This year was a crap ton of festivals and traveling. I originally wanted to perform comedy in a different state each month. And I actually got close:
January: San Franciso
February: Seattle
March: Austin
April: Maine
May: Vermont
June/July: NYC
August: Pittsburgh/Asheville
September: Boise
October: Des Moines
November: Austin (again)
December: :(
However, as I pursued this I quickly realized that 1) this is a very quick way to loose money/vacation days if you're just doing showcase shows and 2) I miss sleeping in my bed more than I thought. I did some college gigs to help offset 1) but an hour that works for 20-30 year olds is very different than an hour that works for colleges kids. And frankly after doing my hour in 2017, it's a muscle you have to build back up if you don't get chances to do a lot of longer sets.
For 2019, I want to focus on creating my own opportunities. This year I've felt a lot of frustration chasing after things that require going through gatekeepers/bookers/are not completely in my control. Whether it's festivals, bigger shows in Boston, etc. Stuff like this drove me crazy when I first started standup, but as I’ve built up my confidence it’s been easier to know that it’s not always about a lack of talent and the best I can do is stay fresh and focus on the work. I thought back to Ananse Productions days where I was happiest learning a lot by making own space.
Laughing Liberally Boston is really starting to take off and build a great consistent audience at our new location. I can't mention it without my awesome co-host/co-producer Srilatha Rajamani who still comes back from NYC co-run the show. She's actually tried to push us to do bigger and better things with it and I need to not be afraid on actually following through with that stuff.
I also want to truly return to screenwriting. I signed up for some UCLA extension classes in the New Year and I have a short film idea I've been kicking around and I want actually get it shot/edited/released by the end of 2019. The introvert in me has real problems taking on projects that I can't completely handle myself (a perfect venn diagram of standup and screenwriter) but I have to get over that.
Hoping everyone has some great goals in place for 2019!
Kwasi