Stand-up Comic Journey

Indulj on U Street

2009-07-09T00:04:00.003-04:00

Another open mic completed. It was a little late starting but it was a great time. What can I say? You've got to love local comedy. I always have to give it up to Tash. I had to leave at 10:45 so I couldn't catch some of the last sets. If you ever get the chance come see the show even if I'm not performing. Free show. Great comics.

My set? Eh. I don't know. According to the small group that came for me, it was good. However, I didn't get the thunderous laughter that I'd like to command. It was all new material. Some went over really well and some that I thought would do well... was 'not so much.'

I paid my respects to Michael. It may have been out of place because I'm so damn goofy up there. It might have been hard to distinguish whether or not I was sincere. I was! I guess when you start up with Michael, the crowd is waiting for the punchline. Judging. Gaging whether or not it was tasteful or too soon. Tread lightly.

Indulj is definately one of my favorite rooms. Well, right now, it's the only room. I'd like to expand to see how these jokes fair with different crowds.

Overall? Always a good time. I love this stuff. I would really like to spend more time on my craft. I mean really sitting, writing, testing, re-writing, punching up a joke and kicking it with other comics. I'm too busy trying to save the world and raising the kids. I'll find time.

Until then, thank you everyone for keeping up with my blog and supporting live comedy.

First time at Indulj on U Street

2009-06-18T00:12:00.003-04:00

Oh man. I just got back from Indulj on U Street.

First off, I have to send a shout-out to Tashya T for putting this thing on. She is a hustler. I love it. I always complain about how DC sucks for comedy. It's not fair that there so many talented comics in the DC area but with MD and VA in the mix, it somehow doesn't make for a solid comedy scene *shrug*. While I complain about not finding the right open mics and venues, Tashya T is all hustle putting a room together. I know, I know, I'm on her nuts.

On to tonight's set. After the MC did a little crowd control and gave me a sick intro, I started off with some stupid joke about sharks and I had the room. After that, the notes were out the door and everything just flowed. The new jokes did well and I'm pretty sure my energy sold it that much more. I have time to work on them. They could use a little tweaking and punches here and there.

I couldn't wait to blog about tonight's set because it further confirms how important it is to have a crowd. After stale room after stale room, you find yourself trying to entertain other comics. Matt Kazam warned me about this. This just isn't the way to structure your material/delivery. This is not to say that my peers aren't important because they are. Their input is invaluable because they can dissect your material like a science. However, if you find yourself just performing for them, find another room.

In summary, it was great. I had so much fun and remember why I love it so much. I left feeling like comedy wasn't such a drag. How could it be? Your job is to make people laugh. They want to laugh. You just have to make it happen. Tonight, I made it happen.

A few more of these open mics and I should be ready for my big show. I'm building the buzz. Friends, old and new, want to come to a T Phiz show.

Last week a buddy of mine from high school died in a car crash. I haven't seen him since high school. He was supposed to come out to see me. He never did because I put off comedy for a few months more than I should have. Life is short. I really feel like a dick for not making an effort at a reunion. Follow your dreams people.

I'm back! ...I think. *shrug* ... *smiles*

Back on the Comedy Scene

2009-06-02T08:22:00.002-04:00

Phizzle is back. June 1st, 2009, I got back on stage (technically there wasn't a stage, but you get the point). The last time I did comedy was on October 18th, 2008.

So why the hiatus? My life! It wasn't falling apart or anything (that happened in 2007) but I had to get my focus on. In 8 months, I found a new job, sent wifey back to school and changed my entire lifestyle in recovery of the real estate debacle. Things are leveling off. The girls are adjusted to our new schedule, Lucas is the mostest gangstarest 22 month-old toddler in the world, I'm a rising star at work and it feels like I've got a handle on things. With that, I felt I could gradually ease my way back into the comedy.

So how was my set last night? I don't know. I started off on a tittie tangent - I know, it seemed funnier when I was writing it down. Dane Cook does tangents all the time. After the tittie bit, I eased right into strippers and Asian observations. Within moments, I felt right at home. I want to take the same set and try it in another room.

Overall, it felt like a pretty good set. I brought 6 non-coms with me which brought the non-com total to 9. Tragic. I know. I guess that statistic is something that won't change.

So where do I go from here? I guess to a few more open mics to have enough for an end-of-summer show.

