

Ram Trilogy - Mind Overload

Jam Thieves - Overdose

Sub Zero, Spyda, DJ Limited - Highest Respect Ft Spyda (Jam Thieves Remix)

T>I - Stankfoot

Kumo - Devils Lettuce

Sanxion, Vinyl Junkie - Outlandish

Kumarachi & Epicentre - Patterns

Furniss - Questions

Total Science, War - Second Wave

Digital; Response - True Story

DJ L - Jungle T

Mateba - CTS

Bad Company - Numbers

A.M.C - ENERGY

Tantrum Desire - Airhead (DC Breaks Remix)

Technical Itch & Dieselboy - Atlantic State (Gridlok Remix)

Lemon D. - Generation X Remix

Trei/Ekko/Sidetrack - Luddites

Digital - Deadline (Need For Mirrors Remix)

Philth - Standing On the Shoulders of Giants

Benny Page - Love it like That

Aries - Herbsmoke [Benny Page Remix]

Veak - Warning (VIP Mix)

[coochiequeens]

US — Gaithersburg, Maryland. A ‘career’ bank robber recently released from federal prison after serving a 15-year sentence for 11 bank robberies over a one-month span has been arrested on suspicion of three new bank robberies. During a bond hearing, a lawyer for the suspect requested her client be released from jail to facilitate continued “transitioning as a transgender woman.” The apparent bank robbery spree began on Thursday, January 28, when a suspect entered an M&T Bank on Bank Street and approached a teller, announcing, “Give me money! This is a robbery!” According to bank employees, the suspect became enraged when they said they had no money, and fled in a black Chevrolet Malibu that had dealership tags. Employees described the suspect as a man dressed in tan pants, a black hat, black mask, black gloves and baggy burgundy Washington Football Team jacket.

On Friday, January 29, a suspect entered a Frederick Avenue BB&T Bank, and handed a teller a note that read, “I have a gun this is a robbery.” The suspect was able to flee the bank with nearly $9,500 in cash.

According to court records, the investigation proved challenging for authorities, who received conflicting perceptions of the victim’s sex from witnesses and surveillance footage. A Montgomery County Police Department press release dated February 9 says that authorities staked out the home of Christopher Cline after a crime analyst learned the “career” bank robber had been released from prison three months prior, and was residing within a mile of the banks involved in the two crime incidents. On February 8, investigators observed Mr Cline leave his residence wearing latex gloves and a black jacket matching the one in surveillance footage of the BB&T Bank heist. Mr Cline got into a black Chevrolet Malibu with dealership tags, and drove into the parking lot of the Wells Fargo Bank on Darnestown Road as detectives followed, the press release said. Mr Cline entered the bank, “approached a teller, announced the robbery, and implied” he had a weapon, and the teller handed over money, court records show. According to detectives, Mr Cline came running out of the bank, entered his car and drove back to his apartment building. When officers moved in to make an arrest, Mr Cline fled on foot, authorities say. Officers were able to take Mr Cline into custody following a “brief foot pursuit.” In a search of Mr Cline’s car, investigators found $6,699, which matched the sum taken from Wells Fargo. Investigators also found in Mr Cline’s apartment a Washington Football Team jacket matching the one worn by the suspect during the attempted robbery of M&T Bank.

The 44-year-old, who is male and identifies as a woman named Carisa, was booked into the Central Processing Unit on one count of Armed Robbery and two counts of Robbery under his legal name of Christopher Cline.

Meghan Brennan, an attorney representing Mr Cline, asked that he be released from custody for medical reasons. “She is undergoing transitioning as a transgender woman,” Ms Brennan said. “She does undergo hormone treatments.” Ms Brennan said her client also suffers from schizoaffective disorder. Judge John C. Moffett declined the request, ordering the suspect held without bond on the basis that he would present a danger to the community. At least there is one judge not buying into trans laydees need special treatment nonsense

[winstonhcomedy]

Last night was a hoot. Did comedy and Tarzan showed up. Packed show and a fun night. Got what is hopefully a good recording of some very personal material. Im proud of it. Love you laydees! Catch me Wednesday at Honey Whytes in RVA at 8:30! Xoxox #cvillecomedy #charlottesville #jokes #cville #charlottesvillecomedy #comedyrva (at The Southern Cafe and Music Hall) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzItisJFYYS/?igshid=1gjd9u2hw4bsn

[winstonhcomedy]

This weekend was dope. Got to host for @eddiepence who was recording his special at the @dccomedyloft and @jennifersterger ! I then got to get two fun sets in at Big Hunt! Thanks for the time everybody! Xoxo love ya laydees! #comedyrva #standup #jokes #dccomedy (at The Bier Baron Tavern and Comedy Loft) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwj0AN8F8qc/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ixyd3jv2qr9l

[winstonhcomedy]

“Dope A-F” - 8/27 -8/28 - “Nuclear Bomb in Hampton”

Woowee cuties let’s get caught up on the last few days of #cutecomedy. So much happened in a short amount of time. Don’t want to waste your time laydees so let’s hope right into it!

8/27

I got a lot done today. I typed up the blog post for Tuesday, and cleaned up around the house a little bit before heading into town to record an episode of The Winstmas Games. 

I started to drive into town and the bar we were going to have the episode in was closed. They were supposed to be open at 5, but it was 7:30 and they weren’t. This sucked so we had to improvise.

I met the contestants over at On The Rox. The lineup I had for this show was Dylan Vattelana and Taylor O’Sullivan vs Anthony Thompson and Stella Naulo. I decided to do a seasoned dope comic and a newbie on a team. I tried to make it fair, but also give people a shot. 

On the Rox had a huge back room that we went into after we ate, and got some drinks. Paige Campbell showed up to hang so I included him in the podcast as well. The show was super fun. There was a lot of talking over each other, but also there was a lot of good jokes. I keep trying to fine tune it. I used to not really care how the podcast turned out because it was fun, and now I care a little too much. I want to put out a dope product.

After the show I headed next door to Fallout. It was open mic night. I was going up fifth,  and was ready to get the show on the road so I could get to the other mic at City Dogs. The mic list was pretty full. There was quite a few comics there. It was a fun time. There was a few audience members, but it wasn’t crazy packed.

Dylan had a pretty good set. He did some new stuff I hadn’t heard before. I love hearing his new material. He always brings good ideas, and well crafted jokes to the shows. 

I went up after Brian Mann. I had a pretty good set. I did mostly new stuff, and actually got a good reaction. I tried something for the first time about video game violence and it worked. This made me super happy. I can’t wait to try and stretch this joke out. I’d give this set a B-.I then watched Paige work on his stuff and headed over to City Dogs.

The show over there was a lot smaller. Kate was hosting, and the lineup consisted of only like 6 comics. It was myself, Avery Barnard, Paige, Danny Dunlea, Dylan, Brian Mann, and then Melissa Harris showed up right before she was going to go on. 

This show was way more brutal. There were people there, but not really paying attention. There was a dude with headphones on, and a baby in the audience. So I just kind of hung out until it was my turn to go up.

I went up and had an ok set. I’d give it a C-. I just did new stuff, and worked on the wording. It felt good to do. Even though it wasn't doing great it was a good excercise.

After this I hung out with the other comics a bit, and then came in and watched the end of the show. After this I walked to my car and headed home to pass out.

8/28

Tonight I was headlining in Hampton on Wyatt Bowman’s show at Stuft. I picked up Paige in Richmond and we headed down. We got there a little early and walked around a bit. The weather was great and there were a lot of super cool restaurants in that area. It was a cute area, and definitely wish we had gotten there earlier to go into this cool comic shop there. 

