(Sunday Paper, Volume III, Issue 41)

I had a good week.

(Apologies to those of you who came here hoping for a third week of stories about a gray t-shirt. Maybe next week.)

On Wednesday I performed for the first time at the new location of The Comedy Studio in Somerville’s Bow Market.

Bow Market is a little tiny version of what I imagine Shopper’s World used to be like back in the day - two floors of a variety of little stores and shops and restaurants, and the new Comedy Studio occupies a corner spot on the second floor.

It’s a bigger, better version of something that I already loved.

And I want to tell you a little bit about it.

When I first started doing comedy, performing at The Comedy Studio was an immediate goal of mine. I watched comedian after comedian on stage on the third floor of the restaurant in Harvard Square where The Comedy Studio was located and dreamed of being up there myself.

I remember screwing up the courage to ask for spots and couldn’t believe it when I got booked there…possibly before I deserved to be booked there.

It was the first place I’d gotten booked, and that will always mean a ton to me.

The fact that I continue to be able to perform there makes me happy.

And, since it closed shop at the old place around New Year’s last year and I think the last time I performed there was October, it had been about a year since I had performed at The Comedy Studio.

As it turns out - it’s still the place where I get most nervous right before I go on stage.

That’s the tell-tale sign that the new space has the same feel as the old space. In the minutes leading up to my spot on Wednesday night, I found myself yawning quite a bit.

That’s not because I was bored - it’s what I discover I do when I’m nervous…almost as though my brain needs the extra oxygen or it’ll shut down from nerves or something. (I thought I understood what was happening with the yawning until I tried to write that sentence right there. I don’t think that even makes sense. But I yawn when I’m nervous. Also when I’m sleepy. But I am pretty sure I’m not sleepy every time I’m about to go on stage at The Comedy Studio.)

Anyway, it has the same feel. And performing there felt great.

It’s quite probably the place I’ve performed the most in my still-young comedy career…I haven’t done the math on that but it’s likely. And it’s videos I have received from performing there that have helped open doors in the comedy world for me.

So I hope you’ll support Rick Jenkins and the Studio, because it’s a great spot and there are hundreds of other comedians who will echo my words because they have their own story about what The Comedy Studio means to them.

But I can only speak for myself and tell you how grateful I am to Rick and The Comedy Studio and everyone else there for being such an important part of my comedy life so far.

And just like it used to be whenever I performed at the old location - as soon as this show was over, I was already looking forward to the next time I’ll be there.

And this time it happens to be the most appropriate night for someone as grateful as I am to perform there:

My next show there will be on Thanksgiving.

Writing

*Good week. Busy is always good. Lots of projects, I’ve started doing some education writing that has required a lot of education reading and I’m enjoying the chance to write about something I like to write about, so it’s going well.

Comedy

*Nothing booked this week, but things are calm enough on the home front these days that I’ve been getting out most nights to see shows…I’ll probably be hanging at The Comedy Studio tonight. (That’s another thing about the new place - part of it is the bar Variety, so it’s a good spot to just hang out.) Not sure how it’ll be in the city with the Red Sox and the Patriots both playing, but I think I’d rather watch comedy. A week from tonight I’m on at Improv Boston…I’ll try to hit a mic or show in between now and then.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

*Here’s another local comedian worth supporting: Shawn Carter just released his comedy album, which I’d recommend you check out. Awesomely, it debuted at number one on the iTunes comedy chart on Friday, and stayed in the top 5 on Saturday bumped down a bit by albums from the likes of John Mulaney and Jim Gaffigan. It’s cool because Shawn is important in the local comedy scene - again, like he has for many others, he’s the first person to have brought me up on stage at an open mic. He runs the Monday mic at Sally O’Brien’s. He also has a show on Wednesdays at the Pour House in Boston, and for a while ran a show in Quincy that has given people like me a chance to perform in more than just an open mic environment. He’s a good man and more importantly in this context, very funny. Go buy his album, ‘100 Problems, Vol. 1’ - here’s the link to make it easy for you. And while you’re at it, go see him - and many other comedians - live every Monday and Wednesday.

Notes

*What? More other people’s art to promote? Matt released two new songs this week. Go check him out on Spotify. Get links to the music and all you need to know via his website. Also, hopefully you went Saturday night to see him perform in Adam Duritz’s festival.

*Boy, I am feeling generous plugging other people’s work today, I guess. If you have anything to share throw it in the comments. Why the heck not.

*I updated the Comedy Shows link at the top of the page with what I have going on the rest of the calendar year….so far. I’m working on filling that even more, so keep checking back.

*It’s October 14th, so you know what that means: The Jets are on the cusp of getting back to .500 with a weaker opponent on the schedule today…which means I’m super-excited…which means if you want to talk to a disappointed John make sure to check in at about 4:15 this afternoon.

*My cousins have been very loyal readers of the Sunday Paper. Saturday morning I heard from one of them who's now living in North Carolina - she had her first foray to Duck Donuts and loved it. And she credited the Sunday Paper for letting her know about it. We are making a positive difference in people’s lives here, doing important work.

*All right friends. Thanks for reading, thanks for supporting.