My Career in Standup Comedy (Londonderry)

carlinftw

So not too long ago I was in a pub in Great Britain's own Londonderry. Having watched your national television paddies, I thought it would be fun to pretend to be like one of those fools on RTE. For one, at least my material is original; surely even the free staters in the audience would have a good laugh. Apparently not. It was a tough enough crowd by the looks of it. I even got some abuse from some fools when my act was over. But things are looking up. I've secured another gig and my career is starting to take off. So the likes of you can go to hell.

Here is my performance, see for yourself, although I think most of you dubs would be too thick or stupid to even understand the kind of comedy a man like me can produce. They say a genius isn't often appreciated in his time. They may very well be right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG0Gypw8hp8

abapchad

I'm from Belfast, and this may come as a shock to you, but you aint that funny. In fact the routine is forced, drawn out, and shockingly unoriginal.

Good luck with your career.

brk3

I thought it was pretty decent

carlinftw

brk3 wrote: »

I thought it was pretty decent

Thank you

kumate_champ07

was waiting for the jokes but didnt hear any, did you post the right video?

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

o1s1n

I suppose a lot of the 'fools' on RTE are horrifically dull. So in that sense your routine was spot on. Similar to RTE, it also pained me to try and watch it till the very end.

Did it work as stand up though?

No.

SlimJ

carlinftw wrote: »

But things are looking up. I've secured another gig and my career is starting to take off. So the likes of you can go to hell.

Here is my performance, see for yourself, although I think most of you dubs would be too thick or stupid to even understand the kind of comedy a man like me can produce. They say a genius isn't often appreciated in his time. They may very well be right.

This dude's the best poster this subforum has had in years.

carlinftw

Quote from another board:

"on rewatching that video carefully it came to my attention that you actually got a few laughs. Have you performed before? You actually seemed to give a good performance, although I didn't really like the actual material.

I guess you should probably give your stuff a test run or something first before you go out there. Anyway, I'd suggest you keep at it and you'll get better. And if it's any consolation, I thought you were better than Des Bishop! "

RobbieBonham

One minute fifteen seconds til the first 'laugh', and you're talking about a career? Any promotor will have stopped watching about 30 seconds in. And don't judge Irish comedy by it's TV output, have a look at our comedy club humour instead.

elshambo

carlinftw wrote: »

They say a genius isn't often appreciated in his time. They may very well be right.

You must be some form of rare genius as you dont even seem to know where you are

carlinftw wrote: »

So not too long ago I was in a pub in Great Britain's own Londonderry.

Londonderry is in the United Kingdom not Great Britain

SlimJ

carlinftw wrote: »

Quote from another board:

What board?

carlinftw

elshambo wrote: »

You must be some form of rare genius as you dont even seem to know where you are

elshambo wrote: »

Londonderry is in the United Kingdom not Great Britain

What are you, a troll? Or maybe you're just someone who couldn't get my act. I come from...
The United Kingdom... of Great Britain

SlimJ wrote:

What board?

I don't want to go around here blatantly plugging other message boards in here, I'm sure the mods would take issue with that.

elshambo

carlinftw wrote: »

What are you, a troll? Or maybe you're just someone who couldn't get my act. I come from...
The United Kingdom... of Great Britain

and Northern Ireland

you missed a bit
the and Northern Ireland bit means Northern Ireland
is in the Uk but not Britain

So your act is saying places are not where they are?
some genius!:rolleyes:

*I got this far tbh

RobbieBonham wrote: »

One minute fifteen seconds til the first 'laugh', and you're talking about a career? Any promotor will have stopped watching about 30 seconds in.

Patter, speed, confidence missing from delivery

eth0_

carlinftw wrote: »

It was a tough enough crowd by the looks of it. I even got some abuse from some fools when my act was over. But things are looking up. I've secured another gig and my career is starting to take off. So the likes of you can go to hell.

Here is my performance, see for yourself, although I think most of you dubs would be too thick or stupid to even understand the kind of comedy a man like me can produce. They say a genius isn't often appreciated in his time. They may very well be right.

Hi, you are a confident public speaker but a comedian you are not. Have you considered something like teaching?

