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Anyone
can start doing stand up comedy. It could be part
of a dare, an open mic night, being inspired by
another comedian or enrolling themselves into a
comedy school. Comedy School? Yes, this is where
even after you learn the fundamentals of this unique
art form. It's just a blueprint for you to follow,
but you must keep on learning.
Many
people are terrified to speak before a live audience,
but after you get over the initial fear, you "open
yourself up, get real and, start taking comedy seriously
and there's no telling how far you'll go so don't
be afraid to show people what you've got inside,
that's where the best stuff is, the stuff that's
buried way deep down". That's some advice Redd
Foxx gave to Bernie Mac in Las Vegas, Nevada. It
stuck with him and he kept on going for it and succeeded.
"This
ain't easy!" Yet, I promised myself I'd never
give up and one of my many golden rules aside from
Redd's advice to Bernie comes directly from Richard
Pryor who remarked, "Comedy has no rules."
There
are so many ways you can go with comedy, so you
have to pin point on what you're persona is going
to be before performing to crowds. Lenny Bruce once
stated that a live studio audience is like "A
snake without a head." I believe that with
the mic in your hand that you're the snake's head,
you're the verbal viper spitting out that venom
to make the crowd moved by your words. So, when
I perform on stage, you'll never know what I am
going to do, but it's gonna be something fun!
It's
crazy, sometimes if you're a mean comic and get
booked at a place where everyone is light hearted,
you may modify your set. Or if you're a foul mouth
comic and you are booked at a Church, what do you
do? I dealt with that once and
it helped mold me to be prepared for anything. Simple
- you modify your set. Once, I was going to do a
raunchy set on losing my virginity at a college,
and to my shock there were little children in the
audience, so I changed sets - it was lucky that
I had option and could improvise.
After
years in comedy, I have found that in any environment,
be it with my own people or a melting pot of people,
one simple thing I do as a performer is have fun
performing. I asked Monteria Ivey, a comedian of
"Uptown Comedy Club" fame, a 1992 show
that I believe helped spawn "Def Jam Comedy",
for advice about stand up comedy and he said to
me: "If you're gonna do it, do it because you
love it not for the money, the money will come,
do it because you love it." I have kept those
words close to my heart and soul.
Monty
created "Snaps" The Ultimate Yo' Momma
Battle book and series from 1995. Sound familiar?
That's who MTV got their idea from. Monty also worked
with Chris Rock, Flex Alexander, Macio, Jim Breur,
Tracy Morgan, and Talent. I really appreciated the
time he took to talk to me while he was working
on a television show called "Brain Teasers."
He, as well as a lot of other comedians I have met
at some comedy clubs in and out of New York like
Dave Chappelle, Drew Frasier, Wil Sylvince, Reggie
McFadden, Sheryl Underwood, Mo'Nique, Hamburger,
Sommore & Rasheed Thurmond, have had a tremendous
effect on me.
Some
days in comedy, you wonder to yourself why the hell
am I doing this? The answer's crystal clear after
each experience "When you're special, you're
supposed to use your difference to help people."
That's what singers, rappers, poets, actors do -
so we as comedians are here to help people feel
better and forget about their problems for little
while and soften the hard blow that life gives us.
I
have been bold enough to step on stage of "The
Apollo Theater" and had the honor of working
with The King of Pop's father Joe Jackson's Hip
Hop Boot Camp as the pre-show host and announcer
in 2006. Each experience is both about courage and
risk. What I do know is that you will never know
what can happen once you decide to take a journey
of life but if you have an idea, aim high at the
prize and go for it. This business pays well once
get the right connection, and are directed towards
the right corporations, colleges, music videos,
fashion shows, radio, television, cruises and movies
to perform. READ
MORE.
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COLUMNS
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Patricia
Spear Jones is an award winning poet, playwright
and arts writer who lives in Bedford Stuyvesant.
Her latest poetry collection is Femme du Monde
from Tia Chucha Press. She can be reached
at cosmo@
calabarmag.com
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| The
Boat is Leaking |
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by
Patricia Spear Jones, poet
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Atim
asked me to write about being unemployed
and my job search. Well. It's hard.
It's boring. It's, as of this writing,
ineffective. It's not for sissies.
Unemployment
is something I've gone through a few
times before, but nothing like this.