Thank you all for encouraging words.

Comedy Update

2008-09-22T15:29:00.005-04:00

So much to talk about. Let's start with the big show that just came and went (September 18th, 2008).

It was a good show and a fantastic line-up. I expected about 60 people to show-up. How many showed up? 18. What happened? I don't know about you, but 10 bucks for a quality show is much better than some of the crappy movies we pay in excess of. Chad Heft brought a handful of people so in regards to the size of the room, it felt a lot less dense than a real comedy show should feel like.

As for my set, I did about 13mins of material - my longest set to date. I feel really good about it too. I was calm and relaxed. I looked at my notes a lot but I didn't need to because I knew all of it. I guess I just needed a safety net.

Soon after the show, I posted it on Facebook and YouTube. Why pay $10 for a show and drag your ass out of your house when you can watch 13 minutes of my set in the comfort of work? It seems like to be the alternative for most people. This is good and bad. It's good because I'm seeing the positive feedback on my set from people who have viewed the video. It's bad because the same people viewing the video should be in the audience contributing to the laughter in the room. More laughter in the room always equals more quality performance. I don't know.

I've got another show scheduled for the 16th of October. Here is the line-up: Eric Myers, me, Jim Pate, John Habel, Chad Heft and Lee Willis. Hopefully there will be more people at this show.

First time at 11th Street Lounge

2008-09-15T23:08:00.002-04:00

Alright. This place is definately nicer than Wiseacres. It's cozier too. But a lot like Wiseacres, all comics, 3 non-coms. I thought this would be a great place to test my set for the 18th but again, I don't know. Maybe my whole set sucks. I'm going to try to get on for Wednesday at Wiseacres too for one last shot at getting my shit together for the 18th show.

I met up with Sarah and Vinny on Saturday to go over material and share updates. It was cool. I have more fun writing and coming up with the material than actually getting up there to deliver. What is the universe telling me? Can I preach for a sec? I'm a big deal. Why do I need to get up there to tell jokes to these people that are possibly unequip to understand. Hmmm, where do I go? High brow? Low brow?

I guess at this point, I gotta just be me and see where it'll go. It's tough to do because I know I'm the shit but night after night, I'm getting these blank stares. It's whatever. Mo practice makes it mo betta.

Another Open Mic in the Books

2008-09-04T00:31:00.002-04:00

I just did another open mic. Each set is getting easier and easier. I no longer care about the crowd because let's face it, it's Wiseacres. Dreams go there to die. I'm more concerned about hamming it up for the camera because I have more viewership on FaceBook and YouTube than Wiseacres.

Tonight, I did some new material and brought back the 'God on FaceBook' bit. I did the 'Obama Inaugural speech' bit but sort of blew the punchline. One black comic half-way got offended and took a jab at Phizzle (me) at the end of pretty good set. He could have ended his set but he had to take a moment to say something that really wasn't funny - only racist. I'm OK with it because he looked like a chubby Bow Wow. How can you be mad at that? You can take the 'Lil' out of Lil Bow Wow, you'll still be Lil Bow Wow.

I really need to start piecing my act together for the September 18th show. It starts now.

Mandy gave me a great idea for a T-Shirt. I am going to put the picture of the Sept 18 Show Flyer on a white T-Shirt and wear it to next week's open mic.

Tonight's set is on Facebook and YouTube. Phizzle and Mandy's.

Show update

2008-08-27T09:40:00.002-04:00

The September 18th, 2008 Show has officially been announced. Here is the show flyer: http://www.pham-tom.com/tp/content/events/wiseacres091808-flyer.html

I sent out the newsletter yesterday and have already gotten a lot of confirmation on attendance. This show is going to be huge.

Today, I will print out a some flyers so that I can post them at Wiseacres, a couple of Paneras and maybe some other areas.

Last night and this morning, I put some final pieces into my set for the open mic tonight. I will mine all my past open mics to put together a final set 15 minute set for the September 18th show. Nervous and excited at the same time.

I have put the bombing...

2008-08-15T10:33:00.001-04:00

I have put the bombing on stage behind me. I've got my eyes set on the next open mic. Then after that, I'm going to start piecing together my set for the Sept 18th show.

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I just left the show,...