Your jokes are not funny, it sounded like two people max were laughing (friends of yours?) and your delivery is dull. You think your career is taking off because you've been offered a second (probably open-mic) gig? Get real!
Judging by that performance I would say you died on your arse!

And as for your revolting attitude displayed thus far - can I take a wild guess and say your comedy idols are Dave McSavage, Jerry Sadowitz and Doug Stanhope?

Also i'd agree that promoters tend to make a decision on whether to book someone in the first minute. I worked for the Edinburgh Fringe Fest this year and having spoken to a few scouts who were up looking for acts to book for tours etc, you really cannot afford to have no laughs in the first couple of minutes.

carlinftw

eth0_ wrote: »

Hi, you are a confident public speaker but a comedian you are not. Have you considered something like teaching?

Your jokes are not funny, it sounded like two people max were laughing (friends of yours?) and your delivery is dull. You think your career is taking off because you've been offered a second (probably open-mic) gig? Get real!
Judging by that performance I would say you died on your arse!

And as for your revolting attitude displayed thus far - can I take a wild guess and say your comedy idols are Dave McSavage, Jerry Sadowitz and Doug Stanhope?

Also i'd agree that promoters tend to make a decision on whether to book someone in the first minute. I worked for the Edinburgh Fringe Fest this year and having spoken to a few scouts who were up looking for acts to book for tours etc, you really cannot afford to have no laughs in the first couple of minutes.

I'd have to disagree with, pretty much all of that. People laughed at my jokes, that means at least some people (i.e. more than two people) found them funny. Even look at the comments on the page, you'll see that it was well received. You're suggesting I take up teaching because you think my act is dull? That's an insult to teachers and quite frankly that's the last thing they need right now.

Yeah, I would say my career is taking off if people are happy to have me at more open mic nights. You can't obviously say it was so bad that they told me to get lost, because truthfully, they didn't.

My attitude was part of the Norm Winters character I portray in my acts, but I guess you weren't able to see that. Spot on with some of the comdey idols, although Carlin is my favourite.

You've spoken to a few scouts, and let me guess... that makes you an expert now? Don't make me laugh! Sure there were quite some gaps between the laughs but like I said it seemed like a tough crowd, the lad going up before me didn't exactly set the tone right either. And also as outlined above, the comments on the video appear overwhelmingly positive and would seem to support that fact.

eth0_

carlinftw wrote: »

You're suggesting I take up teaching because you think my act is dull? That's an insult to teachers and quite frankly that's the last thing they need right now.

No. Don't twist my words. I said you're a good public speaker, something that is valuable in a career like teaching - the fact your jokes are unfunny is an aside.

carlinftw wrote: »

You've spoken to a few scouts, and let me guess... that makes you an expert now? Don't make me laugh!

Again, twisting my words.... :rolleyes:
I worked for the biggest comedy festival in the world, I worked with promoters and venues and considering how many shows I saw during the festival (40+), coupled with the fact I have been attending comedy clubs 1-2 times a week as a punter for ages, I feel I am qualified to have an opinion on your act both as a punter and as someone who works in the industry.

You also need to make it clearer that "Norm Winters" is an alter ego. And i'm not sure how well your slightly bigoted, laughing at "free staters" comedy will work in this day and age. Unless you want to play gigs in the Waterside in Derry and the Shankill in Belfast?

carlinftw

eth0_ wrote: »

No. Don't twist my words. I said you're a good public speaker, something that is valuable in a career like teaching - the fact your jokes are unfunny is an aside.

I wasn't twisting your words. It's not hard to draw that conclusion from what you were saying. And I just evaporated that point of yours of me being somehow 'unfunny' in my last post. Nice how you skipped over that and proceeded as if I hadn't said anything.

eth0_ wrote: »

Again, twisting my words.... :rolleyes:
I worked for the biggest comedy festival in the world, I worked with promoters and venues and considering how many shows I saw during the festival (40+), coupled with the fact I have been attending comedy clubs 1-2 times a week as a punter for ages, I feel I am qualified to have an opinion on your act both as a punter and as someone who works in the industry.

You also need to make it clearer that "Norm Winters" is an alter ego. And i'm not sure how well your slightly bigoted, laughing at "free staters" comedy will work in this day and age. Unless you want to play gigs in the Waterside in Derry and the Shankill in Belfast?