Wyatt then showed up, along with Nick Deez, Torrey Huggins, and Laurè. We have a good hang and I order some food. Then James Paulk and Jounte Ferguson showed up. There was a light crowd, but we started right on time.

Wyatt goes up and has a super good set. They were paying attention and they loved it. So we were all really excited about the rest of the show. Then Torrey went up and it was downhill from there. Nobody did well. Torrey struggled, then Paige, then Nick, James, and Jounte. They didn’t want to hear jokes. They were loud and rude, and honestly just shitty. 

I then went up and struggled to get anyone’s attention. Then I got heckled and I went into crowd work. The crowd work was working. I had some good laughs going, and started to work my way around the room. Then I got to a dude who had his chair broke, and he had been loud all night. I talked to him and he was being a dick. He said something and I asked what it was and refused to repeat it. 

I decided at this point that this crowd did not deserve me even trying. I let that piece of shit determine how I did my set. This was a mistake. I just went into material and it got some laughs, but there were still people in the back loudly talking. I wasn’t myself, and I decided to just work on stuff. I’d give this set an F. I didn’t have fun, and I hated those people.

I then realized I had made a mistake. There were people who came up to me and said they enjoyed it and thought I was funny. I made a huge mistake in letting this one asshole ruin it for everyone else. This isn’t the type of comic I am. I need to be better and I will be. 

Paige and I had a ride back home and we tried to make it to McCormacks in time. We didn’t so we decided to go to Cookout and get a milkshake. I hit up Jack Gerow because I knew he was up last at McCormacks and I had him meet us. We had a super fun hang. We chilled outside for about an hour, and just shot the shit. We took some pictures on my Polaroid, and then went our separate ways. I dropped Paige off and then went home and passed out.

THAT IS IT! I DID IT ! Boom laydees #cutecomedy is all caught up. I’ve got some t-shirts coming out soon and I am super excited. Big things in the works and I am thankful you are all a part of it. Until next time make sure you check out my podcast The Winstmas Games on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Play Music and follow me on everything @winstonhcomedy ! xoxo love y’all!

[winstonhcomedy]

“Dope A-F” - 8/22-8/24 - “Last Minute Headline, Bethesda Bomb, and DC Adventures”

I screwed up and didn’t post the IG video again yesterday. I got everything else out though. So that is a start. This was an interesting few days. I had some fun shows and some nightmarish ones. So let’s not waste time laydees and baybees! Let’s get to some #cutecomedy !

8/22

After a chill day at work I headed over immediately to The Camel for the open mic. I had asked for a spot on the mic the night before, but Jameson asked me if I wanted to be one of the headliners since Laurè dropped off the show. So I was getting to do about 15 minutes which I was incredibly excited to do. 

I got there super early. I kind of hung out with the bartender. I ordered a meal, and kind of relaxed. I spent the time finishing up my blog post that day. After a little bit Paige showed up. After we hung a bit a lot of other comics showed up including a handle of the people taking Patrick Buhse’s class.

Then Will Minor, Aaron Shoemaker, Taylor O’Sullivan, Torrey Huggins, Mike Engle, Jameson, and a few other’s showed up. We are all hanging out and having a pretty good time. Jameson gives the lineup, and then he goes in and starts the show.

The first few comics on the mic did ok. There was a nice little crowd here, but they didn’t seem crazy into the show. They were just kind of quiet, and not really reacting to jokes the way you’d think they would. After the few open mic comedians Torrey Huggins went up to do the first headlining set. He did about 15 minutes and it was kind of up and down. Some of his stuff hit, but he ended on a racial joke that didn’t really go over well. Richmond can be kind of pc, and stuff that kills in Virginia Beach (where Torrey is from) just doesn’t fly here. 

Then it is my turn. I had a list of material that isn’t polished, and told myself I wasn’t just going to do crowd work. So I go up and do 15 minutes of newer stuff. I had a solid set too. Definitely the bet one up to that point. I captured people’s attention and riffed on the fact that due to the storm outside people were stuck with my comedy. After that they were ready to laugh. 

I was incredibly proud of this set. I did all of my time, and didn’t resort to 15 of crowd work. It was an incredibly validating set. I’d give it a solid B-. I got off stage and grabbed my stuff. I said goodbye and dipped out after Paige got off stage. It was a fun night. 

8/23

The next night after work I headed up to Falls Church to perform at The State Theatre. This is a monthly show hosted by Jose Sanchez that I have been waiting to do for a while. There was a weird vibe around the shows.

All week Rahmein Mostafavi had been calling for the State Theatre to pay its performers more money, and not let the show producer (some dude named Tyler) pocket all of the cash. He had been doing it all week and it was just kind of weird. Like don’t get me wrong. I honestly completely agree with Rahmein. When you have that many people there you can obviously afford to pay the 8 performers more than 5/10 dollars a spot. 

I also know that none of the performs on the show are full time comedians. We are all good, but this isn’t paying the bills. So we are hungry for as much good stage time as possible. So of course people are going to do the gig. 

So with all of this going on it just was a weird vibe. Like I felt like a scab even though I wasn’t breaking up a union. I did feel like I needed to value my work more, but also I didn’t have any other paying gigs lined up, I needed a video, and it was stage time with gas money. So definitely just a weird air over the show.

I met TJ at his place before heading over to the theatre. When I got there Jelani, Joey Duffield, Bridget Geiran, Jose, and Tj were there. TJ showed me where to set up my camera. I went and set it up before heading upstairs to the green room were Liz Norman, Shelley Kim, Eric Dadourian, and Dom Rivera had all showed up.

There was a good hang going on and I loved catching up with everyone. I headed downstairs to order chicken tenders, and told people I was going to record their sets if they wanted them. 

The show starts and everybody is diode well. It is a super hot crowd of several hundred. I am enjoying meeting and hanging out while the show goes on. When it is Shelley’s spot I go downstairs to watch because I am up in a few. 

After her Dom Rivera goes and he murders. He had a really dope set doing his shit. They vibed with him, and he did really well. I had to go next and I didn’t know what to do.

I get on stage and went with my original plan to just do new shit. So I did. I did about 10 minutes of stuff I hadn’t done in a spot like that before. I am happy with how most of it went. One joke got nothing, but other than that it was solid. I could have done my best stuff and probably gotten a better response, but I couldn’t do that. I really need to do this new. I am in a standstill comedically were I have a lot in progress but not a ton of confidence in using this new stuff on paying shows, So it was productive to do that. I’d give my set a C.

The rest of the show went on and Tj had a good set doing new stuff too. Everybody did well, and eventually Andrew Cook showed up to do a spot. I asked him if I could do Big Hunt the next night instead of tonight and he said of course. The show ended and it felt great. After hanging a little longer, and putting away my camera I headed out and met TJ at Denny’’s before we headed back to his place and I passed out. 

8/24

The next day I had a show in Bethesda at Positanos for Curt Shackelford. I headed up and got to the show a little early and Curt asked me if I could switch to featuring. He said the feature bailed on him. So I went in the corner and hung out and got my set together. He bumped someone else up to host, and the headliner Aaron Kleiber (Pittsburgh) showed up. We are all hanging with a few of the new comics and then Dom Rivera showed up.

Turns out he was the feature and Curt was txting the wrong person. So I get bumped back to host 5 minutes before show starts and Curt is a very thorough showrunner so he keeps telling me the same things over and over. It is honestly stressing me out. I get in my own head, and am so stressed from the switch around.

I then go up and bomb. I hate my set. It was a normal hosting set. I did newer stuff, and some stuff just didn’t work. I didn’t use my energy and I didn’t catch their attention. I hated this set. I got laughs but who cares. I’d give it a D-. 

