English comedy in Coimbra! The comedy boom is growing in Portugal.
yoooooooooo what a crazy fucking week. I did three shows. One, nobody showed up to lol. No one. Seriously - ouch. One was a trip to my first English comedy show in Coimbra. We lit it up! And then back to Lisbon for the biggest crowd as Cais a Rir English comedy night. Time to rest? Nope. I’ve been going to a lot more Portuguese comedy nights. There’s so many now. I rehearsed for two more short films yesterday, and after finishing this blog post, I’m about to start making posts about the Lisbon English Comedy Jam I’m hosting this Friday. This shit is not slowing down at all.
So last Tuesday we have the final O Zebras English comedy night of the year. All the comedians showed up. Nobody showed up to watch. daaaaaaamn yo, that hurts — the first time I’ve had that stinger. But you know what? I cam to fuckin perform that night. And I told everyone that I would host the show for nobody. I don’t give a sit. And obviously, the comedians weren’t happy about how it turned out, but everybody stuck around to do their set for literally just other comedians. Nobody had a shitty attitude. We made the best of it. And shortly after I got on the mic and started “the show”, we did have one person walk in and sit down. One. And she stayed the whole fucking show. It was a room full of masochists. I loved it.
So then the next day, Mike Pires and I took a trip to Coimbra to do an English comedy show sponsored by the Erasmus Student Network and presented by the Pinga Amor comedy group. They put on a lot of comedy shows in Coimbra, and this was their first Englis show. The show was entirely Erasmus students. College kids. I wasn’t sure how well my weird-ass material was going to do, but man, they fuckin got it. Almost everything was hitting, and I felt excellent. I started a lot stronger than I finished, which I need to work on improving. But overall I think I finished off the show well. There were a lot of great performances that night, and the bar was so cool. I hope to go out there and perform again.
Boom! Then a short rest on Thursday but back to English comedy on Pink Street with my monthly Cais a Rir comedy night. This show was double the previous crowd record. I think we had like a 42+ headcount. And it’s so dope cause I’m comfortable with doing all the set up for the show now. Like I have to put out all the chairs, the decorations, tables, candles, managing lighting, and music. It’s a lot of work, and I’ve been getting some help with it the past couple of shows. This day I was on my own. But I got it all sorted. I remember looking out there door right before 10 pm, and there was a fucking line outside! Ahhhhh, it was so good when people started pouring in and getting ready. I fucked up the start of the show a bit. Just shitty crowd work and I started a bit later than I should have, which didn’t give me a lot of time to work through it. But the crowd got into it pretty quick, and we had a great night with lots of laughs.
So yeah, a week full of shows. And I went to watch a bunch of Portuguese comedy shows. I am still working on my own Portuguese set. I finally have someone to help me work through it. Translate some stuff correctly and practice. I was hoping to have performed by now. But I’m a bit too dumb to figure out this language on my own. Going to the shows and listening is helping me a lot, though. I learn something new every time. I’m getting better at understanding context, especially when people speak fast.
And you know what’s awesome? Lots of people coming up to me after shows and on Instagram asking where they can perform. And I loved the experience of the comedians just performing for each other. And I have friends who want to try out comedy but don’t feel ready for a crowd of 40+ people. So to try and help connect all these people, I’m going to host a casual Lisbon English Comedy Jam this Friday night. People can show up and get five minutes of mic time to practice in a small venue. If people want to just read their favorite jokes from the internet, that’s fine I don’t care. It’s going to be fun and engaging, but casual. This event is another opportunity for more time with a mic. That’s the most important thing for people to grow and develop with stand up comedy. Even if there’s no audience, get out there and practice your shit.
On top of all that, I rehearsed for two more short films yesterday. I feel very uncomfortable pretending I know what I’m doing with this acting stuff, but I don’t care at this point. I’m having a lot of fun with the people I’m working with on these short films. That’s really the part I like most about it. Being around great talented people and learning a lot of new stuff from that process. We’ll see what comes out on the other side of it.
So much cool shit is happening. I’m having fun. If things keep coasting 2020 is looking to be a very dope year.