Good for you pal. But I would consider someone to be an expert who has actually had first hand experience as a comedian and has done it professionally for some time, not someone who just 'works with promoters' and goes to festivals/gigs. Be sure to remember me when I do make my big break and start doing this fulltime mate.

Well if you even watched the video, you'll see that I do mention my alter ego quite early on. and yeah cheers mate for another expert tip.

It's easy for people to sit on the sidelines and put people down, it's another story to actually get up off one's arse and do something. So thanks for the encouragement and all.

eth0_

I'm just giving my personal opinion of your comedy - why did you post your video here if you didn't want feedback?

As for saying my opinion is less valid because i've never worked as a stand-up....by your logic then, that means critics, promoters and agents know nothing about comedy?

Being able to take criticism is possibly the number 1 pre-requisite for being a stand-up and it seems you can't.

And one final thing (and don't interpret this as a threat, because it's not) - don't look down your nose and make snide remarks on the internet about people who work in the industry you want to get into. I might not be an A+R for someone like Avalon, but you never know who is!

carlinftw

eth0_ wrote: »

I'm just giving my personal opinion of your comedy - why did you post your video here if you didn't want feedback?

As for saying my opinion is less valid because i've never worked as a stand-up....by your logic then, that means critics, promoters and agents know nothing about comedy?

Being able to take criticism is possibly the number 1 pre-requisite for being a stand-up and it seems you can't.

And one final thing (and don't interpret this as a threat, because it's not) - don't look down your nose and make snide remarks on the internet about people who work in the industry you want to get into. I might not be an A+R for someone like Avalon, but you never know who is!

I do want feedback: constructive criticism. so far you people have just said I'm unfunny and I'm this and I'm that. I thought when I came here I'd get encouraged and maybe even some good tips from the pros about my performance. Obviously I've gotten neither.

And I stand by my point that your opinion is less valid because only someone who gets up there in front of people can truly know what it's like and offer sound advice that has helped them get through tough crowds and such. That doesn't mean you don't know a thing about comedy so don't mix up the two, thanks.

And I doubt all the top recruiters lurk on message boards to be perfectly honest with you now! - but I will grant you that I am kind of shooting myself in the foot at times on here... but I'm so disappointed! I asked people about my act afterwards at the gig and a great deal said they liked it (with the exception of the few fools I mentioned at the beginning). But still, again, a high rating and comments on my page look good too! It's crazy.

kumate_champ07

carlinftw wrote: »

I do want feedback: constructive criticism. so far you people have just said I'm unfunny and I'm this and I'm that. I thought when I came here I'd get encouraged and maybe even some good tips from the pros about my performance. Obviously I've gotten neither.

you come here trying to insult people and expect to be taken seriously?
I did watch the youtube video but all I saw was a guy talking for too long and I got fed up waiting to hear a joke.

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

Dirk Gently

that was cringe worthy

carlinftw

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

you come here trying to insult people and expect to be taken seriously?
I did watch the youtube video but all I saw was a guy talking for too long and I got fed up waiting to hear a joke.

Ah come now big guy, I'm sure you'll get over it eventually.

Scien wrote:

Yeah, bkr5 says under the video that "he'd pay to see this".
I wonder is he any relation to bkr3 on this thread who said "I thought it was pretty decent", the same bkr3 who has an IP match with the username carlinftw....
Nice Try Buddy.

LOL what are you on about mate? I'm sure the Ips are fine. whatever they are. the only thing that make you think something is wrong... (judging by your nice try buddy remark) is that brk3 is my friend who helped me register on this site. I'll admit I'm not the best with computers, it was a miracle that my voicerecorder didn't fudge up on the night as well. technological gizmos and me just don't seem to get along very well. and the reason he's brk5 is because those other two brks were already taken on youtube. surely if he was trying to pretend to be a someone else (which is what I think you're trying to suggest here) he'd have done a more inventive job than that?

Scien wrote:

Oh, and if there's one thing i've learnt from doing Stand-Up Comedy, it is try and form some form of friendship/Camaraderie with your fellow Open Mic-ers. If you've any intention of doing this seriously you'll be seeing a lot of the same faces over & over again.
Coming onto Ireland's biggest Message Board and calling Irish People 'Paddies' & 'Free Staters' is not a good start.

ack you as well? what is wrong with you people? there was no harm meant by it. it was all in good fun. can't you take a joke? Goodness I thought you people if anyone should be able to have a good laugh about something, no?

