When *will* Mastodon cover the Cocteau Twins, is the real query

Fans indulge me with excessive love coupled by hedged public praise.

Reprint of my 4/1/20 Farcebook post

Here's some cheese... today marks a year since I started regularly doing stand-up comedy. I had dabbled with it now and then (since 2011), and have always been a fan, but this past year was different because I PERSEVERED! Despite all the embarrassment and self-disgust, I kept doing it in an attempt to answer some questions.

Primarily I wanted to see if I could:
1) actually write a joke
2) tell it on stage in a manner that received laughs.

Last April Fool’s those were VERY open questions, but I summoned the courage to get up and perform at Bear with Me Open Mic and… well the questions remained unanswered BUT it was a start and I kept going— that’s the important part— and I continued getting up at open mics around town. I don’t have an exact count but I logged over 100 performances in 2019, plus a number of showcases!

I performed indoors and outdoors, at bars and breweries, at new and established shows. Even my all-time favorite show, Comedy Catastrophe, let me have a moment in the spotlight. It’s been a helluva thrill.

I want to thank the supportive and talented comedy community in New Orleans. There’s quite honestly too many people to name: all the hosts of open mics, show producers, fellow comedians, venue staff, local comedy fans… you’ve been very accepting and generous. I appreciate it and am filled with gratitude. As an old-timer I know would say, 'My heart is as big as a pumpkin for y’all.'

So it’s been a fantastic year for me in comedy, and I’ve far surpassed all the goals I initially set. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and now seems like the appropriate time to announce:

I’m gonna keep doing it! Let’s see what year two has in store! Sure it’s off to a weird start, but I miss it and want to keep going (despite the embarrassment and self-disgust).

Hotz stuff

This is Jeremy Hotz at his best. And when he was at his best he was un-followable. There are excellent comedians with current Netflix specials that use the same premises as Hotz, but to much lesser effect. I watch this set regularly.

 

Laughs-a-plenty in 2020!

It took eight years for me to reach 100 followers; but four months later I'm at 200!! This is momentous comedy momentum!

Thx again to @nolanolegal and @BreauxMart for being my centennials— many more to come, I bet! https://t.co/tNzFh0Oi6X

— Perk up Sperkus (@LaneSperkus) February 2, 2020

Thursday, I'm on another stand-up comedy showcase!! https://t.co/5ZZNdZQk8q Come out and see me—
Laughs-a-plenty in 2020!! #exclamationpoints pic.twitter.com/toANv1dq4O

— Perk up Sperkus (@LaneSperkus) February 2, 2020

You can enjoy these, as a tweet

Tonight my wife and I got into an argument about how to do the potatoes. But we hashed it out.

— Perk up Sperkus (@LaneSperkus) January 18, 2020

“How long do I have, Doc?”

“Including the 3 seconds you took to ask that?”

— Perk up Sperkus (@LaneSperkus) September 23, 2019

People tell me to lighten up and I explain this is the happiest I've been in months and they say "we mean lose weight."

— Perk up Sperkus (@LaneSperkus) January 11, 2020

I can remember when accidentally selecting premium at the gas pump wasn't a catastrophic financial blunder.

— Perk up Sperkus (@LaneSperkus) January 19, 2020

2019 was a pivotal year for tipping points.

— Perk up Sperkus (@LaneSperkus) December 26, 2019

Tremendous joy: I'm on another showcase!!

What a Catastrophe!

My favorite comedy show ended last night.

For hundreds of non-fat Tuesdays during the past eight years, Comedy Catastrophe was a unique and funky treat for yours truly. The standup showcase always had an interesting mix of comedians— including many regulars— and audiences couldn't have asked for a better host than Cassidy Henehan.

The vibe in the backroom of the Lost Love Lounge was unlike any other. The locked piano, the bizarre 'Timeshark' backdrop, the disco ball and four inch stage... the noodle restaurant to the side and Jen serving drinks in front... it appeared too odd and disjointed a venue for a good show. But Catastrophe pulled it all together somehow, week after week, for free. And at times it produced comedy that bordered on transcendent. Local talent like Scotland Green, Joe Cardosi, Katie East and Dane Faucheux would be there, as well as numerous traveling comedians who were in town. Occasionally, big names like Kyle Kinane, Sean Patton, Mark Normand, and Hannibal Buress would drop in and electrify the room. Anything could happen at Catastrophe— heck, Chad Meyer or 80's comedian Chip Gibson might show up! I enjoyed the hell out of it. Granted, there wasn't always a 'hot crowd' there, but overall Catastrophe grew my appreciation for the potentialities of standup, and produced many of my favorite entertainment moments over the past decade.

In an act of incredible generosity, Cassidy invited me to do a couple minutes on stage and be part of Catastrophe's final night. It was a genuine thrill to perform before a packed house, and say goodbye to a comedy show I'll always fondly remember.