People keep talking about a PLAN B as
if somehow all those chocolate cookies
you wanted to bake while you're were
working in a law firm will provide sufficient
income to pay your bills and keep various
beasts from your door.
In
past recessions, you may have found
customers and even got venture capital
to READ
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Heloise
Oton is a Brooklynite and co-owner of Calabar
Imports which publishes Calabar Magazine.
This excerpt is part of her upcoming memoir
about her life in Nigeria. She can be reached
at heloise@calabarmag.com
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| Lagos
Revisted |
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by
Heloise Oton, writer
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Lagos
life for me was fun and full of activity.
In the evenings, we would go out clubbing
with friends. The music of this time
was High Life, Juju music and lots of
Yoruba music as Lagos was a Yoruba town.
Although it was the 60's, at that time,
Lagos was the capital of Nigeria
with lots of different ethnic groups
and international people. In its heart
and soul, and at the heart of the town,
it was Yoruba city.
And
like most of the country in those days,
and until today, Nigerians are really
friendly people and like to enjoy themselves.
Lagos in 1962 was peaceful, not crowded
as it is today. The money was still
the British pound and shilling. Shortly,
the pound gave way to the Naira, the
Nigerian currency. READ
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Wendy
Taylor is Calabar magazine’s food editor.
Originally from England, she came to New York
to enroll in the Food Studies master's program
at NYU. She is a graduate of the California
Culinary Academy and lives in Prospect Heights.
She can be reached at food@calabarmag.com
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| Southeast
Asian Food |
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by
Wendy Taylor, food editor
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Maybe
it's the plethora of culinary shows
on TV or the availability of well-researched
authentic cookbooks, but whatever the
reason once hard-to-find exotic ingredients
from Southeast Asia have become standard
pantry staples in many home kitchens.
The
region's food, is popular because quite
simply it's delicious and isn't difficult
to make once you become familiar with
techniques and ingredients.
I
recently ran low on supplies and decided
to visit Brooklyn's Chinatown to stock
up. I took the N train to 8th Avenue
and in about two minutes I arrived at
the Hong Kong Supermarket at number
8023, and realized that was as far as
I needed to go because everything was
under one roof. READ
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Atim
Annette Oton is the editor/publisher of Calabar
Magazine. A South Slope resident, she is a
co-owner of Calabar Imports, a retail shop
in Prospect Heights and a business coach/
consultant to creative design businesses.
She can be reached at editor@calabarmag.com
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| The
African Brand will rise |
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by
Atim Annette Oton, editor
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I
was hoping not to write another article
or join the fray to discuss brands but
time has evolved and a few key issues
unveiled in Nigeria that made reassess.
Two publications are beginning to re-examine
the African brand - more precisely-
the Nigerian brand.
ARISE
magazine is one - an innovative new
look at the intellectual Nigeria, through
some of its best across the world, and
more substantive than most have been.
The
other Timeout has a smart glossy
on the places to be in Nigeria. Can
I say it loud and clear? THANK HEAVEN
... for small mercies.READ
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According
to Parsons Fashion design student, liz kife
is the concept of bridging the gap between culture
and design. She believes that “we are all driven
by people, places, and life experiences that continue
to move and shake us at the core”. Liz Kife serves
as her alter ego. Liz is her middle name. Kife
is "Efik" spelled backwards, the African
tribe of the Ibibio peoples who migrated through the
Cross Rivers and Cameroon in the 1600s to settle in
Nigeria. They are believed to be descendants of the
African Jews of ancient Eygpt. READ
MORE. |
 Americans
today are looking at their homes as a place of refuge
in a stressful world of challenges and economic
instability. Instead of going out to dinner or social
events, they're cocooning with their families. More
than ever, Americans are looking for their homes
to be restful and soothing, yet stylish at the same
time.
Interior
designers and industry experts across the country
have noted this trend as outlined in the top 10
home decor trends for 2009:
1.
Color Your World
Colors
will literally be across the spectrum next year.
On their web site, the Pantone Color Institute forecasts
lively colors and sophisticated, grounded hues with
Fuchsia Red, Salmon Rose, Palace Blue, Lavender,
Rose Dust and Vibrant Green predicted to be popular.
READ MORE.
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Change
is a good thing and planning it well is critical.
At the end of the summer, Calabar Imports
embarked on a small project - a renovation of its
space and expansion within its walls to add on a
second level. The challenge - doing it in less than
7 days with a small crew. And in August, the store
closed.
