YEAR IN REVIEW: The highs and lows of 2017
I’ve been a comedian since July 2013, which is wild to me. It’s been more than 4 years and I have learned so much about myself, the comedy world and writing.
My first two years of doing stand-up was when I just started learning how to navigate the stage and the various clubs and bars. I did contests and was focused on becoming more comfortable while performing and trying to figure out the whole lifestyle I was now part of.
>>>>BLOG: What it's like to be a female comedian
Once I hit my third year, I had a solid 10-minutes and was always coming up with new jokes, ideas and premises. I wrote so much those first two years because once you get on stage, you want to do it again and again and again. New material was essential.
I started making goals for myself at the beginning of year 3 so I could keep pushing myself. My goal in year 3 was to start going out of town for shows. Last year I traveled to Indianapolis, Lexington, Cleveland, Columbus and various teeny tiny towns I never knew existed.
This year my goal was to get my first paid weekend hosting at a club. That happened pretty quickly in February. I took initiative and just flat out asked if I could host a weekend at Wiley’s and I was told, “OF COURSE.”
Me at the festival in Lexington. I did perform, but I also met this dog.
I ended up hosting 2 weekends at Wiley’s this year, so I kicked that goal’s ass. Once I achieved that goal I didn’t make anymore goals for the year. I’m an overachiever, but that’s only because I set very easy goals in order to boost my self-esteem.
This year was actually full of other firsts in comedy that I wasn’t expecting. I actually made a nice amount of money this year telling jokes. I headlined the Wiley’s Sunday Comics open mic. I also headlined at LadyFest. I headlined at New Chapter and told jokes to 5 very nice people.
My first comedy festival was this year as well. I only submitted to one as I was accepted. For a weekend in August, I performed 3 shows in 2 days and was able to meet a bunch of amazing people. Of course I didn’t win the contest. Hell, I ended up in second to last place, but it was an amazing experience.
I started my website Dayton Can Comedy. And while it wasn’t the biggest success story, it was fun to write satire and promote events in Dayton. Unfortunately, that venture didn’t work out. I started my own comedy website called www.jessicagrauerules.com to take the place of the Dayton Can Comedy website.
>>>>ARCHIVES from the Dayton Can Comedy website
I had a small part in a movie that my friend Ranson Karr wrote. He texted me one night and said, “Would you like to play a white trash whore type girl” in my movie. Hell yeah I want to act like a whore!
I have started booking shows for January and February. This year was pretty amazing for me and I really have no idea what my goal will be for next year.
I have a few ideas:
1. Write more. I have been slacking in the new content area.
2. Apply to more festivals.
3. Keep my new website updated with weekly content.
4. Quit drinking. JK
I just look forward to more experiences and adventures, so that I can be inspired. I hope your 2018 is mediocre. Not bad, just all right.