The rest of the show went well. The guest spots did ok, and Dom had a super solid set. Then Aaron killed at the end. I just kind of sat around and wished I was anywhere else because I had disappointed myself. I just haven’t been feeling it, and am wondering if comedy is for me. 

After the show I say thank you and goodbye. I then head to DC and walk to the Improv to grab my notebook. I pop in snag it and say hi. I then txted Andy Kline and he said he’d have a spot for me over at Drafthouse. 

I got to Drafthouse and saw a bunch of my friends. Benjy, Eddie, Keith Marcell, Andy, Jenny Questell, Jose, Max Wolfson, Kevin Skiffington (hosting), Ben Daniels, and Ross. I headed inside after talking for a bit because the show had already started. It was a smaller crowd, but they weren’t awful.

Some people went up and had some pretty good sets, but nobody was killing. I kept telling myself to do new stuff, and this set would be better than earlier. Randolph went up right before me and did pretty well.

I went up and my opening riff didn’t work at all. I had like very other line in my jokes work as well. I got some ok laughs and also got a lot of nothing. I looked at my notes a few times and ended on a weak laugh. I’d give this set a D-. I think it felt this way because of how bad I did earlier. I got off and caught an uber over to Big Hunt.

I went in and as I was walking downstairs they told me I had just missed a dude get into a fight and get thrown out. This basically makes me feel like I’ve got another bomb coming. I am also like 14th on the list and they are on 6. 

The dude on stage is Shane Gillis. He was headlining at DC Drafthouse, and came over for a late spot. He is super funny. He had some killer stuff. The next few comics went up while I kind of sat down and tried to get in a good headspace. 

The show went on and eventually it was my turn. Natalie McGill went up before me and she did well. They were drunk, but not awful. So I went right on stage and went right into my newer stuff, It went really well too. Honestly everything worked and I did stuff that didn’t work earlier, but worked here. I was selling everything the way I needed to and I was actually having fun. I’d give this set a B/B-. 

I got off stage and Shane Gillis told me I was funny and had a good set. I had no idea he was still there so that was incredibly validating to hear. I said goodbye and thanked everyone and headed back to my car. It was almost 1:30 am and I had a 2 1/2 hour trip back home. 

I got home exhausted, but unable to sleep. I was up until almost 6 before I passed out from exhaustion. 

BOOM did it! All caught up. That’s how the shows went. I took Sunday off to help move some furniture and just enjoy my day. I’ve got some great shows this week, and I am off work. So make sure you check out my youtube and follow me on everything @winstonhcomedy ! So much #cutecomedy and so little time ! xoxo love you laydees and baybees!

[winstonhcomedy]

“Dope A-F” - 8/20 - 8/21 - “Winstmas Games Changes Format”

I only had one set the last couple of days. So nothing too crazy to catch up on. So let’s get caught up on all this #cutecomedy fun laydees and baybees!

8/20

There was no open mic in town. So basically I just edited video and wrote. It was nice. I need to get some more content up. I am trying to make myself work my ass off. I want to put out a good product, so if someone digs me they have a ton of stuff they can check out. 

I went to ortho on call because I’ve been having a lot of hand pain since Asheville. They think it is carpal tunnel related so they gave me some steroids and a wrist brace. I feel like I look like an idiot in the brace, but I do love not feeling the numbness and pain so much. 

After this I had a relaxing night and got some wings, and cheese fries. All in all it was a super chill night that I needed. I also got a lot of sleep. It wasn’t the best sleep. I’ve been tossing and turning, and waking up tired lately.

8/21

Today was another busy day. After work I got to edit some more video. I have started to try and do subtitles. Which are difficult and time consuming, but they are going to make a huge difference on youtube I think.

I then headed to Home Sweet Home to record a new episode of The Winstmas Games. I changed it up a little bit. I gave them the games ahead of time this week. This way they can kind of prep. Which will help the show in a few reasons. It should mean people should have jokes for everything, and they can riff it anyway if they want. It’ll be less dead airspace on the show as well. Most importantly the show is funnier when people are laughing at each other. Unfortunately I think people don’t laugh at each other because they were too busy thinking of what jokes they were going to do. So this will keep people from stressing.

The show had Paige Campbell and Will Minor vs Alex Castagne and Jason Kusterer. We all met upstairs at HSH and got the show started. I have to admit it turned out amazingly well. The flow was good, and the jokes made me laugh. It ended up being like 35 minutes and I actually tried some different games. It was dope. So going to go forward with this format from now on. 

I signed up for the mic after that. We all went outside to hang. I had a few new things I wanted to try. A couple jokes that needed new tags, and one that was almost done. 

We got a good hang going on outside even though it was like 95 degrees. Mike Engle, Mu Cuzzo, Adam Chiodini, Jack Parker, Bryan Williams Taylor Baldwin, Jack Gerow, and plenty of others showed up. 

Kusterer did a comics meeting, and I found out I was second after Carlton Kotalo. We hung for like another 15 minutes and he got the show started.

He went up and did a good job settling the room in. As his set went on more people showed up and we actually had about 8 or 9 noncomics there which is a nice crowd. Then he brought up Carlton who got some laughs with some stuff I don’t remember. He talked about his ex wife and that did well. He also talked about him and Mu seeing a dude having a seizure and breaking his AirPods. 

I went up and joked about no wonder his wife left the kind of guy who just watches someone have a seizure and die. I then riffed about how bad comics are as people. I then did my newer stuff. Honestly I did well for the first half, but the newer stuff I rushed through and I wasn’t pleased with it at all. Definitely productive, but this was the definition of a mediocre set. I had fun, but didn’t kill. I’d give it a C-.

After my set I grabbed my things and said my goodbyes. On my way out Jesse Jarvis walked in and I got to talk to him for a bit. It was a good way to end the night. I hopped in my car and headed home to hang with mom before passing out. 

That’s it everybody for today. I have some fun shows coming up so make sure you check out winstonhodges.com for the dates of the HaHa Hyrdra comedy tour, and I am super stoked on getting some t-shirts made. It’s a great time to be following me. Make sure you check me out on everything @winstonhcomedy ! xoxo I love you and will be back with you Sunday!

[winstonhcomedy]

“Dope A-F” - 8/12-8/14 - “Charlottesville Anniversary, and The Winstmas Games goes to Panera”

Hey laydees I hope you’re ready for some more blogging! This is the week where I made some big decisions comedy wise! I have to hop right into it baybees! We got some #cutecomedy coming at you! xoxo

8/12

So today I finally unveiled a new release schedule! I am legitimately so excited and nervous. I will be releasing my podcast The Winstmas Games every Monday, then a blog post on Tuesday, a crowd work clip on Wednesday, a blog post on Thursday, a new joke on Friday, an IGTV show on Saturday, and then another blog post on Sunday. 

I know this is a lot to keep up with, and there is no guarantee that it will lead to anymore followers or fans. What it does guarantee is I get into a rhythm of creating, writing, and producing new content. I have an incredible work ethic when it comes to doin standup, and I want to transfer that passion and energy to things that aren’t standup! I also figure posting this schedule online will definitely make me accountable. 

I started today. I released the newest episode of my podcast and blasted it all day on Facebook and IG. I know I probably need to do more advertising but at this point I am going with what I have to advertise. Hoping that the content becomes undeniable and it gets a following. 

I headed up to The Southern after work. I got there pretty early and got to kind of relax and figure out what I wanted to do or try on stage. A few people show up. Chris gets there, and we get a nice hang in while we set some stuff up.

He has his new shirts, and I snag one from him. I got the yellow one. It’s a dope design it’s the don’t tread on me flag but it’s a microphone instead of a snake and it says “Don’t Tread on Comedy”. It is a super solid shirt, and I got the friend’s and family discount (which is paying full price).

