..and so it begins

Well, here I am. What brought here? Frustration? Madness? Anger?

All of the above, plus a whole purse full of other emotions, most brought on by fluctuating hormones. I am the mother of three and a wife of one, and a stand-up comedian. Almost two years ago, I took the stage for the fist time at an Open Mic Comedy Night, and have been doing so again and again and again. I loved it instantly. The lights, the tension, the sound of laughter.

A new year has begun and with it hopes and goals for 2007. I am still an amateur comedian, and had set a personal goal, that this year I would take the next step in my comedy career, work weekends at the club. As an amateur, I only perform on Open Mic nights (Wednesdays) for free. I want some cash! Some moola! Momma needs a new pair of shoes! This, I decided, was going to be the year I took that step.

The year started out excellent! I was asked to perform at a Business Women's Retreat, and for my six minutes of 'bitchen' I recieved $100.00, not bad eh? Eager to get stage time at the clubs, I started making my presence known. Watching others perform and chit chatting with them, I found out that most of those that had started when I had, were already recieving weekend paid gigs. They were also being asked to perform at various showcases. My phone had never rung. I was never contacted. Now, I am NOT saying that I am funnier than the others, but I am saying that I feel I am JUST AS funny. I have made a good name for myself as an amateur. I won Kingston's Comedian Idol 2006 and I was a finalist in Yuk-Yuk's Great Canadian Laugh Off. These are both honorable feats. So what gives? Why was I not considered funny by the club owners? So....I called them up. The first fellow told me that I was too dirty! TOO DIRTY! I was informed that people who came to clubs and paid good money to get in wanted to see class, wanted clean humour, so unless I cleaned up my dirty little act, I would not recieve paid stage time. The second fellow (there are two clubs in Ottawa) was much kinder. He promised that he would watch me perform a few times and if I consistantly gave him a good show, then he would definately help me get to the next step. He said dirty is alright, as long as it is not too overwhelming, and with my routine, I ease into the "dirty" material, it really doesn't get smutty until the end. Comedy, unfortunately, is a little biased. Men can be dirty, smutty and raunchy, where as vulgarities are much less accepted when coming from a female comics mouth.

So, long story short, that is how I got here and why. I figure if I have a place I can write daily, it will help me to get those creative juices flowing. Let's see. If you have a chance, watch a wee video of my act and let me know what you think. www.myspace.com/iamericascott or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIMRETSIH4U Am I a dirty little housewife or just a woman who says it like it is?