[cj hood]

stand up:
i've been doing stand up for 5 years...all comics bomb despite their years of experience. for starters, you obviously have to have good material. i hate open mics cuz it's filled with clowns who think they're funny. real comics will get up at an open mic and do 5 minutes of new stuff they're working on....clowns will get up there and talk for a half hour (not funny). you're better off going to your local club and asking if you could do a 'guest spot.' you'll get 3-5 minutes of stage time at a real club, with real comics with a real audience (who paid to be there). the feedback you get from the latter will give you the best guage on how good/bad you did.
in 5 years i have about 30 minutes of solid material...i alway open up with topical stuff that's in the news. i've worked with rich voss, nick dipaolo and i did a spot for xm radio. stand-up is both a challenge and a thrill to do.
most shows i do have an mc (15min), feature (30min), headliner (45min). funny thing is that you could do the same material as a feature that you did as an mc and get more laughs. the later you go on during a show the more laughs you get: audience is more drunk and i feel that they think you must be more funny since you're on later in the show.