2008-08-13T22:00:00.000-04:00

I just left the show, I bombed it pretty bad. Can't wait to try it again, and bomb again. listen

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Weekends and comedy

2008-08-11T10:53:00.003-04:00

Nothing too out of the ordinary happened over the weekend.

Comedy is everywhere. When something happens, I have to take a moment and say, "wait, there is good comedy here."

I'm doing the open mic at Wiseacres on Wednesday and this time, I want to put together a good set instead of going up there to just mess around. In the last 2 weeks, I've come across some pretty good stuff. It'll be interesting to put it together and see how it sounds on stage. They all start off as ideas or premises and then I have to work around it/put some meat on it. Then I have to figure out where it fits into my set. This is an ongoing process. It consumes me.

Outside of that, nothing much is going on in my world of comedy.

In the world of comedy, Bernie Mac one of the great ones, one of the original Kings of Comedy, passed away. Rest in peace Bernie!

My Date Got Moved

2008-08-08T09:52:00.002-04:00

My show at Wiseacres moved from Aug 28th to Sept 18th. Repeat. The new date is September 18th. We tried for the 4th but football season begins. The 11th is just plain creepy so the 18th was the obvious choice.

2 good things came of this. 1) I can now go see Dave Atell at the Improv and 2) more people will be able to attend.

Now, I just have to start putting together a killer set. Where do I start? Next Wednesday at Wiseacres I will be doing an open mic.

Tom Pham

2008-08-07T10:28:00.002-04:00

At the beginning of the year, I was looking at other jobs. Things changed and I started to like the work I do so I'm content here. Because I was applying for Director level positions, I knew that 'Tom Pham' would be Googled.

This is not a good thing. I did a Google search on Tom Pham and found a lot of my comedy stuff. We're talking about my comedian website, links to my YouTube videos and my blog. My IT persona totally went against my stage persona, thus, T-Phizzle was born. It took half a week to do, but I had to change my website from tompham.com to tphizzle.com. I had to go edit my YouTube videos and replace 'tom pham' with 't-phizzle'. I did this for every instance of my presence on the web. Fast forward 8 months later, it looks like it worked. If you go deep enough, you can see some connections of 'tom pham' to my comic work.

A few things happened here. 1) Tom Pham (me) does not show up on the first page in a Google search as it once did. 2) My professional (Director of User Experience) profile does not show up until the 3rd page of a Google search.

Let me tell you what does show up and it is because of me. People (friends and fans) search Google and YouTube for 'Tom Pham' because they hear that I've got my videos out on the net. They see this Tom Pham kid (not me) playing Unfaithful on the piano. Most people will click on the video, view it for a little bit and forget about trying to find my videos or info on the web.

Thus, this little pencil neck punk kid is syphoning my web traffic. Now I have to spend the next 3 months doing some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) work on my professional profile.

The good news? T-Phizzle is at the top of a Google search. The drawback of the good news? If someone hears my name on stage, they'll Google 'fizzle' and I'm no where to be found under that search. I wonder if Biggie would have had this problem.

My week off

2008-08-06T10:13:00.002-04:00

Normally, I would come in on Wednesday morning a little bit stressed out. There would be a ton of things to do at work and I'm always concerned that I wouldn't have time to finish everything and have time left over to work on my set.

Today, I don't have to worry about it because I have no intention of going on stage tonight. However, as I was eating breakfast, something came to me and it was pretty funny. Yesterday while getting ready, something came to me also. I'll just write it down and try it next week.

I will be going to Wiseacres tonight because I wanted to talk to last week's MC about the upcoming show he's putting on. Already, I have about 8 confirmed guests. I think I'll be able to get 40 poeple there.

Blogs, Technology & Upcoming Show

2008-08-05T11:16:00.005-04:00

I moved away from Xanga because it was too hipster. I will still do Xanga every now and then to jot down lyrics and stuff. These days, I blog about comedy.

Technology is amazing. This blog has an RSS feed. I created a fan page on Facebook for Phizzle and imported this blog's entries by supplying the RSS URL. Then, Bam! I have a blog on the Facebook Phizzle fan page. Now, more people will have a chance to not read my blog.

I sent Naldo (odlan.com) a couple of pictures. He's going to find some time to sketch an Illustrator file for me. That same file will replace my ugly mug on t-phizzle.com and make its way onto t-shirts and mugs on cafepress.com/phizzle.

