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| Rory Scovel at SubCulture Theater in New York |
At some point when I was a kid stand up comedians started to supplant ball players and musicians as my heroes. I would listen to stand up records and tapes and CDs over and over again. It took me a shockingly long time to realize that their acts were written and rehearsed and endlessly refined. It was a disappointing discovery. I always thought they just got on stage and were funny.
On Monday I got to see Rory Scovel work through his material in preparation for the taping of his upcoming hour-long stand-up special. Having seen him just a few months before, I was surprised at how much was new and how much had changed and how wildly different the presentation was. Scovel's stream-of-consciousness style reminded me of that feeling of awe I had as a kid. Even in these late stages of preparation he was improvising, creating, and taking enormous risks in his material.
Anyway I think he's awesome and hilarious and bound for greatness. Here's a clip. You can google more.