Invited to stand-up comedian show with bosses - need advice!

Well, sakhi, I agree with everyone else here. I don't think I'd enjoy going to a show like this with a boss, and it's an unprofessional choice on the bosses part.

But if you go, just keep your sense of humor.

I went to a comedy club a couple of years ago, and one particular comedian really cracked me up. That resulted in me getting singled out! He turned to me and said, "you look pretty lively," and proceeded to engage in some banter with me.

Then there was this exchange:

Comedian: If a man says your hair looks nice, is that sexual harassment?

Me: No....

Comedian: What if he's a midget?

Laughter from the audience. Actually that made me laugh too!

So just enjoy the ride as much as you can, keep your sense of humor and you'll be fine. I agree with the others here that the more uptight you look, the more of a target you'll be. Hang in there sakhi!

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Re: Invited to stand-up comedian show with bosses - need adv

sakhi wrote:

I work for an American software company in India. I've recently been promoted as team lead . A few people from the US office (senior directors, managers) are here on a visit. I (along with other managers and leads) have been invited to attend a meeting, followed by a stand-up comedian's show (includes cocktal and dinner). Now, a meeting followed by cocktails and dinner is great but I'm not sure what this stand-comedian;s show will be like. I've never been to one before. The comedian's name is Phil Nicol.

What do you all think? I love laughing (at myself too) but I'm fairly shy among strangers and acquaintances. Someone told me that this particular comedian's show is full of sexual innuendo targeted at the audience. Should I go? If I do what do you suggest I wear? Helpppp!!

This is not an invitation.

This is a command performance. It may be part of a social thing, or it may be part of an evaluation of your ability to go-with-the-flow of an American company.