RobbieBonham

carlinftw wrote: »

Good for you pal. But I would consider someone to be an expert who has actually had first hand experience as a comedian and has done it professionally for some time, not someone who just 'works with promoters' and goes to festivals/gigs.

I think you're ****.

kumate_champ07

carlinftw wrote: »

ack you as well? what is wrong with you people? there was no harm meant by it. it was all in good fun. can't you take a joke? Goodness I thought you people if anyone should be able to have a good laugh about something, no?

it was pretty lame

rizzee

Poor quality vid - i'd make a rating if I could hear it properly so i'm not going to judge your comedian skills.

Other than that i'll judge you on this thread - you seem like a twat

carlinftw

so we have one guy who openly admits to not even watching my video. *rolls eyes* great. Not buying poor audio complaint either, you're the first one to ever mention this, ever. look how many views it got too.

and the others seem to fail to understand what constructive criticism entails, possibly because they've gone all sour from simply not being able to realise the brilliant comedic value of my opening post, which is sad really.

Of course I'll also have to consider how some of you might actually be somewhat jealous of my talents. I'm certainly getting that vibe from some of you. Maybe I'm wrong and all... but it just seems that way to me at the moment. ah well, it's your loss really guys in the end. 'Norm Winters' isn't going down without a fight anyway. My career is taking off after all.

Wow, that was poor. I have seen some truly awful comics but you my friend rank in the top ten. I waited patiently for the first laugh but sadly it never came. I don't think I've ever heard a comedian with such woeful material, well except for Dave McSavage.

Reading your posts it's obvious that you have an over inflated sense of worth and an ego which has had to much self indulgent massaging. You really are amonst the most unoriginal, banal and boring comics I have seen or heard in many a year.

Your posting style is no better. Either you truly do believe you're own hype or you are trying to be funny, if it's the latter you have failed miserably which for you must be a common enough experience.

RobbieBonham

I'd even venture to guess that the original poster might NOT necessarily be the poor open spot in the video, but rather someone trying to make said open spot look worse than he is, for some odd reason. It's the only thing I think of to explain his 'cavalier attitude toward charm', in the face of obvious wrongness.

eth0_

It's generally accepted that the best comedians are those who don't have massive self-confidence and have insecurities about their act. Those who really believe they're the bee's knee's generally aren't.

SlimJ

Scien wrote: »

Yeah, bkr5 says under the video that "he'd pay to see this".
I wonder is he any relation to bkr3 on this thread who said "I thought it was pretty decent", the same bkr3 who has an IP match with the username carlinftw....

I'm guessing that carlinftw is posting in Norm Winters' character, and it's getting a bit of a rise out of some of ye. Look, his career is taking off. Ye canna deny it.

eth0_

SlimJ wrote: »

I'm guessing that carlinftw is posting in Norm Winters' character, and it's getting a bit of a rise out of some of ye. Look, his career is taking off. Ye canna deny it.

Initially he was, then he started posting like 'himself'. Perhaps if he'd made it clear about the persona, and asked for feedback on his act rather than making a rude and bigoted first post, people would have been more constructive in their criticism. Good luck to the guy but I don't think there's much of an audience for his style of comedy.

frobisher

Don't mind them OP. That was probably one of the finest stand up comedy slots I've never seen.

rizzee

SlimJ wrote: »

I'm guessing that carlinftw is posting in Norm Winters' character, and it's getting a bit of a rise out of some of ye. Look, his career is taking off. Ye canna deny it.

You should be a comedian. Cause that was fcukin quality!! :pac:

carlinftw

frobisher wrote: »

Don't mind them OP. That was probably one of the finest stand up comedy slots I've never seen.

Cheers mate. An honest man at last.

As for the rest of you, who continue just to try to put me down all the time... it seems like the lot of you tried to make it big and make a career out of it but failed. And I say that because if you're trying to be funny... you're simply not.

