In a true reversal of roles, on Wednesday night my comedian pal Patrick Janssen hosted the weekly show at The Wardell in Phillipsburg (I usually host the show) and I shouted on stage and talked about sports. (Pat usually shouts on stage and talks about sports)

If Bill Tickle was there to hear me shout “COME ON, DEL ZOTTO, GET THE PUCK TO GABORIK” in the middle of joke, I’m pretty sure he would have cried. (He usually doesn’t hear me talk about sports, is a Rangers fan, and I imagine he cries sometimes when he’s proud of his kids.)

As everyone expected, Janssen did a great job as host. Far superior to me, which isn’t surprising, as I don’t really think I’m a great emcee. I’m am too calm to bring the energy most emcees produce. Largely because I think anyone who says “How are we doing tonight? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” is an idiot. I don’t naturally have that kind of persona and while I could fake it I don’t want to come across as, well, fake. That said, I have every intention of continuing to host the show at The Wardell because whether I think I’m great at it or not, it affords me the chance to do whatever I want on stage. But it’s nice to know how easily replaceable I am.

That's a good looking man.

Here’s my new headshot.

Last night I did a comedy show at Rutgers University. I knew nothing about the show going in besides the fact that my friend Ryan Houssein was also supposed to be on the show. After some parking issues I found the place where I was supposed to be and was surprised to find a class going on. The show was in a giant lecture hall. Awesome.

As I stood outside the room waiting for the class to get out, the people running the show arrived and introduced themselves. I said hello and then we all waited. More students, both comics and audience, started showing up so I began calling and texting Ryan to see where he was. The idea of talking to a bunch of strange college kids in a hallway while they waited to see if I was funny or not was terrifying.

Ryan never came, because he’s the worst.

The class finally let out and we went inside. The comedians grouped together up front and I realized that all the comedians were students, except for me. This raised the question of what exactly I was doing there. Ryan had sent me the email address and told me they were looking for comics, so there I was. It was a weird feeling being the oldest person in the room at the ripe old age of twenty-six.

When I got up to do my set I realized that had anyone walked into the room not knowing there was a comedy show going on they would have just seen a man in a suit talking to a bunch of students in a lecture hall and assumed a class was going on. A hilarious class, but a class none the less. The situation enforced my belief that being a college professor would be great.

The room was filled with easily more than one hundred total strangers. I knew absolutely no one there. I didn’t realize it until after the fact, but before last night I had never done a show to an audience of people I’ve never met before. Lack of familiarity aside, my set went over really well. There really is a huge difference between doing a comedy show for a large audience that’s there to see a comedy show and doing it in a bar. (Note to self: Book more college shows)

When I signed up to do the show they told me it was a benefit and that my material should be family friendly. I forgot that fact until about an hour before I left for the show. Surprisingly it had little effect on my set. But when I got there and realized that everyone in the audience was between the ages of 18 and 22 I was less worried about whether or not I said “shit”. I tried a new joke that I wrote on the ride down and was glad it went over well. The joke about Elvis Costello got a laugh out of probably the only 3 people in the room who knew who Elvis Costello is. Seems to be the normal reaction to that joke, so I’ll probably retire it until such a time as I do a show for a bunch of hipsters or British people.

I was actually really surprised by the level of talent in the room. Being the conceited dick that I am, I just assumed most of the college kids would get up and do hackish retellings of Dane Cook material, and I was happy to see that only one of them got up and did hackish retellings of Dane Cook material. The rest of them were all great. Notably, Patrick Howitt was brilliant.

The only female comedian of the evening (Dinah? Something?) was so good that I’m actually not even 100% sure she was the only female comedian of the group, but easily the only one I remember. (Sorry any other female comedians of the night, you done been outshined) I’ll update this post if I can track down her name because she really deserves the huge bump the five people reading this will give her.

After the show one of the other comics (sorry, sir, don’t remember your name) was talking to me after the show and informed he’d actually seen me at New York Comedy Club a while ago, which was nice. Proof that my “wear the same thing every day so people will recognize you” plan is paying off.

I’ll be doing a show in New Brunswick at The Stress Factory Wednesday March 3rd, and while that’s the only other Rutgers-area show I currently have booked, I’ll be down there again soon.

Did I mention the headlining show at Diamonz went pretty well? While I wasn’t scheduled to be back there until March 6th to open for my friend Brandon Strohl, I got asked back to host for the next weeks. This is convenient for me because I was going to these shows anyway to see Pat Janssen this Saturday and Jason Brown next Saturday.

So if you weren’t planning on going to those shows because I wouldn’t be there telling any jokes, just know that now I will be.

