Shooting video is very much different than performing stand-up comedy

March 26, 2009 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

I went into the studio to tape my first video production today, and oh boy did it not go as well as I expected. Luckily, we had a number of takes, so once they are spliced together, there should be one good performance.

Maybe I’m being too hard on myself. I’m used to single takes being perfect, because in stand-up comedy you only get one take. You can’t hit rewind when you’re on stage.

At first I thought it should be easy to record a video since I should be able to do single takes the entire way through the same way I do it on stage. I even resisted using the teleprompter for the first few takes because I didn’t know if I would come off as too robotic. Strangely, the opposite happened.

Minus the teleprompter, I had zero personality as I was trying to remember my lines. Once we switched over to the teleprompter, I at least showed some signs of life. Hopefully it was enough.

The other trouble I felt now that I think about it, is that I didn’t have the right timing on my delivery. I spoke quite a bit quicker than I normally do in stand-up. I haven’t watched the video back yet, so I’m not sure how easily my words will be understood.

I’m not really sure why I had so much trouble today, but I’ll chalk it down as a learning experience. Hopefully next time, I can be a little bit smoother.

Now comes the second part of the video, the actual production. I’ve got to decide how I want to take the video footage and make it into a complete package with sound and images. I went with my video producer because I believe in his talent, so I don’t want to step on his creativity too much, but I think he may be looking for some direction given the subject matter is a bit specific to me.

I’m really excited to show everyone the video once it’s ready, so please stay tuned.

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Deciding which set will work best on video is more difficult than I thought

March 22, 2009 by vongsundara · 2 Comments 

My spring and summer comedy schedule is starting to get really full, which is a great thing and not something I could have said about my comedy life last year. I end each of April, May and June off with a relatively big show and I have a bunch of off-stage projects on the go, the biggest of which is my comedy video production starting this week.

I have studio time booked with my video producer for this Thursday. The final video will consist of me performing one of my stand-up sets that will then be enhanced with animation and sound effects. It’s difficult to describe, but I’m excited that the project is moving forward.

The biggest difficulty for me is deciding which set will work best in a video format accompanied by graphics and sound effects. Some of my sets definitely lend themselves more to a visual format but may not be the best for a debut video, as I’d like the first video to skew more mainstream (otherwise I’d start the first video off on a skit about the SuperPowerBottoms volleyball team).

I think I’m down to two choices: the set about my sister Anne, which has never yet been performed, and the set about my time as an obituary writer, which has never been filmed or uploaded online. Both sets of their merit for sure.

The set about my sister Anne would probably be the clear choice in terms of what would work for this project, but it is in an unfinished state and hasn’t really been tested for kinks. The obituary skit works well too but isn’t as representative of my comedy style as a whole.

I’ll think about it some more tonight, and I’ll have to make up my mind by Tuesday, as I’ll need all of Wednesday to rehearse and memorise.

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