Some more comics show up, but we have a pretty light list. Heather, Sam Wood, Samantha Padgett, Sammy Major, John Marg, Jake Snyder, David McCallie (but he has quit performing for the time being), and a few others are on the lineup. I am curious how the turn out will be because this is the two year anniversary of the Heather Heyer tragedy. She was actually struck by the car like two blocks away from The Southern. I remember two years ago when it had happened and I ran the open mic the next day there. 

I am up fifth or sixth and there is actually a nice little crowd. It isn’t packed, but they seem like they are going to be pretty fun. The show starts and Chris has a good hosting set. He does about 10 to 15 up top and does everything he can to get the crowd loose. After he does this he starts bringing people up. 

Shane Hill goes up first, and he kind of just rants. He is trying something different and talks about his journey into standup, and the road blocks he has faced. He says he has kind of hit a wall and doesn’t know if he wants to keep doing it. You can tell though that during this set he is stating to realize some of the reasons he enjoys comedy. He gets a few laughs, but it seems like an incredibly cathartic set for him.

A few more people go up, and are doing ok. I am just trying to figure out what stuff I am going to do. I think it is going to be a fun night to do something new. I have a list of stuff, and am actually pretty excited.

I go up and go right into it. I do some crowd work with a lady who is on vacation from Ohio. I then do a few newer jokes that work pretty well. They had been making fun of this dude who went to Virginia Tech in the crowd so I made an offensive riff about how our tragedy was worse than Charlottesville’s. This gets a better laugh than I expected. I then transition this into doing a big about 9/11 I haven’t done in a while. It is nice when something works perfectly like that. 

Some of my new doesn’t work at all and that is ok. I had a super fun set. I enjoyed myself even though I didn’t get the best response all the way through. I didn’t have the energy I usually do, and didn’t really sell any of my jokes. It was extremely productive, but I'd give this set a C/C+. 

After me a few more comics went and then Paige finally showed up. He graduated from his driving class today so he won’t be late to any more shows which is dope. He goes up and has a fun set as well. it was a nice way to close the show. 

After all of this I really needed to get home I was pretty exhausted. I was taking the next day off from comedy to recharge, run some errands, see my mom, and chill. I say my goodbye’s and head to my car. I get home and immediately pass out. 

8/13

Took the day off from comedy. All I did was update my blog, and edited some video. I made sure to go get a haircut, and run some other errands. I kind of reflected on losing my dad before going to see my mom and some of our family friends at dinner. I am glad I took the night off, but am ready to get back to comedy by the end of the night. 

8/14

I had a pretty nice day at work. I was excited because it was time to release the first Crowd Work Wednesday video. It was a clip from my headlining set at Cozzy’s in July. Hopefully some people check it out. I have no clue what I am doing, but I just want lots of content out there in case someone likes what I do. 

After work I used the next few hours to edit a ton of video. I have about 7 or 8 videos already ready to release all the way up until September. Which buys me some time to get some more recordings of new jokes, and some crowd work clips. 

After this I headed over to Panera so I could record a new episode of my podcast. I had Jesse Hill Jr (Coalition), Carlton Kotalo (Buskey), Bryan Williams, and Alex Castagne on the show. I grabbed a bite to eat and then we headed outside to record. It ended up being a pretty fun show!

After this we went our separate ways and I headed downtown to do McCormacks. I got there early and got a nice hang going with Mike Engle and Bryan again. I talk to Jarvis when he shows up and he lets me know I am going first. 

More comics show up and a real good hang gets going. Alex shows up and a lot of new guys. I have a list of super new stuff I wanted to do and try to work out. There is an ok crowd here. I am excited to try this stuff out. 

Jarvis goes up and opens the show. There are people talking and definitely a table of people that are leaving as soon as they can. They were surprised by the comedy show happening. He does his five minutes and then brings me up.

I go up and try new stuff and I’d say half of my set went really well, and the other half got nothing. I have a lot of work to do on this stuff. I tried this bit about a homeless dude for the second time and it got jack shit so I need to sit down and rework it. Some stuff about my dad worked really well, and my new joke about cornhole has laughs in all the right spots. I just need to find a way to close it better. 

I didn’t feel amazing while I was on stage due to the lulls but I did get to work on a lot which felt really really good. I love working on new material. I love having a high turnover rate. it makes me feel like I won’t ever stop writing. I do need to sit down and really put the final touches on a lot of this material. I probably have about an hour worth of stuff I am bouncing around that isn’t fully finished. It is just when I get ready to work on it I end up writing something new or something else comes up. Oh well I guess it is a good problem to have. I’d give my set a C/C-.

After my set I stuck around and watched a few other comics. Mike Engle brought back his bit “Dinosaurs at the Mall”, and I got to see Alex work out new stuff. both super fun things to see. After this I said goodbye and headed out. I have a few other shows this week, and I was ready to get out of there.

HOLY COW THAT IS TODAY’S BLOG POST! I love you so much laydees and baybees! You are the wind beneath my wings. If you don’t already foliow me on everything please do @winstonhcomedy on everything! I love you so much and you can catch me all over the place this coming week! Check it out on winstonhodges.com . xoxo I love you !

[winstonhcomedy]

“Dope A-F” - 4/19-4/22 - “I’m Probably Not Going To Do That”

Let’s get it popping you sweet ass laydees and baybees! I had a fun and interesting weekend, and then a fun show Monday night. So let’s get to it boo!

4/19

There was a huge storm coming for Richmond so I was able to get out of work early. I am beyond happy I did because I was in traffic forever on 95. It usually takes me at the most 2 hours to get to DC, and I didn’t get parked until about 3 1/2 hours. Just a lot of accidents and people not knowing how to drive. 

I finally get up there and get my usual parking spot. I then walked about 35 minutes until I get to the DC Comedy Loft at Bier Baron. I am going to be hosting for Eddie Pence in the cellar area. It is a dope basement room and always an interesting and fun show. It is much more intimate than the upstairs room, and honestly I prefer it. 

I get there and they’ve got a lot of stuff set up. Eddie is filming a crowdfunded comedy special. He has brought his feature with him and her name is Jennifer Sterger (Roast Battle, The Upside). When I get there Eddie is talking to the sound guy Grant about the rundown of the show. It sounded a little weird to me, and when Grant points me out as the host Eddie runs it down for me.

Eddie wanted me to go up and do 10. Then the feature do 10. Eddie does an hour and then I go back up and do another 10 while they drop checks. He asks me if this is ok, and in a rare moment of self worth I tell him it doesn’t make sense for me to be making half the money the feature is and having to do twice the time. He understood this completely and we changed it to where she would go up twice.  I felt weird about standing up for myself, but honestly at the end of the day I know I did the right thing. It was super dope after that because everybody was cool and understanding and I throughly enjoyed getting to know both of them. 

The first show starts and it’s al to of Eddie’s friends and family, but they were an older crowd and were super tight. I had a pretty good set, but I was working my ass off to break through. I messed up the wording on some of my jokes which was frustrating, but for the most part the audience couldn’t tell. I’d give this set a C+. It was a solid start to a hosting weekend. 

Jennifer went up and they were not fans of her. I felt bad, because they just did not dig her shit. Which sucks because it was totally the crowd. They just didn't vibe. After her was Eddie. He is a good comic, and had some strong material. The audience was so drunk, and just not great. He had a really good set, but his stuff was not killing the way that it should have.

After his set she and him both went back up and did a Q and A type of thing to pass the time. It was super awkward, but I was just glad I didn’t have to do it. Also they had no AC on because of the noise throwing off the recording. So it was like 90 degrees in there and everybody was sweating like crazy.

