“Who’s there?”
“Who cares?”
“I do, especially if I’m going to let you in.”
“I’m your past baggage and future allure that you can do what you want with.”
“So I can distort, exaggerate, and flat-out lie in my comedic journey.”
“Yes, you can, and in the words of a friend, nothing matters. I’ll check in next December, and I hope to see progress. Don’t open the door, but remember my voice. You need to create your self-centered ego. Your foggy, addled brain craves it. Bye for now.”
If selling your soul for progress were that easy, but it’s not, and 9.9 out of 10, the chances are I won’t become famous from comedy or my other creative pursuits.
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At the Beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, for a month, I signed up for online therapy. I’ve seen psychiatrists since I was 17, but never bothered with treatment. In the first session, I told the therapist I lost my sense of humor. I used to make people laugh, but I no longer have that skill. The therapist didn’t comment much on that point, and I’m not sure why I felt that way, but I did.
In times of stress and uncertainty, maybe people feel less inclined to hear jokes or to make people laugh. Growing up, I was a class clown, and I got attention that way. Even as an adult, I do not try to control group conversations but will blurt out something funny at specific points. I may not be that good of a listener, but saying something funny sticks in people’s minds more than a monologue or someone dominating a conversation.
Growing up, I watched a lot of slapstick comedies like Airplane, The Naked Gun series, Eddie Murphy movies, and other hits from the 80s that are now considered tasteless or offensive. They can’t repeat that type of comedy now because society has changed, and it’s good to try to be inclusive to everyone. I don’t see why comedy can’t do that. A lot of the offensive comedy was mean-spirited. A comedian would pick on someone who looked funny in the audience and make fun of them. It doesn’t have to be that way.
I once stood up, and it was for five minutes. There were only three tables of people, including my friends. I did poop jokes, and I got applause. It was self-appreciating humor, and I didn’t have to make fun of anyone else. It was filmed but lost at this point. If I were to stand up in person, I would somehow try to make it edgy or dirty, but without making fun of people who are different from me. Also, in one of Seinfeld’s ‘Driving in Cars With Comedians’ episodes, he stated that comedy doesn’t have to be entirely true in a stand-up routine; it’s not a time for confession or memoir sharing. The goal is to be funny. I would also like to try stand-up again in the near future.
In the meantime, for reasons of stupidity, I signed up to be a Facebook creator. I need to get a ridiculous number of views, actually, to earn money from it, but it has motivated me to post a lot of reels. On Wednesdays, I’ll do a comedy reel. These are for 90 seconds, so you need to be quick. I will make these clean. I don’t want to stick my neck out too much.
