When, Oh When Will I Be Loved (Normal)?

Tags: amateur comedians, comedy, dating, entertainment, relationships, Saskatoon, stand-up comedy, The Stand-Up Diaries, trevor dean, Trevor Dean comedian

One of the things my parents have always lamented is their wish for me to be “normal” and to do normal things that other people do.  In other words, they don’t want me to be me.  They don’t want to take the time to get to know what makes me tick, my likes, my hobbies, etc.  God bless them, but they don’t seem to care about anything I do outside of my job.  Don’t worry, it’s not like they know my blog exists and will read this.  However, they may want to know about this, and you too.

You should be sitting down.  This may come as a shock.

Trevor Dean is in a relationship.

Yes, the creepy comic has a girlfriend.  Best part is she thinks I am the cats meow.  There is NO way in the world I could possibly screw this up!  🙂

She is a bit odd, but way more responsible and grounded than I appear to be.  It begs the question, what the hell is she doing with ME?

Anyhow, this presents some new challenges to me from a comedic point of view.  When I first started comedy (before the coaching) I tried to be clever and was being teased on stage and bullied off of it, naturally making me want to distance myself from the struggles that have helped to define me in a way.

Once I got away from the comedy club and entered into a coaching relationship, I was able to gain the confidence to not only find my comedic voice but to embrace the struggles, the imperfections that shape me, helping to form the base for my act.

Most comics do bits on relationships because it’s a universal topic we all can relate to (this is the “recognition” laugh trigger).  Whether you are married, divorced, widowed, single or gay we all go through the same ups and downs.  At some point if you’ve looked at the comic and said “hey!  That is something that I did, but thank God it’s not me he is specifically talking about”, that is the recognition trigger.  It is human nature for us to laugh at others even if they are experiencing the same struggles we are.  You know what I am talking about, because you will see friends look at someone they know and point and laugh uncontrollably when the comic is talking about a situation or struggle the person is currently in.  It’s one of the oldest laugh triggers in the book and an effective one to use.

Now, I have to figure out how to make a relationship funny.  What sort of struggles can I encounter while dating somebody new?  Well, if you know me there are lots.  It’s only a matter of time til they all come out in the wash.  Although I have to admit that it is easy so far to find new material because I know of the struggles in being single.  Now that I am dating someone it is pretty easy for me to see things clearly from the other side (being taken) and appreciate the journey I was on being single.

I always said that if I ever dated a girl, that I would do material on her only if I was “attacking up” (part of the T-EA-S-E-R acronym in the anatomy of a joke).This means that when you attack up, you are attacking someone who is superior to you, meaning you will make that person look good and have you be the brunt of the joke.

However, I am still in the process of crafting new material based on this relationship.  I will want to run it by my comedy coach first to make sure it’s properly crafted while not offending her family.  Before I get grief on having a comedy coach, remember that the late-night talk show hosts like Kimmel and Letterman have writers, so why can’t I have one of the best writers in the business to help me?

I may be on an open mic in the city in the near future, not sure at this point but the jokes still need to be crafted and honed.  So I may have an opportunity to get onstage in Saskatoon for the first time in over a year.  Stay tuned for further developments.

Again, feel free to leave comments at the end of this blog posting.  The comments do not get posted right away, as I have to approve them first.  Feel free to share your thoughts or opinions on what you’ve read!

Be blessed!