Fun times in Oakland

On Thursday, November 5th and Friday, November 6th, I had shows in Oakland. The first show was at Miss Pearl's Jam House near Jack London Square and the second show was at The Washington Inn... both shows together are referred to "Comedy off Broadway Oakland" as both places are located off of Broadway St. The shows are co-produced and co-hosted by comedians Joe Gleckler and Samson Kolektar.

The same comedians performed both nights. The other comedians performing were Jeff Reitman (an avid video gamer and comedian), Norm Hazzard, and Headliner Ross Turner. Fellow baseball fan and comedian, Dan St. Paul,made a special appearance at the Friday show.

A lot of people were surprised when I told them I was doing a couple shows in Oakland. My co-worker told me "Don't get shot"... and my co-worker is black. It is sad that Oakland has had a lot of homicides so it is looked at from people outside of Oakland as a scary place. I knew I couldn't let any of that talk get to me. A comedian who doesn't take risks, doesn't belong in the business.

The show Thursday night was actually their first show at Miss Pearl's Jam House (they had just finished up doing their Washington Inn show for 6 months and were successful so added this 2nd show) ... I connected well with the Oakland crowd as I discussed Barak Obama and talked about the Oakland A's and how they were planning on changing the name of the Coliseum. I got some handshakes after the show and a guy in the back said, "Keep doing your thing, man!" I was glad to be part of their first show there.

The second night at Washington Inn was also a good show. I stumbled a little during my set though as I made a comment about someone sitting in the front row. Everytime I said a joke he liked he would playfully drum a rimshot on his table. I thanked him for doing such during my set but then got thrown off on what I was going to discuss next. I ended up doing a bit about a past girlfriend but it took forever to set-up the punchline....after that I was able to get back on track though.

I'm looking forward to the shows I have the next couple nights... tomorrow night, the 10th, I will be at The Rockit Room in San Francisco and on Wednesday, the 11th, I will be at Eddie's Nightclub in Monterey. I'm trying to finish the year as strong and with as many shows as I can.