Because they didn’t sell enough tickets they cancelled the second show and scheduled a male strip show. So I grabbed my bag as soon as the show was over and walked over to Big Hunt. Even though I had a bunch of time to kill before the show I would rather hang out at Hunt than sit around and do nothing. I grabbed some Tiki Taco, and got over there. 

I went downstairs at Hunt and Charlie Ross was there. We hung and talked as more comics showed up. Eventually Maddy Brannon and Martin Amini came in to chill since they had been opening up the paid shows this weekend. Sean also came in and was explaining to a new comic the steps to get on open mics. 

Everybody is shooting the shit, and having a good time. They were saying the second show for them had a super tight crowd. I could tell just from the sound of the room that they were hesitant. We all talked about how that’s how comedy works sometimes. It was a good fun talk. Michael Summers eventually showed up and then Sean made the list. I found out I was going first and I was so excited, because there is nothing I like more than getting to head out early in DC.

The show starts and they seem a little tight. Sami Sfeir was hosting and it took his whole set for him to crack them. When I get called up I just really go in and try to sell all my jokes. I got some big pops and tried a new joke that worked pretty well there. I am super pleased with how it goes. I’d give this set a B. A solid and dope start. I head off stage, grab my stuff, say goodbye, and head back to my car to go to TJs where I pass out almost immediately.

4/20

I spent most of the next day sleeping. The only time I left TJs was to go grab a bite to eat with him at Hooters. After this we headed back and napped before I got my shit together and headed back to DC. I got to my parking spot and walked right over. I was excited because both shows were happening tonight.

I get there and the first show looks like it is going to be lightly attended at first. I kind of chill and relax and get in the mindset of another tough show. As we get closer and closer to showtime it really starts to fill out. It is pretty packed and they have a great energy. I also find out they are going to keep the AC on tonight, and also the format changed (now it will be me doing 10, then him doing an hour, then her doing 10).

The show starts and I have a really dope and hot hosting set. Everything is working, and I felt like I could have gone on way over my time. I close super strong and I’d give this set a B.  They are super warmed up and I bring Eddie up and he has a super hot set for an hour. I feel like he is going to get a lot of usable footage out of it. Then Jennifer goes up and they dig her a lot. She has a much better set than the night before which I was happy about. 

After the first show Jennifer and I talk about the other stuff she does and what she’s into. Her husband plays baseball, but she does a lot of stuff with wrestling which is pretty awesome. So we talk about that for a while.

The second show of the night is going to be shit. It is a light crowd. They’re all super drunk and I can tell they aren’t going to be a lot of fun. An older white dude wearing gym shorts, t shirt, and socks in flip flops comes over and asks me how many comics are on the show. He asks me if I’m funny, then asks if the headliner is funny, and then how long the show is going to be. It was a super strange interaction. 

This show is about half the size of the first one and the audience seems wack. I go up and I struggle. I warm them up, but I am definitely having to work my ass off on this one. The stuff from the first show works, and I close a little differently. I did my job, but was not happy with it at all. I’d give it a C-. Eddie then goes up and he also has to fight them forever. People won't quit texting or talking and after his set I find out he people being the worst are some of his friends from high school. Some people are just ass holes. Jennifer goes up and does ok, but honesty we were all just powering through this one. 

I get my check and talk to everybody. THey’re super nice as I say my goodbyes and I feel like I’ve definitely made some friends this weekend. I then head over to Big Hunt. I get there and the crowd is pretty awesome. I am up in a few people so I am just hanging in the hall. Nathan Luft is hosting this one. 

I end up having an interesting discussion about road comics, good rooms/bad rooms, and the importance of doing both with a few of the other comics. Talks like this are always fun even when I don’t agree with what is being said. 

While Im there I hear my buddy Ross screaming at people heckling from the stage. Then someone got the bouncer and made a huge scene throwing these guys out. I’m like 10 feet away sitting with Jack Coleman as these dudes are getting thrown out. It was low-key awesome to see even though it disrupted the show. 

After this I go up and have a fun set. I have a heckler but he’s not a big deal. I kill with my first bit and the second one I do only does ok which is fine. I was still super happy with how I handled the heckler and just did my own shit. I’d give my set a B/B+. I then walked to my car and started to drive home. I get back at around 4 am and pass out so I can go to church with the family the next day. 

4/22

I am in a great mood at work all day. I had had a super great Easter with my family. We all got together, ate a bunch of food, and enjoyed a super fun day. So I had all this positive energy follow me through the day which was super nice. I was stoked to get to do The Southern. 

I talk to Paige on the phone up there and I riff a new idea, and he tells me to try it. I am super nervous, but I love having new jokes and I love this room. I finally get to the show at about 7. I come in super happy and start shooting the shit with Paige, Danny (the gm), and JR. 

People start walking in and I just have a fun energy. I’m busting balls, and riffing until the cows come home. Chris shows up and he seems a little upset. This blows over pretty quickly and we are all having fun. He gets the list ready and has a comics meeting outside. We are piggy backing the show (each comic brings up the next comic) and I am up third. In-between Chris Cantrell, and Keaton Ray.

Chris gets the show started pretty close to on time. There isn’t a ton of people here, but we are determined to have fun. As Chris starts his set a few more people start to file in. Honestly it is awesome to see. We get a pretty good crowd for the open mic all things considered. The best thing is usually when people come to this mic they stay for like 90% of it. 

The first few comics do ok, but can’t really break through. I go up and I start a little weak up top, but eventually break through. I get some big laughs, and my NEW BIT WORKED. I only did it as a quick line, but I realize there is a lot of meat on those bones. I’m going to work the hell out of that joke until it is a signature bit. I’d give my set a B-, but honestly I get off stage and feel like a million bucks. 

As the show goes on I get to hang and see a bunch of people I hadn’t seen in a while like Anne Meng, John Marg, Sam Padgett, Charles Bill, Keaton, and some others. Anne takes a super funny Boomerang of me with my legs in the air pretending to finger myself that made me laugh out loud. As each comic goes up there is a lot of good sets this night. The audience is small but mighty. All in all a great night. I leave early so I can get some rest. I talk to Paige on the way home, and I stop at Sheets to get some fried cheese. A super fun time, and I’m really glad I got to do it. 

THIS WAS A HOOT TO DO LAYDEES! I’ve got some big shows this week. Tots on Wednesday in Blacksburg at 9:30 and Thursday is the last Host Battle open mic at Pro Re Nata at 8 in Crozet. So come one and come all. I love you all very much. Thanks for the support and see y’all next time. XOXOXO 

[winstonhcomedy]

“Dope A-F” - 3/7-3/19 - “First Weekend Featuring And Some Other Shit”

Listen up folks. It is time to catch up. I’ve been all over the place and not feeling my best lately. I have let this blog get away from me, but I promise I am bringing it back baby so let’s hop right into it laydees.

3/7

This was a nifty night of comedy. Jacob McFadden had gotten me an opportunity to do a live Winstmas Games at VCU’s create-a-thon- I was super stoked for this. I had booked a super strong lineup (Anne Meng, Beau Treauxclair, and Brandon Beswick vs Jacob McFadden, Dylan Vattelana, and Kate Carroll.) Create-a-thon is where a bunch of students stay up all night and work on developing ideas/apps and then presenting them. So this is going to be an all college crowd, they’re going to have been working for like 12 hours, and we are their entertainment for the night.

I meet up with Beau, Dylan, and Kate at Mojos and hang for a bit. I grab my camera and we all head over to VCU’s Temple building to meet up with McFadden, Beswick, and Kate. It took us a while to find everyone but once we did we headed upstairs. They took us to a side room and set everything up. We used Jacob’s PA and I set up my camera in the back. I got a good look at the kids and it gave me some anxiety. You always hear that comedy shows at colleges can go weird. You hear that they are super PC and you have to adjust. My gameshow lends itself to offensiveness. I like that we go over the line and say all types of insane stuff.