I spent a couple of hours yesterday Googling comedy in DC. Nothing has changed. It sucks. There are a few people doing and a couple of venues that support live comedy. I shouldn't complain - there is always opportunity in murky soil.

I have a paid gig coming up on August 28th. It's on a Thursday at Wiseacres. $10 cover charge at the door. I sent out the newsletter yesterday via iContact. I will have more information on the show tomorrow and send an official notice to my fans and friends.

And so it begins. I'm always wondering how do I get to be a writer on some hit TV show. I guess this is a step in the right direction. The last time I felt like this was when I did the show at Floyd's. The people that came out to that show saw that it was a step in the wrong direction. I apologize for that horrific show. I am not apologizing for Pearls.

Things are a little slow in the summer here at work. Alan left last Friday and Brendan, Casey, Karen, Rachel and Melissa left earlier in the year. I still got Coco, Brizzle and Mizzle. Some of the new guys are cool. I sit in a corner cubicle with florescent lights glowing over me. I have a window so I at least have natural light. I'm supposed to be in an office but there aren't any empty ones in this wing. There are tons of other offices in other wings though. I feel disconnected so with an office there would be a reason why I feel this way. Without an excuse of an office, what reason do I have for feeling disconnected?

In the last four weeks, I would spend my Wednesday mornings writing my set for a Wiseacres open mic. This week, I'm taking a break from it. I need to get back in contact with Curt.

That's all I have for now.

No One Reads This Blog

2008-07-08T10:22:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to take a quick moment to recap what's been happening in the comedy space. DC comedy continues to suck. There isn't enough support/interest in live comedy in DC. There is a small group of comics looking to make that change.

Personally, my last few sets have been good. I've got the bug again. I want to get on stage to tell jokes. Half the of the time I'm up there, aren't jokes at all - rather small twisits in things that actually happen. I have loads of new material so I'm spending time on stage going through it all. Eventually, I want to stick with the ones that work and make a solid set out of it. Most of the regular comics I see at Wiseacres use up 5 of their 6 minutes doing bits that work and get laughs, then they use their last 1 minute to do new stuff.

I'd like to get to that point. I want to be good at delivering my material. I want to cut out the um's and anyway's. I want solid delivery with out rushing to the punchline. Though one can't tell, I get nervous up there. Ironically, the times I'm nervous, people say I look relaxed up there and the times, I'm relaxed and chilled, they say I look nervous. *shrug shoulders*

I'm cooking up some really great premises for jokes but need to work out the story around it for a punchy delivery.

Do people really mean it when they ask me when my next show is? Or are they saying it because they like the idea of me holding on to that hope of them maybe showing up one day.

Comedy is weird. You just do it. Unlike some of the other aspects of my life/careers, it's hard to work up a plan of getting somewhere. How do I go from here (nobody doing Open Mics at Wiseacres) to a special on Comedy Central? How do I get a 5/6 minute spot at Gothem?

May 2008 Update

2008-05-23T09:54:00.002-04:00

This journey has seen nothing as of late. I keep hearing, "when is your next show?" I'm not sure if they really want to know or if they are just striking conversation. Even better; they want to hear that my next show is in New York and being taped by Comedy Central. Whatever the case may be, the answer is still the same, "I've been working on material but just gotta find the time to get to the open mics to polish it." That is about as accurate as it can be right now. Life is just really hectic. Sure, it sounds like an excuse, but it really is. Let's shoot for June to at least do an open mic to air out some of these jokes I've been working on.

I think Bret Norton and I were supposed to get together to kick around some ideas. I need to follow up on that. Until then, keep it light.

First day in Bermuda

2008-01-08T21:18:00.000-05:00

Flight from Atlanta to Bermuda was mad long - delayed a bit while on the flight, sitting on the runway traffic jam.

I'm staying at the Fairmount Southampton Inn. It's pretty ritzy. Got instructions from Richard to meet him in the lobby tomorrow at 645am. I'm doing a radio interview. That should be cool.

I spent the rest of the evening doing perfect push-ups and finding my way down to their workout facilities. $40 for 3 days (a savings of $5). I ran and did shoulders.

I made reservations for 1 at Waterlot. I wanted to keep up with Ed Boog in Park City tradition of having a big steak dinner. It came out to be $115 - you just have to do that every now and then. I can hear Boog saying, "Go 'head, treat yourself".

