Helium Comedy Club

I just got back from 4 days in Philly at Helium Comedy Club. First of all, this is an amazing comedy club. Management does everything right; they book a solid show top to bottom, they treat the comedians wonderfully, they treat the customers the way they should be treated at a club, they manage the room for the comics, and because of all this they attract great crowds. It is a pleasure to perform there.

I worked with two exceptional people. Cory Kahaney, from LCS and various late shows, was the headliner. Kent Haines, winner of the funniest person in Philadelphia contest, was the emcee. Here come the compliments:

Cory Kahaney - A class act. She is all that is good about stand up comedy. She is honest onstage and consistent with every performance. She never cheats the audience and delivers with polish and intelligence. She is great with the crowds, good off the cuff, and has great material that is personal and unique to her. On top of all of that, she is gracious off stage and a pleasure to talk with between or after shows.

Kent Haines - I believe Kent told me he'd been doing stand up for 2 years and that this was his first paid weekend at a club. He could have fooled me. He conducted himself like a true professional all weekend. He has well written jokes and has an amazing work ethic. Before, between, and after each set he would meticulously take notes in his joke book. He is a stand up fan and treats it very seriously. He's also a really solid dude.

Helium Staff - From the bartenders to the managers to the wait staff to the bouncers. Top to bottom, these folks are awesome.

The crowds were pretty thin throughout the week and I blame this on numerous distractions; baseball games with playoff implications, debates, and dreary weather. Regardless, the people who did come to the shows were a lot of fun. The Wednesday and Thursday shows both held 20 -25 people. When I first started doing comedy, small crowds scared me to death. Strength in numbers was my motto; the more people there, the less chance I had of bombing.

This was such a negative attitude; I was always worried about not doing well instead of being anxious to perform and eager to win over a crowd. Now after gaining more experience and working quite a bit the past 2 years, I've found that crowd size really has very little to do with the amount of fun you will have onstage. If you perform in front of a hot crowd of 200+ people, every comic does well. It really doesn't give you a gauge of how well you are connecting with the audience. But, doing well in front of a small crowd gives you such a wonderful feeling of satisfaction because you can really hone in on your surroundings. By the end of the set you start recognizing certain laughs and you know exactly the person making them. You recognize facial expressions that you wouldn't notice in a packed house. I feel like those small crowds are the ones that really help a comic define themselves. The set has to conversational and you MUST connect with the audience members. In front of a packed house I sometime feel like I'm on a projector.

Needless to say, Wednesday and Thursday were really fun. The Friday shows were great too and I had quite a few family and friends come to the late show so that was definitely my favorite of the week. I can't put it into words the feeling I get when I can see my brother laughing in the audience or hear my sister-in-law cackle from the second row; amazing. The early Saturday show was a blast as well and was probably the best overall show of the week. After four days of visiting friends and family and performing each night, I was pretty exhausted. My late show Saturday performance was a bit toned down. The show went fine but I felt like I was running on fumes by the end of my set. I don't know how headliners do it?

Finally, I want to thank our friends Amy and Joe. They were kind enough to let me stay with them all week and even cooked for me. I can say I've never been more comfortable when on the road. I spent the week playing with their giant rabbit ( this thing easily ways 75 pounds), playing guitar hero, and eating Amy's grilled cheese sandwiches, and Joe's waffles. They are awesome.

I am really in a blogging mood lately so check back soon because my next blog will be devoted to making fun of my wife.