In sports leagues the word potential can be a curse. It is often used to label players who look like they can be superstars. However, for some, it can become a curse, alluding to all that the player should have become, but didn’t.

I feel like I am hitting that wall in comedy.

Last night I auditioned for Gotham Comedy Club and didn’t get passed, but was told that I have great potential. I was told that with some fine tuning I could be ready to be on the next season of “Live at Gotham.” I think that is a fine compliment and I will obviously not pass up that opportunity, but I really just want a chance to do comedy without having to bring a slew of friends (a slew that I no longer have) every time I want to perform at a club.

After 4 years (which is not a lot of time in the comedy world, but is a lot of time for someone trying to figure out what to do with his life) I have exhausted my friends (some justifiably, some not) from coming to see me. I have tried to constantly write new material so that friends would not be bored and so I could amass more material. However, clubs are more interested in seeing a perfect 10 minute set than seeing versatility and breadth of writing. I understand that, but it can make for boring shows for your friends if you keep trying to get them to come and pay big covers and buy expensive drinks. Fortunately, beyond my mother and girlfriend and whoever they can bring, I no longer have to really worry about that.

So that said I will be just doing open mics in bars for the next several months, just trying to perfect a set for a Live at Gotham audition. I will also try to get more road work because there’s no pressure to bring people or audition for anything – you just perform and try to make the audience laugh.

I just hope 2-3 years from now I hope to have realized my potential. Or have the courage to say f–k it and do something else with my time.

In other news – photos from my trip to Denver are up on both MySpace and the blog photo section.