Everybody files in and we get started. It was super duper fun. We did a bevy of games and only did about an hour long show. It started kind of slow but the audience slowly got into it as the show went on. The more offensive stuff/sexual stuff they did shy away from, but we were able to hook them. There were a few lulls but there were also some huge pops. The episode will be up on iTunes/Google Play soon so check it out. Honestly Jacob yelling, “get a new man!” at the top of his lungs for 3 minutes absolutely destroyed me. There were some good running gags, and everybody had a blast.

I was able to give out some stickers and people seemed excited to have been there. I packed everything up and headed out. IT was a dope night I’d give it a B+.

3/8

The next day I realized I needed to kind of take a day and enjoy myself. I went to go see Captain Marvel after work. I got a good meal and then took my time getting up to DC. Yes I only did one set, but it was fun. I got to Big Hunt early and got to hang out and talk to my friends.

I got to catch up with Benjy Himmelfarb, Matt Deakins, and a few others before heading downstairs. My buddies Chris and Tj showed up next. We went downstairs and hung out and got ready for our sets.

I figured this would be.a good time to prep for my JFL set. Sean tells me I am going first at the mic. It is my first time going first here and I want to set the table nicely for everybody. So I go up and do a five minute set. It was super tight and I got some big laughs. I felt like I did my job in that spot and I am beyond happy with how it went. Nothing too crazy or special, but I did get some big pops which was exciting. I’d give my set a B+.

I was absolutely exhausted but TJ was going later in the show. So we just all stuck around and chilled. Chris and TJ both had good sets. After they finished we walked to Chris car and I drove them back. Chris at first was like you’re going too damn slow. Hurry up. Then about 5 minutes into the ride he was like, “you know what you’re respecting tf out of my car right now, and I love it.” I drove them back to the metro and hopped in my car and met them at TJs where I immediately went inside and passed out for like 12 hours.  I had a big show tomorrow, and honestly just needed to rest.

3/9

This night was going to be super special. Chris and I were going to be doing The After Show. This is a political/social roundtable show. It is kind of a spiritual successor to Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn a comedy show that influenced an entire generation of comedians.

I booked a super dope lineup imo. I tried to have a diverse lineup. The more diverse these shows are the better. I had Francesca Lyn, Clinton Johnston (radio host of Home Grown Live), Paige Campbell, Garrett Barnes, Chris, and myself.

This show I was functioning as a panelist and as fact checker. My job was to read off the topics, fact check, contribute, and Chris was going to lead the discussion of all of the topics.

This ended up being one of the most fun shows I have ever done. There was a nice sized crowd there and they were incredibly into it. We covered some pretty heavy and intense topics and we got some incredibly huge laughs from it. I am so upset that my camera didn’t work. I have absolutely no audio or video of the show.

We covered the Jessie Smollett thing, Michael Jackson/R Kelly, representation in media/comics, anti-vaxxers, race, religion, sexuality, and so much more. It was one of the more fun 90 minutes I have ever spent on stage. People absolutely loved it. The best part was Clinton seemed to have a good time. He isn’t a comedian but he is a super kind, funny, and smart dude. He was worried he wouldn’t do well, and he ended up being on e of the best parts of the night. He kept the show grounded while the rest of the comedians made points but were also mostly just going for laughs. I’d give this show an A+. It was a blast. I headed home and passed out immediately I was so tired.

The following two nights I took off. I was incredibly sick those two days. I even took off from work on Monday which I almost never do.  That’s ok though because I had a week of fun shows coming up I needed to get ready for.

3/12

After my days off I had to drive to Winchester Brew Works to open for my buddy from LA Pete Buchbauer. He grew up in Winchester and this was going to be a super fun show.

I left right after work and it is a super long drive to Winchester. Like almost 3 hours each way. I don’t mind it, but I was thankful I got to leave work at 3 that day.

After I get there I walk in and catch up with Pete. I got to meet his gf and he let me know about all the cool stuff he has going on. The venue is a dope brewery. There is a pretty good crowd and turnout but everyone is crazy far away from the stage.

The feature act is a dude name Pat McCloig from San Diego but he also grew up in Winchester so he brought a lot of people too. So we had a good crowd, but we needed to get them closer. I went up to make the five minute warning announcement and told everyone if they could to move up and the show would be so much better. They all listened. They moved every table closer and it looked more like a show than before.

The show starts and I do mostly crowd work and little bit of jokes. The jokes aren’t really hitting. It is such a big room that the laughter sounds weird coming to the front. Also the feature acts father was a minister and he brought some of the members of his church to the show and they sat dead in the front and they weren’t huge fans of me. I got a big laugh though when I said they looked like the last supper. I warmed up the crowd and I’d give it a C.

The feature went up and he did ok. The room was still being weird and I think they picked up on him doing jokes in front of his dad. He did ok, but his closer didn’t really hit at all which sucks. Pete told me I could do a couple more jokes to bring them back and I did. I did about 3 more minutes of just jokes and it did really well. I got the room back and ready for him. I’d give the second set a B.

Pete then came up and did about 25 to 30 minutes and did really well. People were there to see him, and they got a great show. Afterwards I got some nice compliments and got to talk to some of the audience. That room definitely has promise if they do more comedy. I also saw another of my comic friends’ (Sami Sfeir) mom at the show. So I took a pic with her and sent it to him with a joke caption.

I then hopped in my car and drove back to Richmond to go last at Fallout. I needed the stage time, and I needed to run this JFL audition set. I get back just in time and get to watch a few of my friends go up before it is my turn to go. There is a few audience members there which is insane. So I have an actual crowd.

Kate Carroll is hosting and she gives me a super nice intro and I get to go up. I did my 5 minute set and it goes pretty well. I am definitely going to switch some stuff around and add a couple new jokes. It gets a good response though and I close with a brand new joke that I am happy about. I’d give the set a B. I go and pass out as usual. I still feel really sick so I am just trying to keep it together.

3/13

The next day I had double booked myself. I had agreed to close out Clash of the Comics at the Richmond Funny Bone, but I had also agreed two months earlier to ride down to Cozzys with Alex Castagne for Nick Deez show at Cozzys. I was going to record Alex set and Nick was gong to give me a guest spot.

I thought about it, and since I was at Funny Bone rest of the weekend I txted the gm at the Funny Bone and told him I had double booked and if someone wanted my spot they could have it. He said that’d be awesome, and that he had someone who had been asking about it. Then about an hour later at work the gm gave me a call and said that since Lil Rel had cancelled they didn’t have a feature act for the weekend. He offered me a weekend of featuring and I jumped at it.

This was officially going to be my first feature weekend. I have done feature spots but they were always on an off night and not for the whole weekend. This was going to be 6 shows in front a national touring headliner in my home club. This was a huge deal and I could not wait. I knew it was going to be a tough gig, but I just was ready to show how much I have grown over these almost 4 years.

With this news I am basically jumping for joy at work. When I get off I go over to Alex’s place and we head to the grocery store and get some Ukrop’s coffee cake. I then take a nap while he gets ready and then we head down to Cozzy’s.

We have a great ride in the car. We are riffing and raffing. Joking about anything and everything. Getting caught up, and talking about our sets. The main reason I didn’t want to miss this was it was going to be Alex’s first time in a club doing 30 minutes.  This is a big deal. It’s super cool Nick felt Alex was ready and asked him to do it.  Alex was super nervous, and rightfully so this was a dope and big deal.

