A Comic Has Been Born

Last Tuesday Rich crossed another item off his "bucket list." He was one of ten people who did a stand-up comedy routine at the Improv Comedy Club at 4th Street LIVE. Twenty-six of his friends came out to show him support because he was a bit nervous. If you know Rich, he rarely gets nervous so this was a big deal. However; his broadcasting degree, internship at 84-WHAS, internship with Howard Stern in NYC, "Riding the Pine" radio show while at WKU and numerous appearances on the radio helped ease his nerves. Trust me, this "ain't his first rodeo!" He rocked his performance and took home first place, along with $100 in his pocket. I was very proud of his performance and applaud his efforts because most people don't have the guts to do something of that nature - I know I would never get up on stage and try to be funny. It would be a total disaster and I would probably run off the stage in tears!

Here is an email from Rich after the show. I've also included a few emails from his friends who were in attendance regarding his performance.

"Morning,

Thanks to everyone who came out to the show last night, it was a blast and having you guys there made it easier for me to get up and do my little song and dance.

Here's something I learned from last night: Comedians are pretty cold. Didn't matter how many I tried to meet and talk to, most just shut me down and turned their back. You may have heard most comics don't like other comics and generally despise each other. Maybe they think other comics are joke-stealers...or maybe they are worried someone else will steal their spotlight. I'm not sure, but I know out of the 10 or 12 people I tried to get to know, only 2 actually talked to me for a bit. This one guy, Street Rod or something, just stood there staring at me with his hat turned backwards and backpack.

"Hey, man, I'm Rich and this is my first time, how does this thing go down?"

(Street Rod just stared at me).

"Ok, well, good luck I guess."

Then, I walked off to the other side of the waiting area. Street continued to stare at me from across the way.

Another guy, Mark or something, actually took a couple of minutes to introduce himself and said he'd been doing this for about 4 years. He pointed around the room to each of the 15 or so other comics lingering around and talked a little about them.

"Yeah, that's Kirk. He killed at the Caravan last year, but his stuff is old and dated. That's Kimble, he's a bit new and most of his stuff is about his forehead. That there is Richie-Rich with the spikes on his head. He's terrible. James has OK stuff, but he's been caught lifting jokes before."

"Lifting jokes?" I asked.

"Yeah, taking other jokes and twisting them into his own. Piece of 5hit. How many times you done this?"

"None. This is my 1st time. Kind of a bucket list thing."

"Wow! Well, good luck, man." He said half-heartedly and went back to his bourbon on the rocks.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and thanks again for coming out. Next on the bucket list: Milk a goat.

Have a good Thanksgiving.

-R3"

Mike Dunn:

"Rich I have to give u props. Delivery was spot on and stage presence was perfect. The kid looked so comfortable like he had been doing it for years."

Chris Osmer:

"Dude sells out his wife, names her on stage, admits to sharting on the rug, and to top it all off... Whealan got into a cat-fight with some dude who fancied some horrible stink finger jokes. Overall... success Rich.

Your buddy Richie Rich with the mo-hawk tried to explain to me his deal about how his jokes are great, just didn't hit with this crowd... he then gives me his card, says "check my links on there. I also do party hosting."...... and a comedic rivalry is born. Rich: judging by his name, he is 2x the Rich you are, but also judging by his name shivery, his jokes are stolen and unoriginal. Advantage Rich... Smith."

Lachlan McLean:

"for those who have never been to an open mic night, I highly recommend doing it once. we absolutely ran the comedic spectrum last night.

the first dude was like a gay white gangsta who spent five spend minutes talking about getting laid and never even stopped to see if anyone was laughing. plus he had the microphone so close to his mouth you couldn't understand a word he said. absolutely bizarre beginning.

then there was a guy who joked about being on the short bus.. but I'm not sure it was a joke.

the angry black guy who got into it with Whealan was a high point. he had no act -- simply was determined just to argue to someone in the audience. it was funny the first or second time he told Mike to "shut the f up" but when you realized that was ALL HE HAD it got old.

I actually liked "Richie Rich" second best of the amateurs. thought he was comfortable up there and the joke about liking cross-eyed girls was a winner.

the guy who did Bible/Pokemon humor? wow. he deserved the turkey for last place.

but my man Rich had it going on: a well-timed routine with solid content. the audio was just a touch low but it ended up helping him because he was late in the process and people had started chatting among themselves. since Rich held the mic just slightly too far from his mouth you had to strain a little to hear but it forced the crowd to STFO which was a good thing.

he did a Gary Busey joke, some stuff about Penny farting in front of him for the first time and then moved into him crapping his pants. all the while with his goofy grin. classic. he closed with a sign claiming to be Pitino's cell phone number and encouraged people to call but of course it was Seth's phone number. ha!

beyond some good one-liners, there was a real natural ease to his act and serious potential there. I'm proud of my friend.

other observations:

- worst joke of the night: the dude who said he was Polish and just rented an apartment from a German guy that had a "walk in oven".

- best joke of the night: the dude who compared Mexicans to duct tape. trust me it was funny.

and the headliner was much more solid than I expected. his interaction with a heckler was a classic example of what SHOULD be done. it ended up being funnier than the act itself.

all in all, a fun evening and I'm glad I went. great job Rich!!"

Seth Sevens:

"And I was totally blindsided with the whole cell # thing- I was sitting there looking at his sign for a second before I even realized it was mine!!! As he was leading into the joke I kept thinking that the numbers were going to spell something out, and it wasn't til half the table was laughing and pointing at me that I even realized it was my phone number. Well played Rich!"

Mike Whealan:

"So, the kid surprised me last night!! Stepped up, had the whole place rolling, and took home 1st place!! Way to go Rich!!

Not my first Rodeo....I get that when you go to a comedy show, and sit up front, there is a good chance you will get singled out by the comic. It's all in good fun, and adds to the experience. HOWEVER, if you are the comic initiating the heckling, you better be witty and quick....that guy was neither. He had no comeback for "Just be funny, and I'll laugh"!! Really? That's kind of a softball there, most comics would have ran with that.."

Danny Grace:

"I concur, that was some good entertainment and did indeed hit on a wide variety of styles. I thought Rich was confident up there and delivered his jokes well, except for the phone number of course. Time for you to go win that Derby Competition the rest of them were in.

Good Stuff and well worth it!"