Aside from rushing into a burning building or apprehending a dangerous criminal, the hardest thing to do is stand-up in front of complete strangers and make them laugh. Sure, everyone has a funny guy in the office or knows the girl with the funny Facebook posts, but it takes a rare breed of funny to win over a crowd of unknowns. This week, Warren Holstein, a New York comic, graciously let me tag along to a few clubs throughout the city (a midtown club then uptown for The Comic Strip and Stand Up NY) and introduce me to this world.

When a comic walks into a club, he or she often heads straight to the bar area upfront, where walls are adorned with photos of comedy greats who once treaded this same path. At the bar, the comic mixes it up with friends and colleagues. Like any workplace, networking is important. Fellow comedians compare notes on the crowd itself (skewing young/old? Drunk/uptight?); career opportunities (one guy is now touring with Tracy Morgan, another is warming up the crowd at The Colbert Report, someone else just made their first appearance on Letterman); or life in general (one guy’s wife is eight months pregnant, another is moving out of standup and focusing more on writing). Overall, for such a competitive career, the environment is largely positive and supportive.

When the comic finally takes the stage, though, he is on an island. Once behind the mic, the objective is control. The best comics are able to push and pull the audience any direction they want as long as they bring them back in at the end. The big variable is the crowd itself.

The midtown crowd seemed a little bottled-up. Holstein needed to poke at them a little. With each jab the nervous 23-year old couple in the first row took, the other audience members loosened-up. Taking them out of their comfort zone seemed to lighten things up. After the comic was done working on the young lovebirds, he transitioned to a routine on relationships. From there, he could move in and out of the rest of the topics of his act.

Stop number two was uptown at The Comic Strip. The Strip was hopping by the time he arrived. The crowd was already decently primed (i.e. drunk) and a little boisterous. As soon as Holstein took the stage, it was clear a woman in the middle of the room was doing her best to let the room know she had insecurity issues and might as well have been wearing a sandwich board that said “NOTICE ME!” Every mention of women or any comment she agreed with was met with a “wooo” or “that’s right!” In this situation, the woman was avoided rather than challenged. After it was clear she wasn’t getting her turn at bat, the confused train wreck settled down and let him do his act. The rest of the set, Warren was able entertain the crowd weaving through topics about relationships, the mighty New York City earthquake, and the fattening of America.

The final set was performed at Stand Up NY. The crowd featured an eclectic mix of young, old, singles, and couples. The late night crowd was much more relaxed. Despite tackling some of the same topics for the third time in one night, Holstein was able tweak things slightly and even add some new wrinkles into the act.

After the shows, comics that are still hanging around will discuss their sets and compare notes like athletes recapping a big game. Others just want a stiff drink to unwind. Surprisingly, none of them seem all that fired-up after a great set. It’s mostly back to normal while most people would be bouncing off the walls. From there, they say goodbye and get ready to start all over again the next night.

I left the club feeling a huge respect for comedians. Write, hustle, network, and perform. And make sure to be funny no matter who is watching. (Photos: Ed Daly/ANIMALNewYork)

Comedian Daveo Mathias aka Cancer Merchant raps with this suffocating sarcasm… but, hey, not bad. Not bad. Glad he’s giving DL some kudos. Clever stuff. Here’s a sample line:

“Yo the Empire ain’t Inland, we outsourced it elsewhere / But you’ll never fucking see it like universal health care.”

Thoughts? Scoffs? Claps?

Comedian Mark Malkoff—the same guy who lived at IKEA for a week—designed an experiment to prove how “nice” New Yorkers are by getting physically carried by strangers from the “southern most end of Manhattan as far north possible” according to the video’s description. Press play to see how far he made with the help of fellow city residents, tourists, and Twitter!

Brad Carter of Phonelosers.com wisely spent his time on what is ceremoniously billed as the busiest shopping day of the year: “I spent my Black Friday hanging out at Wal-Mart, picking up phones in the store to talk to customers calling in. I managed to get a lot of them to yell at me for poor customer service.” It’s too bad he didn’t manage to harass the shit out of these unapologetic Wal-Mart worker stomping consumers, they totally deserve it. |Pranks|

Even more important than its profound gay rights supporting message, “Prop 8 – The Musical,” starring Jack Black as Jesus—supported by a star studded crew of comedians—offers a poignant statement about the obscene theological hypocrisy practiced by many so-called Christians who conveniently “pick and choose” certain parts of the bible, not to mention the misguided politicians who often that little division between church and state.

Poor Kermit. Dude just can’t seem to catch a break. The love of his life is a pig and he still can’t get any, Terry Richardson publicly molested him for Supreme, and now even the city is turning its back on him. The world’s most famous out of work amphibian lip syncs the blues in this new video by Simon Owens set to LCD Soundsystem’s “New York, I Love You.” |Simon Owens via Videogum|

If they’re trying to be humorous than this video is hilarious. But, if it’s a serious submission for something and these are actual rappers: scary! “Caviar, blintzes this is how we party.”

Before Will Ferrell made strings of shitty movies he was a comedian and a frequent fixture on Saturday Night Live. Last night, that funnyman reprised his role as President Bush and made an appearance along with Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin on the special Thursday edition of the show. He offered the Alaskan cleric some strategy advice and gave his full and wholehearted endorsement of John McCain—repeatedly.

Watch as the scrappy senator from Delaware with Scranton roots, reminds John McCain what a little bitch he is for using his little bitch to attack Obama, although at this point, the presidential candidate is used to brushing dirt off his shoulder.

This clip, from the old school 1960s Batman TV series, featuring the Caped Crusader battling the Penguin provides excellent context for tonight’s debate. Doesn’t the conniving supervillain eerily encapsulate John McCain and his campaign strategy in general? |BuzzFeed|