Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Being Funny

The tough part about being funny is the days and hours and minutes right before getting on stage. I'm not talking about a big important show in front of hundreds of people. I'm talking about open mic night. A large part of being funny is staying fresh. To constantly come up with fresh material. Not the least of reasons being because so much of it is unusable. I spend a lot of time thinking, waiting, writing and hoping that lightning strikes and I've got a pen handy. When that doesn't happen and my open mic night is upon me, I've got to push myself hard to come up with something new before I perform. Preferably something signature that can be blown out into a whole bit with tangents and everything. But sometimes it's a small joke, or a resurrected joke that failed before but still seems usable. Which reminds me of a bit that I can use for tonight's open mic session. I better go write it before I forget it. That's the only way to keep moving forward as a comedian.