Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Does anyone listen to National Polish Radio?

When I got up this morning I was excited. It was going to be the second time in as many weeks that I would be speaking on the radio. I was notified of my appearance just 24 hours prior. I had no idea who it was that had invited me and why I was going to be interviewed, aside from the fact that the show would be about Stand-up comedy. I arrived at the Polish National Radio Station early in the morning and notified the station that I was in the lobby. I purchased the worst cup of tea I have ever half-consumed in my life, and waited. A woman at the front desk called, "Anyone here for Channel 4?" I answered and was told to wait some more. After some time a woman finally came downstairs and asked the front desk about me. "Look for the guy with the best smile," was how the woman was supposed to recognize me among the 3 people waiting to get onto the air. She approached me and took me upstairs to the recording studio. I walked in and I was immediately introduced to the dj. After a brief moment in the engineers side I walked into the soundproof (most likely) recording booth and within a few minutes I was on the air. "Ok, welcome back everybody, we've got a guest this morning, and he's doing a one-man show in Warsaw. What is stand-up comedy anyhow?" As the dj asked me these questions I began to think too much. Instead of being in the moment I was somehow just beyond it. Within what seemed like seconds our conversation ended. I was told that the dj, "might check out one of my shows someday," and escorted out of the studio. As I left the building I anticipatedthat the interest in Laugh.pl would skyrocket. Upon checking my online stat system I was surprised to discover that only 24 people visited my main web site (laugh.pl) and as I read these numbers I came to realize that the support and interest of the media is not enough. In order to compete in the cut-throat world of entertainment you have to offer an innovative, interesting, captivating product that keeps people on the edge of their seats. In retrospect I wish I would have had more fun with the interview, and I would have garnered a bit more interest. So that makes 2 radio appearances and 1 television appearance. What does the future hold for Rich Greenfield? Only time will tell, and if I can ever get back into creating multimedia that's entertaining I'll have won half of the battle.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Friends and Comedy Don't Often Mix

In March I met a man from Belfast. He seemed like quite the violent and aggresive sort of person I needed to move my idea of a virtual comedy club along. I teamed up with him in September of 2010. At the start we had a simple idea, "to provide local comedians with a regular evening where they would be able to hone their skills in stand-up comedy." Eventually, the idea turned into something like, "let's run over everybody in town getting to our next gig." Quality went totally down the tubes and everyone was in a dog-eat-dog mood. An organization cannot survive long after the founders are less than friends. All it takes to end an inspiring project (or at least a partnership) is a drunken late-night rant directed at you by your "partner" in the organization. After our little "chat" I decided that it was time to take Laugh.pl back to it's roots. I plan on starting 2011 with a well-defined concept for Laugh.pl with only one rule in mind, my way or the highway. No more partnerships, no more boards of directors. They cliche goes that to get something done you have to do it yourself. Well it seems, that instead of looking for a "partner" I should've just gotten off my ass and talked to some venue owners on my own. However I guess I needed to be convinved by someone else first.

Happy New Year to everyone, and wish me luck as I carry Laugh.pl into a new era in 2011.