Here is the very first of many, many, many episodes of the Natty bumpercr DYT Comedy Podcast! It is from a night in April at the Oak Barrel Pub in West Orange, NJ – and – it was a lot of fun.
I hope you enjoy.
If you have any thoughts or comments, let me know!
I’m Natty Bumpercar, and I’m a stand-up comedian who currently lives in New Jersey (you are at my website – maybe you already know this). I realized that I go onstage to tell jokes to people, a lot. So, I thought that it would be cool to make this podcast to try to document every show, open-mic, and whatnot that I do. Some of it is going to be repetitive – but – I’ll add commentary – and it might be interesting to see how different variables – locations, crowd, the lights, the sound system, the producer, my relationship with the other comics, me – affects how things turn out. It’ll also be nifty to see what kind of evolution there is to my act as time goes on.
I’ll post full sets, with the dates and location of the show – so that you can keep track on your “What is Bumpercar up to?” peg board. I’ll update as new shows happen and each podcast will vary in length – depending on how long each show was.
Maybe it’ll be a disaster. Maybe it’ll be fun. At the very least, I think it’ll be a cool experiment.
Here is a video of me with a microphone in Springfield, New Jersey – on June 17 – at a place called the Comedy Cove where you can see funny while you eat steak.
My pal Little bit came out for the show – which is always a treat.
I like to go on stage and tell little jokes to people . . . but – now – people expect people to come to my shows . . . and I don’t know people – and people – and people – and people.
In this episode of Bumperpodcast, host Natty Bumpercar shares his anxieties about returning to stand-up comedy in a new city. Natty explains the challenges of booking shows when you don't know anyone locally, from cold-calling venues to meeting the dreaded audience quota requirements. He recounts a recent show where he talked about camels and expresses his mounting panic about a performance scheduled for that very night. With not enough people committed to attend, Natty humorously worries about potential consequences ranging from being turned away at the door to getting kneecapped. It's a relatable and funny look at the unglamorous side of pursuing comedy in unfamiliar territory.
Memorable Quotes
“I talked about camels sometimes you have to talk about camels you just have to”
— Natty Bumpercar
“Are they gonna break my knees are they gonna turn me away at the door are they gonna kneecap me i don't want to be kneecapped i just want to go up and tell some silly stories”
Natty Bumpercar: oh bumper podcast i have to tell you that i am in a fizzle today an absolute fizzle i'm fizzling out of my seat i can't stand it i i don't know if you guys knew this but i like to go on stage and tell jokes to people i like to go up and tell little stories little funny anecdotes little non sequiturs little uh asides and uh so i've been i've been lining up these shows up here where i live here in this place and it's different when i used to do these shows a long time ago not so long ago uh people would call me and they would say hey come to this place do some jokes and i would say of course and then i would get terrified my nervous uh stomach would get nervouser more nervous more nervouser is what it would happen uh but it was great because you know i it was the legwork was done for me here where i live i don't know people and so uh i have to go out and talk to these these people i don't know which means leaving headquarters and having to go and and meet people which is terrifying yes it is absolutely is that's fine because i've done it and i've i've i did a show a few weeks a while ago and it was great fun for me i don't know if anyone else enjoyed it i loved it i talked about camels sometimes you have to talk about camels you just have to uh and then after that i decided well i'm enjoying myself the ball is rolling so i start uh emailing people and calling these places and uh hey how do i get into your show i want to be on your show now and then shockingly these people they start they email me back and they say oh well natty bumper car we'd love for you to come to our show but you have to bring x number of people x being an integer i think it's called an integer i don't really know x being a number and so then i have to oh i gotta find people and then people to come to where i live is difficult and so now i'm having i'm emailing people back and i'm saying i all my people fell through what do i do and and then they i don't know what's gonna happen there's a show tonight this very night this very wednesday bumper podcast night that i'm supposed to do and i don't have enough people what's gonna happen are they gonna break my knees are they gonna uh turn me away at the door are they gonna are they gonna kneecap me i don't want to be kneecapped i just want to go up and tell some silly stories bumper podcast
Here is a video of my first stage time with a microphone in the Greater North-East area . . . A place that goes by the name of Tierney’s – in the quaint hamlet of Montclair.
I’m a little rusty – but – hopefully – move quickly enough through my jokey words that you can barely even notice.