My First Booking at the Hollywood Improv (and LLS #2)

The open mic at the Hollywood Improv is on hiatus through the summer. But I'd already reserved a ticket for the Late Late Show, so decided to make the trek up to Hollywood anyway.

One of the guests on LLS was a comic, and that helped in the "making it real" exercise. I got to see him walk to hit his mark only several feet away from me (I was in the front row... like my old days "on the bench" at USC... "the more things change, the more they stay the same"), learned that the comic's act is provided on cuecards (keywords only, not totally written out like the host's monologue), and watched his act through the camera operator's viewfinder (not a view you normally get, needless to say... but I said it anway).

After the show, I was going to try getting a spot at the Laugh Factory. The key word is "try". As it turns out, I drove past it a few times, looked for parking after each drive-by, and eventually gave up. If I'd really wanted to do it, I'd have found parking somewhere. The truth is, I wasn't really keen on the idea to begin with, so it wasn't that hard to bail. Maybe I'll learn the ropes there someday, and figure out how to get a showcase without waiting in line by the curb. Or maybe I'll decide one day to wait in line by the curb. In the meantime, back to the Improv. There's only so much time in a day, and only so many ropes we can learn.

At the Improv, my "usual spot" was taken, so I sat at a table next to the entrance of the dining room. While I was eating dinner, I saw Lesley Wolff, the comic/producer who'd seen me get pulled out of the audience during one of her recent shows. When she saw me, she came over to my table, and asked me for my name. She sees a lot of people, so it's no big deal that she didn't remember my name at first. Especially when you consider that after hearing my name, she told me that she had me down for a spot on her next show (September 20th).

To quote a line from "Almost Famous"...

"It's all happening."

That's not to say I'm "Amost Famous". It's more the spirit of that line that I'm talking about. Stay in the moment, go places, get in the arena, get better, work on building relationships, and next thing you know... stuff happens.

So, mark your calendars, boys and girls. My first booking at the Hollywood Improv. And it only took me about a year and a half, plus an additional 6,000 miles of driving. It may sound facetious, but it's not. In the whole scheme of things, to me, that's a small price to pay. The time would have passed anyway, even if I'd spent the last 18 months sitting on my couch. Now, when time passes, there's a good chance that something will have happened. It may be "only" a Tuesday show, but it's a big deal to me. After performing between 10:30 PM and 2:00 AM for the past year, I'll take it. I've got to take it. It's where I'm at. Not ready for the weekends, but ready to graduate from the "I Can't Believe How Freakin' Late It Is" show. I'll still do those shows (if and when they return), but I'll do them with the knowledge that I've got a little notch on my belt.

Funny, isn't it? Earlier this year, I started believing that I belong there. And now, some other people believe it, too.

Coincidence?