We get to Cozzy’s and Nick is hanging outside looking nervous af. He always looks nervous when he is running a show. He is afraid no one is going to be there and quite frankly that is everyone’s fear. The first one was fun, but you never know if that was a fluke or if it will be consistent.

We hang out and talk for a bit and then Alex and Nick head to the corner to do an episode of Nick’s podcast Comedy Buildups and Breakdowns. During this time some of the other comics show up and crowd members start to come in. At first it looks like it is going to be a light night. Which is ok, but I know it isn’t what Nick wanted. I go outside for a bit and what I assume is a homeless dude is on a phone and he starts talking to me about the Redskins and to forgive him if he started watching porn. So yea Newport News is dope.

Then the audience starts to file in. By the time the show is getting ready to start we have a pretty good crowd. I don’t know many of the comics on the show, but they all seem nice. Rock Allen showed up to support and I hadn’t seen him in a while.  The other comics on the show included Jose Roman, J Marc Perry, Michael Dillard, Aaron Johnson, Justin King, myself, and Alex closing it out.

Nick goes up and tries to get the crowd in the mood for comedy. He has a bit of a rough set but finishes fine. He gets a couple of laughs, but hosting is always hard. He gets them on his side and brings the comics up. The first couple of comics do ok. The crowd can definitely be cracked, but no one has really hit them in the right spot.

I ask Nick to put me up next. I had felt a little weird this day and I didn’t want to go up any later. He told me that was cool so I got ready. When he called me up I went straight into it. I just tried to wake people up and keep them engaged. I did crowd work, and one bit. I had a super fun set. I didn’t destroy, but I know that I got the audience into. Definitely a hot set that I am proud of. I love being the one to crack the room. I’d give this set a B.

I then went and talked to Alex a bit. He is still a bit nervous about having to do 30. recently Alex has been talking himself out of good sets. Everybody does this from time to time and when I was at the two year mark in comedy like he is I did it a lot more than I do now.  I believe in self-fulfilling prophecy and the power of being excited/positive so we try to focus on that.

A couple comics go up and do ok in front of him. Nothing special, just a couple of fine sets.  Justin King went up and I hadn’t seen him in a while. He did pretty well going right before Alex. He had some good jokes and left on some laughs. After this set it was time for Alex.

Alex had a fine set. He did his time. He has the material for 30. He lost them a few times, but he was never devoid of laughter. His crowd work did really well, but he kept going away from it to get back to his jokes. This was a crowd that was there for more interaction than jokes. I think if he had mixed it up more, maybe do a 50/50 split of crowd work and material than he would have felt better about the set. I was proud of him for doing it. He got to headline a show in a club and people enjoyed it. That’s all you can ask for.

We said our goodbyes and left. Alex and I talked about this set and comedy the whole trip back. It was a nice way to end the night. I was absolutely exhausted so I passed out as soon as I got home.

3/14

Today was the day. My weekend of featuring at the Richmond Funny Bone was starting. I was so stoked on it. But first I was heading to The Camel to do a quick spot before hand.

I got there pretty early and did some writing. I waited for a few of my friends to show up. I got to see Jason Kusterer who I don’t see very often, Brandon Beswick, and the one and only Kenn Edwards. WE did a lot of ball busting and riffing. It was so much fun to catch up with these guys.

Jameson did me a solid and put me up first. I went and had a good set. I was proud of it. I can’t really remember what I did, but I know it was newer stuff. I got a solid response from the crowd and was happy. I’d give it a B. I then watched Brandon and Kenn perform. They both did well and had some good lines. It was great to see! I grabbed my stuff and headed to the club.

This was my first night featuring for the weekend. I was opening for BoDacious from the 757. Jaye Toler and another comic I’m not really friends with both show up and say they were told they’d get to host the weekend. I am legit thinking please let Jaye be the host. Like I don’t hate the other dude, but I wanted this weekend to be nothing but fun. I wanted my friend I’d known since I started to be bringing me on stage. Thankfully my prayers were answered. Jaye would host all weekend and this dude would get to do a guest spot.

The show starts and we are a little over half full. Which is more than I thought for a Thursday. Jaye has a pretty solid set and the guest spot does well got some real nice pops. I then go up and have a killer first 15 minutes. Like I really hooked them with crowd work and my opening bits. The only problem is after this I lost them. They didn’t enjoy a joke I did and every one after this was me trying to get the good will back. It wasn’t a bad set and I closed strong. It was just one of those things where I had them and let them off the hook. I’d give the set a C/C+. I tell myself I will not let this happen again. I go home and regroup and get ready for the weekend. The Funny Bone is a tough/urban club. It is hard to work and they can be unforgiving. I refuse to let this club beat me this weekend.

3/15

On Friday I had two shows. The headliner for the rest of the weekend was going to be Billy Sorrells (BET, Wild n Out, from Houston Texas).

I got to the shows earlier than everyone else because that is what I do. I went shopping and bought some new jeans and was going to get a new pair of shoes but decided against it.

I go to the club and just wait around. I’m crazy nervous. I don’t want this to be a weekend full of mediocre sets. The GM gave me a shot to feature and I wanted to kill it. So I made my set list and tried to get in a good head space.

Billy got there and introduced his self. He was a super laid back, confident, and nice guy. I was excited to see what he does on stage. We chilled in the back and got to know each other a bit. He played super loud music in the green room (mostly soul/R&B) for the whole show. Even when he was on stage he had it on. I would turn it down, but it seemed odd to me to just keep your phone running in the green room. He also saw I had my videocamera and asked me to record him. Which I didn’t mind doing, but it’s just a pain in the ass to edit people’s stuff for them.

The show starts and we have a little over half of the room full again at the start. I worry it is going to suck like the previous night, but I have to shake this feeling. Jaye goes up and has a pretty good set. After him it is my turn.

Jaye calls me up and I go right into it. I do some crowd work about how people chose to not sit in the front and it was messing up my profile picture I was trying to get. I hit on a bunch of black women in their 20s in the front row. Asking each of them if they’d ever been hit on by a white guy, and eventually I asked another white dude if he had been hit on by a white guy. That killed super hard.

I went into my material and it was also working. After a few minutes a group of people came in and I got them up to speed on the set so far and that did super well. I then asked the black lady in her late 30s if she had been hit on by a white guy and she was like, “right now.” So I told the other people they lost their chance because they sat around and I was going home with her. That destroyed as well. The rest of the set went well but never hit those highs. I am just super comfortable doing crowd work and then getting into my material. I closed strong and got a huge applause. It felt good I’d give this set a B. I knew I could and would do better.

Billy went up and killed for 45 minutes. In the green room he mentioned that one of his best friends was Ali Siddiq and you could tell he had an influence on his comedy. He was laid back and was a great storyteller. After the show I got some pictures with people, handed out some stickers and then headed back inside to get ready,

On the second show Billy’s friend Rob Gordon showed up. He is a DC comic I have never met and he runs the DC Comedy Festival. He was going to be doing a guest spot. He comes in the green room and seems like a super nice guy.

We are all chilling and I am just trying to get in a good headspace and try to follow my set from earlier. So I go and sit in the showroom for a bit.

When the second show starts it is closer to 3/4 full for this one. I was also excited because one of my coworkers hit me up and asked what time the show was. It felt so good to not only know she was coming but to also be able to hook her and her husband up with tickets was so dope.

The second show started and Jaye has a good set. Rob Gordon goes up and is super high energy. He really captured them up top. He was supposed to only do five but he ran tfo of the light and ended up doing 10. I didn’t feel like following his energy, but I knew that I could.

I go up and really get into it. There was a woman in the front who had been weird the whole show. You could tell she had an attitude so I went right at her and got her on my side. I teased her and her whipped bf. They loved it.

