Blind Tiger Stand-up (all new)

You know how boring it is hearing the same joke the third time?  Well  I hate telling the same joke over and over. That's why I tend to create a lot of new material for my standup.  Some day I will find the balance between creating new stuff and refining the old, but I'll always error on the former.

With that, I give you another open mic night video - same place, same shirt, all new jokes. And no, while the video is dark, it is not "solarized" as YouTube's thumbnail implies.

The Turducken Affair

As you can see below, I like posting videos of my Toastmasters performances but alas, I have no video of the speech that started it all - my 2008 Humorous Speech Competition entry (and winner).  I don't even have audio of it.  You can imagine how devastating that is for someone who appears to love hearing himself speak as much as me.

What was there to do, but record the speech in a studio (thanks Joshua)... and hand illustrate the video.  This was a labor of love for three days.  I now know how James Cameron must feel pouring his passion into an epic film that, while amazing, does not reflect the amount of energy that it took to create.

I'm most proud of the yak. Enjoy!

Standup Show at Mad Moose 8/28

What's better than an open-mic night?  A comedy show.  Like the one I'm in at the Mad Moose Saloon in Binghamton, NY on Sat, Aug 28th.  The show starts at 9pm and should run until 10:30 or so, depending on how verbose the MC / barker feels.

Tickets are $8 each and there are only 50 seats, so RSVP early if you are coming - because it would be great to have you!

Stand-up Debut

One thing that has always been on my bucket list is stand-up.  I knew it was only a matter of time.  Well, Tuesday was that time.  Your first time is always tough - even without stage fright - but it was an easy crowd because most of them were friends that were kind enough to come out to support me!

Toastmasters humorous speech competitions are one thing - but I knew going into it that stand-up is a whole other beast.  It went well - and I look forward to next time.  Things will only improve with practice.

Stand-up should be on everyone's bucket list to try... it's like skydiving without the comfort of the backup parachute.  Behold - I invoke the power of YouTube to make it as if you were there! The video is dark because the Blind Tiger is an environmentally friendly bar that eschews indoor lighting on principal.

WARNING:  In the video a few profanities are used in the name of humor - but I was one of the cleanest acts of the night.  Trust me.

Shazaam! Toastmasters Regional Competition Speech

There are certain places who's names are inseparable from conflict - Sparta, home of warriors - Armageddon, locale for the coming of the end times - and Cleveland Ohio, host city of the 2009 Region VI Toastmasters International Speech competition. Well, maybe Cleveland is known for a few other things. Like this Irish singer I know - he's huge out of town.

Having clawed my way over the competition at the district level (read: "after I had a spirited but amicable competition with friends") I advanced as the standard bearer for district 65 in the regional arena of competition.  Enough battle visuals?  Good because I'm running out of imagery without invoking jousting.

The below speech - "Shazaam" - earned me a hard won 3rd place at Regional.  BTW, it is Toastmasters International for a reason - some of the toughest competition came from Canadians.  It is humbling to be bested by someone for whom English is their second language.  Although 28% of our vocabulary comes from French anyway, n'est-ce pas?

The Meaning - Toastmasters District Competition Speech

One of the greatest things about participating in Toastmasters International (it is a speaking / leadership club - but you knew that) is the competitions that they hold.  Speaking each week at your local club is one thing but participating in a contest - often against people you haven't heard before - is entirely another.

I've had a lot of fun competing - including at the 2009 Spring District 65 contest as seen below.  Here are a few tips for success that I have compiled:

• Be in it for the fun, not the win
• Radiate love to the audience
• Speak like a human - not like you are reading literature out loud
• Wear shiny shoes

If all else fails, the shiny shoes will get you a long way.  And remember: "Competition - it does the speaking good!"  Although with milk's change in marketing plan, I should say "Got Contests?"

Archive of old posts added

All posts prior to this are archived over from frostymoments - my "look what amusing thing I saw today" photoblog.  Let's be honest, most people don't keep up with one blog, so it would be foolish for me to keep separate blogs for all my interests.

Gardner Speaking isn't a 100% literal title (a blog about my public speaking) - it is where I share all the aspects of myself.  Ok, not that aspect of myself.  But you will likely see videos of live performances - maybe some that aren't even me. You'll see pictures of funny things I see along the way.  You'll even see some musings I have on technology.

"Chaos!" you cry.  "Anarchy will reign!" you worry.  Nah, I'll work out a tagging schema that will keep everything tidy.  And thanks to the power of the internet I can time-travel and pre-date all the posts in the right order ;)