Four comedy shows and two interviews

Hey everybody...

So a lot has happened since I last wrote... 

I also went with Joe Narvaez for a three show, one night trip - two shows in Connecticut and then one in Manhattan - on Friday. It was really awesome - did some interviewing in the car. I also filmed the three shows, and got some great stuff...including the creation of a joke from something that happened at a gas station on the way back to Manhattan. Then there was this great heckler at the end of the night - 

I'm trying to come up with ways to get deeper into this than I am... Anyway, will update again soon with some footage and probably more ideas....

More comedy for you

Hello Everyone,
So I made my blog pretty and embedded some comedy videos!

I also heard back from Joe Narvaez, another New York comedian. He said he would definitely be interested in getting involved in the documentary. I saw him perform at Comedy Corner on Bleecker and McDougal last Thursday. Here's one of his videos:

I'm thinking that for the interviews, I don't want just standard sit down interviews. I'm thinking for more serious questions, like about where comedians are from and why they got into comedy, I will interview them in the standard sitting fashion. However, for the rest of the interview that deals with their views on comedy and what funny is, I think I would like to capture them just going about their lives, walking to work, doing laundry, whatever. It seems sort of awkward and limiting to make comedians sit stiff and still while talking about comedy. Does anyone think that would be super distracting?

Let's do this thing!

Hey everybody!

I  got in touch with Stephen Rosenfield, who co-founded the American Comedy Institute, one of the biggest comedy schools in Manhattan which boasts all kinds of now famous students. Here's their website - they've got listings for all kinds of great events and workshops. http://www.comedyinstitute.com/.

And lastly, I think I've really figured out the angle I want to take with this documentary. Here's the schtick I've been offering to people to orient them with my project:

The documentary is for a final honors capstone project for my journalism degree. Summed up, it's going to be about the pursuit of funniness.
Basically, my goal is to figure out what is funny and where it comes from by speaking with funny people, particularly stand up comedians, around the city. I am going to interview comedians about their career and what they think funny is and means and why. Ideally, I want to put that in context by putting them in context, as in interviewing them during their daily routine or in a way that kind of shows what kind of person they are, where
they're from, what their normal life is like off stage.

Anyway, I'm super excited to get this show on the road!!!

Getting the ball rolling...

So, update on the documentary.. not too much to report this week, because just got done with midterms/ being sick - but this week I am going on Thursday to a show, and on Friday to another where I am going to take a camera and start shooting. I am thinking about angles that I might take with this doc, and there are two - I think that as I get more into shooting it will be easier to see which angle will pan out the best. The first is the lives behind these comedians - a lot of them have pretty interesting stories behind them and where they're from and why they decided it would be a good idea to give up whatever they were doing to take up a job as a comedian. The other angle is literally just how to be funny. There are some stand up classes given by comedy clubs around New York, and each comedian I feel has a different way of coming up with their jokes, including where they get their inspiration, etc. Like I said, I think as I start getting more into this project, the best angle will emerge.
On a technical level, I've been talking to some friends who work in movies, and talking about how to get the best audio in less than ideal circumstances, including mike set ups and sound mixing. Does anyone know much about sound mixing besides just using the things we have talked about in class and audio channels on the editing software? I'm curious about the type of sound mixing they do in cinema - because it is ideal when working with multiple mikes. It's just I can't say I've ever worked with anything much more technical than the editing software I have for audio...
Last question - I have a musician friend who will likely be working on composing some sort of sound track for me - is anyone familiar with how to record that in a way that I can use it? Do I use rock band, or whatever?
Thanks guys, lemme know if you have any solutions.

Hello all...
Haven't updated because I changed my topic quite suddenly. Unfortunately that means my blog title now makes no sense.

So, now I'm doing the pursuit of funniness - following the lives of stand up comedians in New York City and their attempt to make a living out of being funny.

So far, I have had a lot of success making contacts, as most comedians I've met so far are extremely supportive of the topic and more than helpful - I'm sure they don't mind the exposure, either... Last week I went to a show and had this great stroke of luck - I was waiting outside the club for the show to start, and some guy sitting at the bar next door asked me if I was in the show... yeah he was kidding... I will say I didn't catch on at first, but then I realized HE was in the show, and he asked me to join him and his friends for a drink, which I did... they were all comedians... what luck. I've got about four people so far who are game to be in the documentary, and they've let me in on a few comedy events around the village where I can meet even more people.

What I'm thinking I'll do is do a few preliminary interviews with a number of them and decide which ones are the best candidates, and then ask if I can get a little deeper into their lives, ie, follow them around getting ready for a show,etc.

Midterms this week, so probably not going to get around to that until next week, unfortunately...