Daddy Issues Issues is an on-going feature in anticipation of Matt Gubser’s album taping in San Francisco on 4/18/2015. Check back here every Saturday for updates. Part 1. Part 3. Part 4.
Most of pursing joketelling as a profession is managing your expectations. Bad set at an open mic when you haven’t bombed in a while? Fine. A promoter oversells the audience size at some off brand bar in the middle of nowhere? Fine. Lose an national television audition to a fucking magician? Perfect. But not on the night you’re recording your opus, right? The album recording is supposed to negate the bad nights, offset the shit showS. It’s supposed to be your ascension, your birthday, your quinceanera, your bar/bot mitzvah, your victory lap. Right?
Matt Gubser: I was hugely disappointed with the turn-out and I think that it came through on stage. It took me a few minutes to get past that and find a good rhythm. I don’t know if the audience noticed it, but watching the footage, I felt like I looked uncomfortable on stage for the first few minutes.
Matt’s ordeal was born from noble intentions and a crushing perfect storm. Humboldt County’s and San Francisco’s respective comedy communities are consensual lovers. I don’t know which the Humboldters get from our sporadic invasions but every single Bay Area comic leaves the beautiful scenery and wonderful supporters with a ache of dismay that everyday could be filled with ample beer, appreciative audiences and Los Bagels guac and lox. If you’re invited to headline in comedy Shangri La, with the help of two production companies, and in the beautiful Arcata Theater Lounge in downtown Arcata, your album recording’s sweetness would reach a cosmic confection. Right?
Matt: Just ended up with bad timing.
Producer in-fighting, finals week in a college town and performing against Wille-fuckin-Nelson in Humboldt-fuckin-chronic-emerald-County pretty much scrapped Matt on the verge of the finish line. The jokes hit softer against the cathedral-high ceilings, the filmed reaction shots became unusable due to the lackluster circumstance and, ultimately, money was lost (which is killer for an independent creator like Matt).
There are 90 or so seats in tight-knit Doc’s Lab on 4/18, less stakes than the monstrous 200 at ATL. I don’t think there will be a figurative fisticuffs between the people promoting the show. The school kids will just be shaking off Spring Break (is SF a college town?) and Willie Nelson won’t be anywhere near San Francisco. The second go round of capturing Daddy Issues should have less (daddy) issues than the first, and its prolonged sweetness should make up for the bitterness of the first bite.