"So how was New York City?

Okay so it's about time I post about the NY trip. I waited awhile because I've been so busy and this is a little thrown together, but here's how it was...

I loved New York city! I stayed with my friend in the East Village. This area has all the things I like about NY. I've been there before, but never overnight and mostly in Mid town. I've always liked the smaller parts of my experiences there; the awesome food, the walking, the closeness of everything, the coffee shops, the dogs (they're everywhere!), the parks, the flowers outside of every corner market, and the straight-upness of the people. But midtown is so "big" and a little empty in a way, so I really liked the added neighborhood intimacy of the east village much more than I had Manhattan. I always feel sort of welcomed there. I'm too honest myself a lot of the time and I tend to speak from the heart before paying attention to strategy, and maybe those are a few of the main reasons I've always felt so connected to this great city. It just doesn't seem to lie much and it's got heart and I can't stress how much I respect that. I'm hot for that kind of thing. It turns me on almost. Okay I'll admit it, if NYC were a man, I'd probably have sex with it.

Anyways I like the urgency of the place. It's in everything: the traffic, the pedestrains, the worn cement itself. I love the color of things there. The stone buildings and the way the sky is a little grey. I like that sometimes people just let loose and yell at each other in the streets. I like that I saw a firetruck blasting their horn at some idiot who wouldn't move and then telling the guy to get the fuck outta the way, asshole. I like that people tell each other to fuck off loudly when they're mad. It just seems healthy. Especially in NYC. I walk around LA screaming my head off to myself when I'm alone as it is, but there is less privacy there. It seems like you gotta either find a way to let that shit out or maybe it just isn't the city for you. I like the one way streets and the the grid. I LOVE the fucking grid!

I made sure to eat plenty of pizza, sushi, 1 Philly Cheesteak, some place where they only serve mac n Cheese, Indian, and Italian food.

Anyways I loved it. I had spots at Riffifi, Mo Pitkins, and The UCB and I was lucky enough to get stagetime at The Comedy Village, The Village Lantern, The Bowery Poetry Club, Comedy Rant, The Laugh Lounge, Sal's Comedy Hole (best name ever) and probably one or two open mics that I'm forgetting. I had a good time at all of them. Even when i wasn't having a good time, I was having a good time because I'd been wanting to perform in NY for so long now.

I forgot to tape a bunch of sets and I missed out on taping what was one of the most fun sets I've had all year (at UCB) and vowed to tape everyone one of em afterwards. Which I of course didn't stick to...

I get embarassed by the idea of taping myself sometimes when it's not a big show, because I always hear this little voice in my head saying, "Hey dork, this shitty show matters to you? You think you or anyone else is gonna wanna see this crap?You must think you're pretty important! Maybe you should wait to tape things for shows that matter, where you'll have some heavenly set prepared, where the skies will part and unicorns will pull up a seat and take note of it all, asshole."

Anyways I'm going to take another vow to tape every stupid thing again. I figure that way I'll be able to not be embarrassed about it. I can say, "Hey I tape everything, so it's not like I think this is something special, jerk-voice-in-my-head-that-hates-me. Screw you. " It seems like the way to get past the "I hate myself" voice is to beat it at its own game. (I can't say that for certain yet though, it's just a theory I'm working on.)

Anyways after NYC I went upstate to visit my grandmother. That part of the trip took an unusual personal turn and I'll discuss it at another time, maybe. As for comedy I got up at a few places in Troy and one little place that had a real audience and I liked it. I met a few of the local comics and the guy who ran the room was super nice, but overall there wasn't a lot of stagetime available there. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.