You know what I can't stand, that I'm hearing a lot of lately? People answering their own questions.
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The toughest jury duty will be placed on the shoulders of the folks hearing the Michael Jackson trial that kicks off today. They will have to return a verdict of either "Guilty" or "Holy CRAP This Weirdo's Guilty!"
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Something for all comics and speakers to be conscious of when using a microphone:
Use of "uh," and "ya know." The more I perform and write the more I realize how strong communication is when it's clear and minimalized. Set-up, Punchline, Tag, NEXT. I just heard 4 guys who are professional broadcasters interview Terrell Owens of the Philiadelphia Eagles on Media Day prior to Sunday's Super Bowl. The interviewers threw in "uh" 38 times in 7 questions. Terrell Owens, who is a professional athlete, so... yeah... answered with at least 24 "ya know"s over a period of 3 minutes of speaking. Why don't those ever show up in the paper?
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Talking, Walking, BalkingThis past weekend's showdown of comedic giants went to
Drew Barth, your 8th Annual Giggles Laugh-Off Champion. I came in 3rd. Second place went to the same guy who got 2nd last year. I can't really complain. The truth is that if any of us were that consistently great, he wouldn't have gotten 2nd, nor been in the Finals at all. I went out and did the best I could with the material I love the most. Friday night's first set was a monster. My recording of it was great. My second set followed Mr. 2nd Place's "3rd Annual Ballot Tantrum," and my telling him and another comic to quit fighting, and quit comedy if they weren't going to enjoy doing it. After that I was holding back from telling the crowd about all the BS that just happened between the 2 guys they'd see after me. I chose against it. It roiled inside of me, but I went with my material instead of making fun of the guys who turned a comedy club into a high school locker room. I was hoping they would just start kicking each other in the prop bags. It was the least fun I've ever had in comedy.
If you can't laugh at yourself, especially as a comic, then others will laugh at you. Saturday night we were talking about how it's more difficult for us (comics) to accept compliments than derision. Perhaps we're masochistically inclined, and getting laughs is our way of proving wrong those who doubt us. I think it's quite funny when I hear the flap someone has said of me. I'm far from a perfect person, but sometimes it's just a matter of accepting that others will say what they like, as opposed to accepting what they're saying. It's often much easier to drop a put-down than it is to pay a compliment, for whatever reason. I wonder if the negativity of the masochism allows incoming derision to roll off, much like similar polarities. The negativity of machismo, on the other pinky-ringed hand, allows for positive things like laying down a good dis or cooking my tires at stop signs. Or perhaps it's that we don't care about who puts us down, since it's usually those we already have little to no respect for, negating the substance of their speech.
My previous blog had some comments to it that were solid, but one that I disagree with, in part, is that it is the "nature of comics" to "talk shit." I would say it's in the nature of insecure people, a group that certainly counts a number of comics in the roster. Considering it's easier for us to accept a put-down, maybe that's how we talk to each other?
I'm positive I have done it, sometimes in Blog format. I've probably hurt some feelings, too, and that's a crappy thing for me to do. If you can't say anything nice, blog it? It is my shortcoming, as opposed to my nature, to speak in such a manner. It's a decision I usually DON'T make that leads to my speaking poorly of others, as opposed to an involuntary action like the smoking and drinking. The thoughts may be there, but the conscious decision to verbalize a negative thought is one that I have the maturity, and wisdom, to decide against. I've certainly been teased and picked on enough in life to know better. Ribbing my buddies is one thing, we know we mean nothing by it and the intent is the laugh. Talking shit about strangers and non-enemies is old school, as in Jr. and High.
I'm actively trying harder to hold it back, because it's a situation of running up some Karmic debt, and I'd rather concern myself with my own act. I hope that it's an arrow that eventaully falls out of my quiver. It's not as if being critical of acts that don't hack mine or bump mine from important shows gets me anywhere or makes me look cool. I don't have to love or like everyone, and I accepted a long time ago that more than a few departments of people don't jibe with me. Instead of "picking my battles," I find it better to not engage on battlefields where there's nothing of value to be won. Not every call-out has a point. Some folks just like to hear themselves talk. Plus I'm 31, and I want to keep becoming the kind of person I would like to hang out with, as long as I quit borrowing money from myself.
Here's a shocker: The universe runs on action-reaction. Deny that, and you may as well deny that you are currently breathing or doubting your own existence. Ping. Pong. Right. Left. Setup. Silence. Save. Laughter. What I consistently do is who I am. Okay, I black out during every full moon and wake up in tattered clothes near an empty, bloody chicken coop, but I am conscious of it. Sometimes it's what I decide to NOT do, like deride a non-influential person, or win a comedy competition, or wear that shirt with those chaps, that teaches me the lesson I needed to learn. I'm not too old to learn new tricks.
Speaking of new tricks, here's a funny one. In spell-checking this entry, Blogger.com's spell-check tool returned "
blog" as an unknown word. The machines have yet to become self-aware. Thank you T2 and young John Connor... Thank you.
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