Back on the Grid

For those of you reading both of my blogs, this is a duplicated entry. . .

Sorry that I have been away for so long but it was necessary for a variety of reasons--primarily, a contractual agreement. First some back story.

I was in a comedy competition called "Funniest Man in NYC." It was run at a famous NY Comedy Club and was being taped as a quasi-reality series. The premise of the competition was head-to-head stand up comedy routines where the evening's competitors would be narrowed down by a group of judges and the audience--a battle of the stand up comics, so to speak. There were over 800 contestants to start and these were narrowed down to a final group of five--of which I was a finalist.

For the final competition, we were not told when the finals were going to be. We would be notified within one hour's notice of when to report. When this happened, the finalists showed up and performed and the winner and runners-up were announced. I finished in third place. The top two finishers were guaranteed a half-hour show on one of the cable comedy shows.

After it was all over, the organizers of the competition found out that the top finishers had the information regarding the time of the finals leaked to them. In so doing, they were able to load up the audience with their friends and family. So the whole project was nixed.

As a compensation, the organizers approached me and asked me if I wanted to do a documentary/reality series about the struggle of a budding stand up comic. We would do 30 small area venues (with some larger houses thrown in) and my trials and tribulations would be taped and edited into some type of program.

Part of the contract was that I would not know where I was playing but would be provided transportation and lodging. I would have to convince the owner of the comedy club or club to allow me to perform. Another part of the contract is that I was supposed to be off grid so that the project would be leaked and so I couldn't fill up the audience with favorable audience members.

So that is the reality of the situation. When I know more about the project, I will let you know. As a result, in six weeks I will be taping a 30 minute comedy special for a major cable network. I will let you know when to expect that as well.