Seriously???
Tags: Saskatoon, The Stand-Up Diaries, trevor deanI’ll make this one short, sweet and to the point considering the fact I need to be up at 7:45 for work today! Wait…..it’s already 2:49 a.m. and since when am I succinct, especially when it comes to The Stand-Up Diaries? Well, there is always a first time for everything, right? Let’s try and be to the point here.
There is one thing I am proud of when it comes to me, the comedy career aside. It’s the fact that no matter what life has thrown at me in the last couple years, I have always tried to not have it change who I am.
Lots of people in comedy or life, for that matter find that when they enjoy much success or when things really go sideways on them, it changes who they are. What do I mean? It changes how they perceive things, how they view others around them and more importantly how they view themselves.
As much as I may lament on my family for not being supportive of my comedy career, they have been the ones who have helped me the most. Without their help over the last couple years, I would hate to think where I would have ended up and how much worse things could have been. Hmmmm…probably a good idea too to mention that the congregation at church were a big help also!
When you know that your life is in the gutter and you have your family there to help you, no matter how bad things get, it’s almost easy in a sense to have the courage (at least for me) to get out there and take the world head-on to get back to square one. I always had faith that things would get better and turn around, I just had no idea either when that would happen, or to what degree.
Thankfully, my parents helped me in ways most of you won’t ever be made aware of. This allowed me to at least have my head somewhat screwed on straight to tackle the problems that were ahead of me at the time.
Why am I telling you this, and more importantly how does it relate to the world famous blog? Read on……
During that difficult time in my life up til now (and probably beyond), it becomes pretty evident to people that I wear my heart on my sleeve and that I am not afraid to speak my mind and say what I feel. It’s important for me to do that, it’s always been a part of who I am and I cannot let that quality escape from me no matter what life happens to throw my way.
Writing this blog makes it a challenge sometimes when you are on such a high (not drug induced) one minute, then the next minute you find yourself down in the dumps because life kicked ya squarely in the nuts. Having this change in emotions from one week to the next at times, can make writing this blog a challenge, especially when I lose the focus of trying to be objective and fair.
Whether things are great in my life or not so great, I’ve noticed that I write with…I don’t know, I don’t want to say it’s with an ego because I don’t feel I’ve ever had one, but it’s almost with a cocky, defiant attitude at times. Sure, it would be easier for me to not write the majority of what I’ve written when I was feeling like this, but look at it this way. If I waited until I calmed down and was of a clear mind to write, I don’t think it would be as well received, as honest or as sincere as it has been. I try not to be a phony to anybody, so why start here?
A received a comment that wasn’t on this blog, about a recent post I made. I respect this person and value their opinion a great deal. They said that it appeared like I was talking smack about the other comics in the local comedy scene here in Saskatoon. That wasn’t my intent at all. I suppose I made the mischaracterization of the local comics here all being friends with one another. Once I took a step back and really analyzed this persons comments, I had to agree with their assessment. It’s more like a fraternity,of sorts. Sure, we all have stand-up comedy as the common thread that ties us all together, but to say we are all buddy/buddy may be a bit much.
This error on my part came from one of those nights when I had a defiant attitude the moment I sat down to write. The point I’m trying to make is that it’s never my intention, nor is it my nature to ever purposely offend anybody. That isn’t my style. But, when you’ve had the roller coaster life I’ve experienced in the last while, sometimes it’s not easy to keep the emotions in check when I sit down to create a blog post. It’s comments like the one I received a couple days ago that make me take a step back and remember that this is the internet, part of social media and that my blog probably reaches people (whom I know) that I was never aware would read it. I have a moment like that every few months. It’s a good reminder to keep me grounded and not let things get too out of hand. I don’t have an offensive bone in my body. I wasn’t raised that way, and it’s certainly not my style to go and pick fights with people, anyone who knows me is already aware of this!
16 months later, almost 4,000 views in 29 countries is both humbling and mind boggling at the same time to know that I have accumulated that kind of reach thus far, with just a simple comedy blog from Saskatoon. Shit…I guess this isn’t going over well with the brevity police, is it?
At the end of the day, my blog creates discussion. Whether it’s discussion I hear or not, it’s a good thing because at least it gets people talking. Although I approve the comments on this blog before they are posted, I don’t have a problem putting up comments that take a different point of view. In fact, it’s encouraged. However, don’t expect me to post a comment written from a fake e-mail address when the person doesn’t have the guts to identify themselves.
This friend of mine got a hold of me and let me know their thoughts on what I wrote. That’s a stand up friend in my books. Before you take offence to what I wrote, ask yourself how well you know me, and of its intent. Better yet, it’s great to form an opinion based on what I wrote; it’s even better to have an open enough mind to want to engage in a dialogue with me about it. If we had more people like that in this world, there would be a lot less bullshit, don’t you agree?
Read with an open heart and an open mind, contribute to the discussion and don’t base your opinion of me or my comedy from just a single blog post. To understand where I’m going, you need to know where I’ve been.
May God bless you all who come across this posting. Don’t forget to leave your comments below, or sign up to follow the blog through e-mail, or you can “like” my comedy page on Facebook that keeps you up to date on future shows, news and blog posts for me, Trevor Dean.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Trevor-Dean/179432105476290?ref=hl