Yesterday I did my first stand-up act at a comedy club (WiseAcres in Tysons Corner, Virginia). I was more nervous going up in front of 50 non-stutterers then I was going up in front of 300 people who stutter, but once I got up on stage I felt fairly comfortable. It went poorly, okay, pretty good, lousy, so-so, and not bad. Not bad is where I am after listening to it a half-dozen times. I wasn't feeling that good right after I got off because, as much as I tried to prepare myself, I got angry at the audience members who laughed at me instead of with me. Then, after listening to my performance a few times, I felt better that my material did get some laughs and that I got up there and did it. I was also pleasantly surprised that most of my words were intelligible. I talk fast and don't enunciate sometimes in everyday speech, and I was expecting this trait to be much more prominent on stage than it was.
Another surprise is that I came in at 5 and a 1/2 minutes, in the range of the right amount of stage time (5-7 minutes). I cut some material I didn't have faith in before I got on stage and was expecting to come in a few minutes shorter (even with the stuttering).
You can listen to my act here (5.5 mb). I put it up more to share my experience with friends and families than to provide laughs to the Internet universe, but I figure a few other people might be interested in the novelty of a stuttering comedian.
I'm looking forward to an open mike next week where non stand-up comedy, like story telling, is accepted. I'm going to read one of my posts from the web page.
If you have comments or constructive criticism, go ahead and send it. I'll probably give it another try in a few weeks. And thank you to everyone who congratulated me for doing stand-up last weekend. The encouragement meant a lot to me.
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