Open Mic Log #11 - Bad Bumbling @ Beachfire Brewing
I had a lot working against me on this particular day. Not to say that as an excuse, but as a continued observation of variables. Overall, I think I did just as good as my first 4 or 5 attempts as reported in these logs. That said, I did get shaky prior to performing much as I used to get before doing a speech or presentation. It was a bit concerning to me since the first ten times I was about to go up I was not nervous at all. That said, I had many different things changing how thing could end up going:
- Stressed and exhausted from not being at home (home being my partner and my RV) for so long
- Not having been out of the house in the past 3 weeks, and in general not being around a lot of people since arriving at Apex Mountain in the beginning of June (side note: This did, however, do wonders for my productivity in my technology work)
- Throughout the set, I kept getting audio feedback and having to wait for the host to make adjustments, along with making my own adjustments
All that aside, the reception was generally average in terms of the number of laughs I'm able to pull out of people, which was honestly surprising that I got that much. I also got a couple of people going out of there where to compliment the material, which as also nice, I don't always get that. The host really did try his best, so hats off to David Gauci. Next time, though, I need to have some kind of witticism prepped for audio issues like that.
David later told me that all of his equipment had been stolen and that the current setup was the best he could come up with in short time. Having passively absorbed many conversations about audio engineering from my friend Alex at Astronomic Audio, I know how disastrous it can be to have to completely redo a setup you're comfortable with. Imagine refurnishing your house, then amp up the difficulty level by 10 to 100 times. Especially if you're on a budget.