* JuanMapu - Vida en Nueva York

An account of my first comedy night --and I am not talking about stand up comedy, those were plays, plays!

First I have to thank Mister Bob for inviting me. The show was at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Chelsea, a place with a mix of basement, old theater chairs, burnt carpet and dirty bar where one can get itself comfortable.

There were two shows scheduled for the 9:30 p.m. set. The operators requested for cell phones off and once they turned the lights off people started cheering the comedians to warm up. After a couple of minutes of the first show, I realized I was in an underground Saturday Night Live. Facial gestures, jokes and a lot of movility, which keeps you awake. Comedy is combination of rough writing, improvisation, simplicity, kitsch, the will of laughing. Of course the plan is to laugh and it never changes.

So I laughed a lot. I got into the shows, the shows got me. I wondered about what happens when the show is bad, when nobody laughs. The stage is close and proper for any kind of attack. Will people throw things at the comedians? If a show is bad is on purpose I thought. I seriously think the shows are always good even if that night I liked Mister Bob and friends' play more than the other. Comedy is about guts. Let's see what is to say after the second comedy night.