I think about this time, what we are all going through with the pandemic. What we all have missed out in this, what should have been in 2020. For me what has been taken is live standup comedy in its traditional sense. Live standup is something I must let go of. I cannot do it right now and I have accepted that. So what am I to do with this time?

Comedy has become a metaphor for my life. What I seek in comedy is what I seek in life. Purpose and meaning. True deep understanding of who I am. What would happen if I broke all my comedy rules? I have gotten to this point by following them, what point would I get to by doing the opposite?

I have seen all my goals as distant things so it's also important to realize when I have arrived. To appreciate what I am doing now, not just always be looking forward miles ahead. Or move on to the next before I have fully appreciated the current place.

It didn’t happen all at once for me. It was a tipping point. It was the culmination of several different things. The main ones being: running a successful open mic for a year, starting another weekly showcase, and writing group. I had made these goals before and it took me about 2 years to fully realize all of them but it was worth it.

All my missed opportunities have led me to actions I know are right for me. My weekly showcase was a glimmer of an idea, it didn’t really become a reality until I was knocked out in the first round of a local comedy contest. Nothing lights a fire under me like a loss. I don’t like losing, I don’t like being the worst one in the room. A loss will always ignite me more than a win.

I have experienced stage fright the entire time I have been doing standup. I will be honest, to this day I still get nervous most days before a set regardless of how many people are in the audience.

The hardest part of standup comedy can be staying on the path when it’s not working. I keep doing it because I love it and I do it to feel alive.

I think that to do anything one must first have a strong why. In order to keep at it in the capacity required to get really good I need a rock solid why. If we have a strong reason then we can endure much more pain and failure.

Surprise is something often forgotten about or overlooked in comedy. I love to build a good surprise. When a joke is not working I will ask myself, “is there a surprise?”

This is my process for taking jokes from good to great. I work them through this from beginning to end. Asking all the questions a little bit at a time until it's a fully formed chunk. This is my polishing process broken down into questions.

This blog is the fulfillment of a goal of becoming a better writer. The best way for me to become a better writer is to write more. I am very passionate about standup comedy and learning everything I can about it. This is the one topic I know I can talk endlessly about so I am excited to release a new article every Tuesday in 2020. To start I will be writing about things that I am learning by doing comedy and will evolve and grow as I do.