SlimJ wrote:

I'm guessing that carlinftw is posting in Norm Winters' character, and it's getting a bit of a rise out of some of ye. Look, his career is taking off. Ye canna deny it.

The Norm Winters character is the result of several years of work. And like I said the fact I got offered a second gig is proof my career is taking off. Some of you just don't want to admit that.

kumate_champ07

carlinftw wrote: »

The Norm Winters character is the result of several years of work.

sh1t man I hope that wasnt all you were doing with your time!

RobbieBonham

carlinftw wrote: »

my career is taking off.

'Peaked', I would say...

Mr Mo

Watching your video makes me laugh.

But not because your funny, it's because im sick and i get a kick out of watching you failing. Unless that was the point in which case you are very, very good at pretending to fail.

If in fact you actually were trying to be funny take some honest advice, when you are preforming live dont open your monolog with "your watching cabbage news" If your going to stick to your terrible news routiene at least change it up for a live performance. Try something like "here is norm winters reporting live from 'whatever venue'".

Also since your only starting infront of a live audience, don't pick a topic that offends people. Since your only starting out your not going to have a big audience so if you offend one or some of them your creating a tension in the room that the rest of your material wont make up for.

Next you need an opener. In your vider you said like half your monologue before coming to a joke, or at least what i thought was a joke. You need a joke at the start. Something to get the crowd warmed up at the start of your act because if it takes ages to get to your first joke the audience tunes out and will end up missing it.

Ok so, take some advice, change your act and become a bit more funny or stay the same and keep a guy with a sick sense of humour like mine happy.

carlinftw

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

sh1t man I hope that wasnt all you were doing with your time!

Although I started my YouTube channel about 9 months ago, I've been doing this for about 2 years now on and off. It has been a difficult enough two years though, with people saying I wouldn't even get a gig and things like that.

This was my first live performance in front of a large group of people, and to be honest and not to be blowing my own trumpet too much, I thought I did a pretty good job. I delivered my routine in a confident manner and I got some laughs. Isn't that the whole point of stand up?!?! Anyway, I thought I did pretty well for myself until I came on here that is. It was just disheartening to see the same kind of negativity come back to haunt me, but like last time, I won't just give up. Sure my act isn't perfect but that's why I came here and posted on this board. I'm ready to take this to the next level.

LizT

Am I missing the bit that supposed to be funny? Genuinely did not understand how anything in the act could be construed as humorous.

grames_bond

carlinftw wrote: »

Cheers mate. An honest man at last.

As for the rest of you, who continue just to try to put me down all the time... it seems like the lot of you tried to make it big and make a career out of it but failed. And I say that because if you're trying to be funny... you're simply not..

i think you may have missed frobishers point....

frobisher wrote: »

Don't mind them OP. That was probably one of the finest stand up comedy slots I've never seen.

I've highlighted the important word in that sentence!

Devastator

From a non 'Paddy', non 'freestater' from Belfast I just thought you were a boring prick.

Glad I heard the name norm winters though.....know to avoid it like the plague as its obvious you are so close to a sell out nationwide stadium tour :rolleyes:

RoadKillTs

you should rename this thread to My short Career in Standup Comedy (Londonderry)

carlinftw

grames_bond wrote: »

I've highlighted the important word in that sentence!

What does that sentence mean now? Are you trying to say he didn't like my act? Actually, how could he even have an opinion of it if he's never seen my act?

Instant Karma

your youtube profile says your from Ireland, your better get that fixed pronto.

carlinftw

Instant Karma wrote: »

your youtube profile says your from Ireland, your better get that fixed pronto.

What? Did you even watch my video? In it, I say the Norm Winters character reads the news for Ireland. Also you'll notice my accent changes from my normal Londonderry one to my impression of someone from the south at the start too. You'll also see I put my name down as 'Norm Winters' in my profile. That isn't my real name by the way. It's the character I portray and the channel was made in his honour. The video description even points to that.

RobbieBonham

I've just done one of the biggest poos I've seen in a while. Anyone wanna discuss it?

Dord

Where is this Londonderry place? I've never heard of it.

carlinftw

Dord wrote: »

Where is this Londonderry place? I've never heard of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Londonderry

RobbieBonham

That says it's one of the traditional counties of Ireland. Guess OP was wrong then.