Good news! I will be appearing at Comix Comedy Club on March 22nd at 7pm. I’m really excited about this because it’s a venue at which I’ve really wanted to perform. I shot an email to the guy in charge of their new talent showcase with a clip of one of my New York Comedy Club sets and he called me back within minutes to ask when I can do it.

The New Talent Showcase is a mix of newcomers like myself and well known professionals. Judah Friedlander and Jim Gaffigan both make frequent appearances at these shows. So besides seeing me you will get to see other really great comics.

This is a “bringer” show, meaning I need to get a certain number of people there to see me in order to get on stage. In this case it’s fifteen people. It seems high for a Monday night, but there’s plenty of notice and I don’t think Lost premieres that night, so there should be no excuses.

Tickets are $15 and there’s a 2 ITEM (not DRINK) minimum. So get an appetizer and a beverage and you’ll be covered. Besides the face I just really want to do this club, I will get a professional 2-camera shoot DVD of my set and after I do the show there I will be able to go see comedy shows there for free forever. I know me getting into free comedy shows doesn’t really benefit you, but think of how much enjoyment you’ll get out of watching a really nicely shot video of me telling jokes.

It’s been one year since I first adopted the Glen Tickle uniform. I still love it. I am never under dressed. I always have plenty of pockets. The Converse are comfortable as hell. Packing is incredibly easy when all your clothes are the same.

Sadly, it seems the Haggar suit that is the center of my uniform has been discontinued. So while I may not be able to keep going with the EXACT same suit (knew I should have just bought 50!) I have years left of the stock I have currently, and if I start wearing a different grey suit it’s not like any of you people would notice. But God help us all if Converse ever stops making the All Star. Then I really would just buy 50 pairs.

Last night was my first headlining show as a comedian. I was nervous as hell.

I’m always nervous, not just about whether my shows will go well, I mean all the time. Right now for instance- nervous. It’s just how I am. But the idea that I had to get up and do 45 minutes of comedy made me exceptionally nervous.

After rigorous practice I had the first twenty minutes and the last five minutes down cold, but I wasn’t as comfortable with the middle. But because we got a late start and because we had to clear out in time for karaoke I only did about thirty-five minutes. If I felt better about my full set I would probably have been pissed off, or just refused to get off stage until I was finished, but believe me, the thirty-or-so minutes I did do were better than the forty-five I would have done otherwise.

I was going to shoot the show, but the lighting didn’t allow for it. I did get audio though, which I have yet to listen to out of fear that I won’t hear anyone laughing.

The opening acts were my friends Jeremy Onorato and Brandon Strohl, both did well and I’m actually going to be opening for Brandon at the same venue in early March. My set for that night will be thirty minutes, and now that I know I can do thirty minutes comfortably, I’d be willing to bet I do much better that night than last night. You’ll have to come to the show and see.

In the post-show write-up the show’s promoter, Gary Stewart, said that of the three comedians I was “the most polished.” Probably because I was wearing a bow tie. Bow tie = Polished. But I was impressed to see Brandon Strohl in a sweater vest.

I’ll close on this. I know a lot of people couldn’t make it to the show last night for a lot of different reasons, but to those of you who didn’t come because the show was at a gay bar: Smarten the fuck up.

Dear everyone in America,

Regarding fist-bumping: Knock it off. Most of you are not 14 year-olds. Those of you that are- knock it off anyway. You look ridiculous. You’re degrading basic human behavior and embarrassing yourself and those around you.

Love,
Glen Tickle

Post Script – Howie Mandell, I understand your concern with your germ issues, and I sympathize. Buy some gloves. They won’t make you look any stupider than you do now. By the way, great work on Bobby’s World. Big fan.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, for the last month or so you’ve been barraged with reminders about upcoming shows. I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry. It had to be done. But take solace in knowing that for at least the next month you’ll be seeing notably fewer reminders about upcoming shows. Largely because I don’t have that many.

January got filled up pretty quickly, including several shows in New York. But my February is looking considerably less dense with show dates because I have my first headlining show coming up on February 13th at Diamonz in Bethlehem and I want to make sure I’m prepared.

The shows in New York all went well, if not a little under-attended, but I understand that I can’t expect everyone to come to every show, and there were a lot of them so far this year, but I won’t be back in New York at least until March, but possibly later because I have a pretty full schedule set for next month as well.

Also, thanks to those who have come out to my shows. I really do appreciate the love, and on shows where I get paid I really appreciate the money.

If you’re wondering- next show is Wednesday night at The Wardell at 8.

If you’ve heard me tell the joke about there being two other Glen Tickles in the world and thought I was making it up, proof is in the first comment on the last post.

Glen A. Tickle of Virginia just contacted me. The only question is, do we team up or have a highlander battle?