“All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy”
Tags: amateur comedians, Saskatoon, stand-up comedy, The Stand-Up Diaries, trevor deanWhen I first started my journey to revamp my comedy through the e-book and coaching, I found it somewhat odd that some people would let life get in the way of trying to perfect their comedic craft. After all, I don’t date much and aside from running karaoke on the weekend I had a lot of free time to put towards the comedy, since I wasn’t allowed in the club at that time.
Now though the tables have turned a bit. Life, more specifically work is starting to get in the way.
To say that my job is demanding is a bit of an understatement. How about saying that I get paid the least for doing the most, as that is a more accurate description. During the day I am pulled in several different directions, making it very difficult to get much accomplished during the day. Then when I get home my mind is usually spent from the different directions I’m pulled in, making it next to impossible to be able to switch on the comedy writing mode to perfect my act.
What’s more is the fact that there is material to be had from my job, to which others could relate, but I am unsure if it would fit the character I am trying to develop. Plus I wrote quite a bit of material on my own from reading the e-book and from the coaching but we have yet to sit down and break down the new jokes I wrote to make them fit with a structure that will allow me to succeed.
To understand the last point I made, you should know that my jokes fall into a couple different categories here. When I refer to these jokes, they are the ones that have been developed since the coaching took place.
- The material my coach writes, from listening to me discuss my struggles or from an innocent comment. His mind is always working and sometimes he will start writing in the middle of my sentence when I’ve struck upon something that is worthy of new material.
- The material my coach writes that I tweak to make it fit more of my voice.
- Material I wrote that we gut and restyle while keeping the idea (comedic point I am trying to convey) across.
- Material that I wrote which he (my coach) will tweak to make it funnier.
Lots of the new material I wrote during this time has the potential to be funny, but I don’t know if or how it can be applied to fit my comedic character I’m trying to develop. Based on my comeback set, pretty much every joke I told that night had my character involved, though because my set was 5 minutes long I had to chop a joke or two on the fly and still make everything flow.
Plus, the comedy festival is coming up in less than a month. I have to really make a statement with my material this week to be considered for more than one show. To this point I am not really an asset to the club, in the sense that I can share the stage with a major headliner and get the laughs required. Nor am I an asset to take on the road.
I’m fine with that assertion from the club because it’s been true, but that is starting to change in my opinion, now that I have taken responsibility to get myself better. It’s never nice to hear someone who is your friend telling you that you aren’t much help to the team, but at the same time it gives me hope because I have the opportunity to turn things around, providing life doesn’t get in the way. Once life gets in the way, it may dampen my enthusiasm for comedy. If that happens, I may not attack the comedy with the preparation, practice and writing time that is needed.
As of right now, life is getting in the way. It’s up to me to right the ship and make it fun again.