From Tacos to Comics

This entry comes from Mayen Ma...

VJ grab bag. This was not only an exercise in shooting and editing but also in the process of creating a story. My initial piece was going to be on the Taco Truck in Sunnyside. I had my shot list, questions, possible montage ideas, a soundtrack… it was going to be amazing! It was going to be amazing up until 8PM on the first cold night of the season. I had been waiting for the damn truck for 45 minutes and no dice.

Feeling a bit defeated, I returned home in order to regroup. Could I do a piece on the Taco Truck not being there? No, that would only be good if there were other people to talk to on the street and in the dead of winter, I’d be lucky if a passer-by stopped. The next best thing, I thought, would be the Waltz Astoria artist fair.

The Waltz Astoria artist fair happens at Waltz (a coffee shop in Astoria), which is artist friendly, especially for locals. So once again, I gathered my equipment readied my questions and shot list, only to find that the fair wasn’t happening on the particular day I went to shoot. BALLS!

The very friendly barista suggested that I come back on Tuesday night for their comedy night. Right-comedy. It’s not that I don’t like to laugh, don’t get me wrong, I just don’t like being somewhere, in public, feeling like I have to laugh at bad jokes to make the situation less awkward. Waltz is about the size of my living room, so awkward non-laughter was a big concern for me.

Needless to say, I schlepped back to Waltz on a cold Tuesday evening after a long day at work. I started filming the chalking on the sidewalk that acts silent hawkers cajoling Astorians to go to the show. As I was filming the chalking, I spotted a very concerned guy watching my every move suspiciously before entering Waltz. He was Matt Taylor, the host of the comedy night.

After Matt and I got on the same page-he realized I wasn’t filming in order to sue him for graffiti and I realized filming at night is a bit…creepy. Matt proved to be a very humorous character and his show proved that I didn’t hate stand-up comedy.

Some may find the piece to be a bit jumbled. Perhaps it is because I didn’t plan as thoroughly as I would have liked or perhaps because iMovie is a pain in the ass. I blame iMovie.