I was seated directly behind Alonzo Boden - Last Comic Standing Season 3 Winner and celebrity guest judge of this contest that I'm doing. I even made brief eye contact when being seated but wasn't sure it was him. As I was jotting down ideas for my set, I could overhear him and his friend talking about comedy. Blah blah blah, I don't eavesdrop.

I'm back at the room now. Might order a movie and squeeze one off before sleepy time. Nah, too messy.

Just for Laughs Bermuda

2008-01-08T06:49:00.001-05:00

At Dulles and about to board plane for Bermuda for the Just for Laughs contest.

Getting back to real life

2007-11-26T09:16:00.000-05:00

I tried to get in one night of comedy last week at Wiseacres but they canceled the show. I'm going to try to do it tonight. Life comes at you pretty hard regardless of the fact that you want to venture into dream chasing or not.

There was something interesting that Brett said the other day when I met with him and Nicki. He asked if any of us set goals - not lifetime legacy goals but comedy goals. All three of us really didn't have goals. We just approached comedy as something we do. There should be some goals though. Mandy said that we should have goals similiar to that of a runner whereas they would set goals on how many times they run each week.

With that said, I want to have a goal of 5 times a week. Possibly 2 times a night would have me out only 3 times a week. I do that already.

My ultimate goal would be some sort of writer on a show. Sounds vague but still. I've got to know where all of this is headed. Time will tell.

Wiseacres

2007-11-20T23:20:00.000-05:00

I left work at 6:10pm. 10 minutes late for dinner reservations with Em and Miz. Ran into Tony Tran and his wife. I promoted my comedy while talking to them. Kept it brief but told them I'd call to hang. Dinner was at PF Changs. It ends at 7:10pm and I book to the Best Western where the Wiseacres show starts at 8:00pm with a 7:30pm sign up. At 7:21pm I get a text from Mandy telling me that they closed this week because of the holiday.

2 Consecutive shows that got canceled on me. It'll take a little more than that to weaken my spirits.

Mandy and I made the best of it. We went to Starbucks where I went over all of my new stuff. She helped me with adding punches to it and we worked on some of her stuff too. This girl is hilarious! Crazy part, they stem from true experiences. The stuff she tells me, you just can't make up. I'll leave it at that - I think she has her own blog. I think she should sell subscriptions to her blog. Ok ok, let me get off her nutsack.

As I was wrapping up our coffee time, Boog, Mar and K showed up. I went with them to CPK and was able to get some snippets of material while talking to them about their lives. Overall, it was a great night.

This week in Comedy

2007-11-18T20:22:00.000-05:00

I didn't do any shows last week. I had to catch up on life. Yeah, I know, it sucks. On Saturday, I met w/ Brett Norton and Nicki Bush. They are brilliant comedians. We met in DC at Penengs. It was a 3 hour lunch. We talked about the state of comedy in DC/MD/VA, other comics and went over some of our new material. It was definitely a good time.

I'm a little down on myself for not really coming up with new material. Its either writer's block or just too busy with everything else around me. But as I'm leaving our get together, I call up Mandy and great stuff was birth from it. I had some pretty good ideas when I was on the couch this afternoon but by the time I was ready to write it down, I forgot.

I've decided to do Wiseacres on Tuesday with Mandy. I just need to get back on stage. The last time I was on Stage was at Topaz, my worst performance to date. Before that, it was at KZs - another not so great performance. It feels like months since I've gotten that natural high off of making people laugh.

December 8th is just around the corner and I haven't given much thought into which jokes I'm going to do. I also have some new material that I would like to fit into the set. These next 3 weeks will be crucial. I've got to get it together.

This week in Comedy

2007-11-12T15:20:00.000-05:00

What a rough week. This is when you have to remind yourself that there is a passion inside you to continue to do stand-up comedy.

Minh, Mary and Suk showed up for my appearance at Cafe Japone. I got there right at 8:00pm. The show starts at 8:30 and me and Walt (new comic I met) were the only ones there. Apparently, it got canceled but we weren't notified. What a rough blow. Mandy's Dremos appearance wasn't that great either. We talked about it and decided that we still want to do this comedy thing.

Work in all the other areas doesn't seem to be slowing down. In fact, they are pickin up.

I will continue to blog as long as I have readers out there.