I also performed at RiRa last Wednesday. They moved the show from the small room upstairs (seated about 60 and was always packed) to the bar downstairs. I have done enough comedy shows to know this is a mistake. The other room was a captive audience of people who specifically came to see comedy. This room is filled with people who either didn't know there was comedy show that night, or didn't know there was comedy show that night and don't want to watch one. Either way, it's a recipe for a poor show. The show did okay, but nothing like what it did in the other room.

Briefly, if you are doing an open mic you shouldn't do a 30 minute set in the middle of the show for the following reasons:

1. I've spoken before about the purpose of an open mic for a comic. Unless you wrote 30 minutes of new material then I don't know how you benefit.

2. There are comics behind you and an hour left of show. Some of these guys are very good comics, but you have let the room know the show is over with your set. It would be the equivalent of having 6 comics do 7 minutes each after the headliner at a real show.

3. It makes the show bad. Yes you crushed, but there is an hour left of show and now the audience has to sit thru 6 more comics working thru their new material after you did a crisp 30 in the middle. The majority of what they saw paled. Again, it's their job to be funny. However I am very sympathetic to their complaints knowing many of them could do their regular set, but don't because that's not why they came.

Whatever, if you want to do that, do it at the end. You're a great comic. Everyone recognizes that, but we still want the show to work.

I promised I wouldn't talk politics anymore. I lied, but if you aren't interested, stop reading now.

If you are complaining about media bias you have tunnel vision. If you watch Fox you will get a conservative slant and if you watch CSNBC you'll get the liberal slant. If you watch Bill O'Reilly interview Obama you'll get the opposite of Charles Gibson interviewing Palin.

If you are outraged, be outraged for the right reasons. If during the interview, a question is asked and before the answer is given the interviewer says, ''That takes a great deal

of hubris (arrogance) doesn't it?'' Then you are no longer looking for an answer. You are attacking. I don't mind the hard questions, on either side, but if you are giving an interview and I know your opinion you have failed to do your job. Your job is to report the news, not create it.

There is an unnamed fellow comic, who is a friend and also writes a blog. He's a bright guy and I respect his opinions even though they are usually not in line with mine. However, his blog recently has become so skewed he'll never garner credibility with the undecided. Again, if you are outraged by hypocrisy then you have to be outraged every time you see it. Not just from the opposing party. I have often said the American electorate in general is uniformed, but the bad news is that the uninformed usually already have chosen their candidate. The truly undecided are people that are either having issues with both candidates or see positives with both candidates. Usually people who are this conscientious won't fall for someone criticizing McCain for giving and interview to People Magazine knowing that Obama lent his time to MTV and MySpace. They will not fall for the ''book banning'' knowing that the ''list'' found in the damaging email is merely a list of the books banned in the history of the U.S., etc, etc, etc...

Stick to policy. Here's the irony, it was the Democrats election to lose and they are losing it. They are running against the party of an incumbent President who boasts the lowest approval rating in history, the economy is in the toilet, the stock market just had one of the 5 worst days in its history and they are opposing a war that is looked upon unfavorably by the majority of Americans.

Guys, stick to your policy. If you do you'll win. Luckily you won't and you'll open up the door for us ''backwards unenlightened rednecks''. You always do.

Which brings me to my last point, I am not a lever puller. I don't vote for candidates I don't know. I don't look at the party platform and base my arguments on those ideas (i.e. I am against capital punishment and I am for gay marriage). At least one democrat has received a vote on my ballot in every election in which I have ever participated. So I must say I am disgusted by the bailout of the irresponsible lenders last week. Their failure was capitalism at work. Simply put, if you have good business practices you will thrive and if you have poor business practices you will fail. Failure sometimes results in your business going under and you having to find something else to do. I don't believe in the ''do-over'' when you have behaved as irresponsibly as these lenders did. We as taxpayers should not foot the bill for these companies' negligence. I couldn't be in further disagreement.

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