I was booked a few times to host Karaoke, or as they call it in the biz world as a KJ, Karaoke Jockey. I had a good time. I was asked to make it more than standard Karaoke where the KJ calls out what person is next. To be unique and to use my stand-up comedy skills, I opted to do crowd work in between each “musical act”. At the top of the “show”, I have each table come up with table team names, making the evening interactive. As the host, I would give my perspective on what went down during the previous performance, a la American idol Karaoke style. For example while 2 girls were singing a Katy Perry song their friend leaned his iphone camera on salt shakers to record them. There was no artistic integrity of being a cinematographer! He should be holding the camera in hand, zooming in and out getting different angles! That was lazy camera work and I let him know it! Next time his friends were up singing a Britney song he was busy at work recording and getting different angle shots! Now we’re talking! And of course my favorite, I raffle off a free drink in order to get email addresses. KJ Oy Vey that’s my name baby. I really do enjoy it, but the question is–does it affect my integrity as a comedian? I’m starting to get booked on Saturday night shows so which gig do I take? It’s case by case, but at this point, I rather take the higher paying Karaoke gig. I hope my comedy priorities are still in check.