She had glasses on and so did the woman next to her. I asked the lady next to her if she was going to be mean like the other black lady with glasses. That got a laugh. Then the original chick was like, “just stereotype us then.” Then I went on a riff for a minute or so about how it wasn’t stereotyping if they were actually just both black women with glasses. I wasn't on stage saying, “What’s the deal with all these black women in glasses. It’s like they’re trying to see or some shit.” I then talked about being too woke for that and it brought the place down. I also mentioned my coworker being my boss and that I was going to lose my job and they ate that up too.

The rest of my set went well too. I did some of my usual material and peppered in some different stuff I needed to try there. I’d give the set a B+. I felt like I just kept getting better and better as the weekend went on.

After the show I got to talk to my coworker and her husband and they were both really into it and impressed. It felt so good. After I said my goodbyes I got Rob’s info and headed home to get some rest even though Billy was trying to hang out. I think he parties a little too hard for me and this was going to be my one chance to get some real rest this weekend so I took it.

3/16

Saturday was going to be better than Friday. Two more sets and I had confidence from the previous night. The shows started thirty minutes earlier so we were all afraid that Billy was going to be late. Which is my biggest fear. The best part is I didn’t have to worry about it since I wasn’t hosting. Being a feature is so much more relaxing.

The show is even more full than last night. As usual Jaye goes up and gets them warmed up. Then it is my turn. I walk up and start talking to a table to the side about their hats. I then get to talk to one of the women they are with and she yells, “I’m the side piece.” This gets a huge reaction so I start talking to them about this. Saying that’s the proudest side piece of all time. I asked her name she said, “Mrs. Side Piece”, and I respond, “I’m pretty sure it’s just miss.”

I then do some teaching and club material. It is going really well. I go back to side piece and do some more crowd work. Then I talk to two people on the side who just met because their friends ditched them. This doesn’t get much laughs for a couple minutes but it set me up for a huge callback later. The rest of the set goes really well and I close strong. I killed pretty hard and I’d rate it a B+/A- so still better than the last one.

During Billy’s set I listened a bit, but mostly decompressed in the green room and ate a bunch of food while I screwed around on youtube. After the show I had a bunch of people asking for pictures, and stickers. It was awesome to see this reaction. Richmond is one of the toughest clubs in the country. I hear that from every feature/headliner who comes through. It is a tough/black room and if you can’t work a black room then this is a difficult place to do well in. I’ve bombed there and felt like shit hosting there countless ties but I do believe that it has made me into the comic I am today. I feel like I have a long ways to go, but when it is on the line I can work any room/crowd around.

The second show went even better. The crowd was electric and I had them from the start. I didn’t slip up once.  I had my best crowd work of the weekend.

I had another guy who didn’t want to laugh so I addressed him first and people loved it. I have the video on youtube so check it out at youtube.com/c/winstonhodges .

The dude was a truck driver, and his name was 40. He told me to call him, “black” first and I flat our refused because I was, “too woke for that shit.” I really had them. I told him I was there for his struggle, and I was active listening. I was an ally. Just really hamming it up and people loved it.

I then had a moment during a joke when someone who knows my mom shouted out my name. I talked about how you can’t bring anybody to a show because they always screw it up. I kept going in and out of crowd work and material and people were digging it.  I’d definitely give this show an A. It felt like a culmination of four years of grinding. I am now no longer scared of the club. I know what I can do to make it work, and I feel like I am ready to eventually been the road. I left right after my set and once I got home I passed out.

3/17

I was ready for the weekend to be over. Sunday shows are usually kind of tough. They are earlier, and people aren’t always super into it. I was ready for it though. I was so excited because I had a lot of people coming to see me including my parents and my brother. I always want to do super well for them.

The show starts and they were not on board. They were a lighter crowd, but they did not enjoy what was going on at first. I was getting nervous but I had already proved all weekend I deserved to be there.

I get on stage and go right into it. My material and crowd work were hitting. It wasn’t my best set, but I had some super fun moments. It was all in all a great Sunday night show. I had a really fun moment talking to a guy that had been a truck driver for 27 years and married for 33. I asked if the first 6 years of marriage is what made him hit theroad.

I then asked them about how to make it that long. She said communication and he said she is always right. I riffed on that and got back into my material. It was a super fun show. I was so proud and this was a great ending to a superb weekend. I’d give this show a B.

Billy went up and it was weird. His first 45 minutes were just about a story that happened while he was in Richmond and then he did like an additional 50. The audience was tired and wanted to leave. So it was a bummer, but I got some great compliments afterwards and all in all I got like 70 IG followers just from this weekend. I know that’s a small number, but it made me feel really good. I said bye and headed out to get ready for work this week.

This was a huge moment for me comedically. The GM and Billy were both extremely complimentary of me. It meant a lot. Billy asked me about moving and told me to get the heck out of Richmond. I think I am getting closer and closer to a move. That’s why I’m trying to do the best I can while I am here.  Almost four years ago I was doing my first set ever on this stage. I went from winning a contest and getting hooked on comedy to being the paid middle act of an actual show. This is my dream and I will make it happen.

3/18

I was feeling under the weather for this show, but I refused to miss the Southern two weeks in a row. I stayed in town a bit and had a bite to eat before driving out there.

I was stoked because most of my friends were there. Paige, Alex, Chris, and almost all the guys were out. It was a lighter crowd than the last few times I had been there, and a smaller comic list (so we all got 5-7) instead of 3 which was nice.

I told myself I was going to do new stuff tonight. I know I shouldn’t since I am prepping for JFL audition, but who gives a shit. I didn’t want to change what I do. I like working on new shit so I decided to do some new stuff, and then also bring back an oldie from the vault that needs some work.

The crowd isn’t super into the show honestly. At least not at first. Paige goes up and he does not enjoy his set at all. He had some jokes hit that he was trying to work out, but he didn’t have the confidence I usually see from him. It was productive but I can tell he hated it.

I went a couple after him and enjoyed mine. I got a laugh on every joke. Some definitely need work, but I had 4 new jokes get something. They will probably be the basis of my next 5 minutes which is cool. I also brought back an old joke I liked and realized needs work. It got a laugh, but I forgot some of it. I always enjoy dusting off the oldies. I’d give this set a B-.

The rest of the night went ok. I helped clean up afterwards, but honestly I don’t remember much craziness from the show. We all had fun shooting the shit and watching each other. Padgett had a solid set. He is really coming along as a comic. He just has to get off of his notebook and put it together as a cohesive set.

We had a few bombs which were fun to watch like McCallie and Sam Wood. Sam went up after this other black comic named Vaughn who did some homophobic stuff and it was funny to watch her mean ass follow him. She got a big laugh and shit all over Colby Knight which made my night. I love these guys and they’re all getting better in their own way. It is cool the scene is growing and getting tighter. I won’t be around it too much longer, but I am glad to have been a part of it while I could.

Alex went last and did well. He hated how a few of his jokes went, but it was a super productive set. He got some really good laughs, and his timing is getting better. I love these fellas.

After cleaning up and talking I headed home to pass out. I was so tired. It had been a lot the past few days. I was so glad that I have a day off on Tuesday. Which I spent relaxing, cooking, and hanging with family. I love my days off now, and I am really trying to have more of them. I used to go out everyday, but now that I am at a position where I can still perform between 8-15 times a week I take my days off and enjoy them

WOW I DID IT. I am caught up again. It won’t happen ever again (JK IT IS TOTALLY HAPPENING AGAIN). I’ve got three open mics tonight and then a weekend in DC doing a ton of shows. This is the life. I love you laydees and baybees so much. Thanks for following xoxo hugs and kisses see you all soon!!!