Bottom line - you go. It's a corporate thing lots of people put up with.

~~~~~

Bias alert - I've always loved Corky and the Juice Pigs and would love to go to a performance by any of its members. I've just googled Phil Nichols, and it appears there are at least two of them out there on the comedy circuit. Not sure which one you're getting.

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Eh, be yourself.

I have the distinction of seeing Whoopi Goldberg and Sam Kinnison rather early in their marches to comedy fame, and sat in the second row for the show.

I remember fearing that Whoopi might pick on me. She was small and acted tough (I thought) then. I thought Kinnison was a loud obnoxious boor, which I gather is part of the act.

That was a long time ago. At the same time I was semi-afraid to be in the second row for those two, I adored, and still do, Richard Pryor.

You are who you are, Sahki. Go ahead and be shy if you feel that way at the time.
Personally, with americans, I'd just say what I think, if they asked, even if it is disapproving.
Americans vary in opinions.

That may be in part because I am older now and quite tired of not expressing myself for a number of years of my life. But you don't have to express your full opinion as I might either.

Being falsely jolly seems false. You are an interesting and valuable woman. You may enjoy some of the show, or may hate it. Trust yourself.

If you feel that expressing a negative opinion would be a problem re your work environment, just say something like "it is not my kind of humor".

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Quote:

I have the distinction of seeing Whoopi Goldberg and Sam Kinnison rather early in their marches to comedy fame, and sat in the second row for the show.

Osso, you might disagree with me on this. But I think you're lucky. I would've loved to have seen Sam Kinnison! Razz

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Well, that was my opinion then..

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Kinison was hilarious. I'd have loved to have seen him. I don't think he or Whoopi had a habit of sexually aggressive, personal attacks on the audience, though.

Good luck with whatever you decide, sakhi.

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Thanks everybody Smile

...I knew i could depend on you guys.

As for my bosses - they are all ok and i'm comfortable with most of them. But I havent spoken about this becoz it seems tooo small a matter to bring up...As for the Americans, I know them fairly well (thru the phone and e-mail) but I'm meeting them for the first time.

Yeah you are all right...i cant back off. I wont lose my job or anything else if I dont but i'll probably be seen as unsportive or conservative (you're right there dag..). I'll take your advice, Noddy, i'll carry on as though Nichol is a fascinating cultural phenomenon and all...yes, i think i can pull that off...

LOL...Heeven, i wish i had your presence of mind !! Very Happy

.. but then i usually just go DUMB on such occassions....
Thanks kicky, i really wish you could go instead of me...the only western comedy i have ever gone to was a play - some 99 minutes of shakespeare by a troupe of 3 men. (It wasnt standup comedy but they did get the audience involved)...but then i enoyed their show. Guess this one's very different...

The show's tomorrow - so all your posts came in time for it Smile

... I'll let you know on monday how the show went...and how i survived it..

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Sakhi--

Hold your dominion. (But do not mace the Stand Up Comic).

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sakhi--

Lovely avatar. You are brave, dear. Tell us all about it!!

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Corky and the Juice Pigs!! I can't wait to hear about it.

Good luck.

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hello everyone.....

i survived it!!! the show was ok - i didnt get most of the jokes. I'm not complaining - i just wanted to sit through it...no, it wasnt for 50 minutes, it was for 30 minutes. He screamed a lot and some of it was fairly funny..he sang a song about a madras lover boy (after finding out that one of the audience was from madras)..etc. He has some political (american, i guess), which im afraid i didnt understand. No sex targeted at the audience but he said something about surfing the net for porn at office (that CEOs did it)..again i either didnt catch the joke or i didnt understand it.

I sat in a relatively invisible table with a sardar(sikh, wears turban) friend of mine and an italian american colleague who was more interested in indian food than in the show. The guy did make a lot of fun of the sardar colleague of mine. He did refer to me but I didnt understand what he said, i'm afraid. Then he stopped (maybe my blank look put him off Smile

..)...and did not pick on me after that.

All this anticipation made me very nervy during my own presentation though..but i managed to hang in there..phew!!

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Isn't it wonderful how our experiences so often are less terrible than our imaginations made them out to be. Look carefully at the experience and compare it to your anxiety about it. Some of the things you feared probably actually did occur. The comedian was loud, rude, and probably did offend to some extent. He was also amusing at times, and never went so far as to turn the audience against him. Most of his "humor" passed right over your sensibilities without hurt. Your were in the company of people who you felt secure with, and whose feelings were just as vulnerable as your own. It was a new experience, and those always cause some anxiety, but we survive and grow in the process.

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Ah, you survived!

Glad to hear it wasn't so bad.

Good luck in your new position!

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Good to know that, sakhi.

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Excellent. I had a good ole laugh at the idea that he was saying something to/about you and you looked blankly at him - fantastic! Nothing like unresponsiveness to scare the crap out of a comic! You handled it far better than I could have imagined. Well done.

It is true that people tend to worry FAR FAR more than a situation requires and the relief when it is never as bad as we thought it would be makes us vow not to get as stressed out again, but we can't help it ... at least I can't. I will fret and worry about almost any stressful situation before it happens no matter what my common sense tells me.

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Heeven wrote:

Excellent. I had a good ole laugh at the idea that he was saying something to/about you and you looked blankly at him - fantastic! Nothing like unresponsiveness to scare the crap out of a comic!

yeah, pretty funny...That reminds me of one time when I was doing a screening interview on this young man, he was maybe 23/24.

I don't know even know why he put in an application in. He listed his career goal as being a stand up comic. Well, ok, I must have been bored, so I gave him some leeway.

He kept trying to do a comedy routine with me regarding the interviewing questions. I kept giving him that look, that as Heeven knows, makes children cry.

Finally he got frustrated and said something like "hey I'm trying to be funny here and you're not laughing!"

I said "Well keep trying. I'll laugh when you actually say something funny."

No way would he have made a good casket salesman. I passed.

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Great, sakhi!

It makes sense to me that he'd tone things down a bit for a corporate function -- what people most want is to be invited back and make more $$, so they can't make people TOO mad.

Good for you for going and handling it so well. (I love the blank look, too. :-) )

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Sakhi--

Blank look? Perfect.

Now, for your next step up the corporate ladder.....you won't have as much to worry about.

Hold your dominion.

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LOL!!! Who'd have thought of the blank expression! Good for you!

Wonder what he said about you? Did anyone tell you? Poor friend, though. Ah well. Everyone survived. Smile

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Very true, Asherman. My imagination gave me more worry than the actual incident...

Heeven wrote:

Excellent. I had a good ole laugh at the idea that he was saying something to/about you and you looked blankly at him - fantastic! Nothing like unresponsiveness to scare the crap out of a comic! You handled it far better than I could have imagined. Well done.

My blank look worked well for me, i guess. I didnt do it on purpose to ward him off and it wasn't a dignified deadpan look like Chai's with her interviewee...my mind was quite blank since most of his jokes escaped me. And in such situations that's how i usually look - blank, lost, and dumb...the look comes quite naturally to me Wink

...

No Lash, i didnt ask what he said about me. Just in case it;s something funny and embarassing about me, i dont want to remind other people of that joke!!

Noddy24 wrote:

Now, for your next step up the corporate ladder.....you won't have as much to worry about.

LOL, thank you.

sozobe wrote:

It makes sense to me that he'd tone things down a bit for a corporate function -- what people most want is to be invited back and make more $$, so they can't make people TOO mad.

Yes, it was just our crowd - this show wasnt open to the public. But the next day he was having a show open to the public wonder how it went - but nobody i knew went for it.

Thanks, Chai, jespah for the wishes. (((hugs))) to all of you..

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Invited to stand-up comedian show with bosses - need advice!

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