20050403

March 3, 2006

Charlie’s Standup Comedy Journal

April 3, 2005: Vaulting Back to the Vault

I hadn’t been back to the Comedy Vault for almost a year, so I decided to give it another try. Generally, I’ve been shying away from ‘bringer shows’ — that’s where the comics have to bring audience members with them, in order to get stage time — but this place only asks for two people, and they always have a good crowd on Sunday nights. And how hard could it be to get two people out downtown on a weekend night, right? I even told my wife she wouldn’t have to go this time.

So, I’m at the show — with my wife, who of course did end up having to go, and my comic friend Jenn — and it was pretty much just as I remembered. The comics all huddled in the back, in an actual old bank vault. Hence the name of the place, if you folks were curious. And one by one, we went out, delivered our spiel, and trundled back to the back room to watch the rest of the show. Seems like the sort of thing we do at most shows, but the Vault somehow seems odd to me. Maybe it’s just that I tend to know fewer of the comics there — or maybe it’s that there actually is a back room where we hang out. Most places I play are just bars — so when you’re done, you sit at the bar, or in the back of the room, among the crowd. Maybe I’m just not used to the separation yet — I don’t know.

Anyway, I had a pretty good time there, nonetheless. I caught up with a couple of friends ‘backstage’, and had a decent set. The crowd was maybe a little smaller than usual, thanks to the Red Sox opening day game being played at the bar upstairs that night. Yeah, how’s my timing for revisitng a room, eh? But it was good to get back to a place that I visited early on… and see how nothing much has changed. That’s comforting, in a way. And in others, a little frightening, but let’s not think about that, eh folks? We want to end on an ‘up’ note, after all.

Download Clip of 04/03/05 Set —

The Comedy Vault at Remington’s, Boston, MA (4 minutes, 48 seconds):