A Stand-Up Kind of Gal

Sometimes I only get the chance to blog once a week. And since I can't always get up the motivation to think of a topic, it's nice to have other friends to blog with so we can take turns. I enjoy being challenged to write about stuff that might not normally come to mind and also reading everyone else's thoughts on the same topic. Blog Project 3.0 has been going on for about a year now, even though one of the group members changed after a few months. I love blogging with this group and I hope we can continue to inspire each other.

This week I chose the topic: Tell us about a time when you were fearless.

First, read what everyone else had to share on this topic:
Darwin Shrugged
Froggie
Moma Rock

"When I was little I thought I would be a big comedian on late night TV." Nah...I'm just quoting Avenue Q again. Really, though, I love seeing stand-up comedians perform. I am all about humor and laughter and if someone can have me doubled over with tears in my eyes, I know they've got it made. When Last Comic Standing first premiered, I was totally into that show. I liked the fact that people actually had to do more than just sing or dance to win. Stand-up comedy has so many facets...writing, delivery, ability to make people laugh, etc. It's a very intense art form. How do I know this? Well, I tried my hand at stand-up comedy once.

There was this restaurant in the Chicago suburbs that was similar to Portillo's or Dengeo's in terms of the food they served and how you had to get it up at the counter. However, they had live bands performing upstairs, and on certain weeknights, they had a comedy club downstairs. At this comedy club, there was an amateur night every week. I first learned about it from a friend who had performed there a few times and invited us to see him in action. Then I decided to give it a go. I took improv comedy classes over the span of a year and wasn't so afraid of being on stage and trying to make people laugh. However, I wasn't about to "wing it" when it came to doing a stand-up routine. There's really a lot that goes into making it just right. I can't even remember most of my routine, but I definitely had fun writing it. I even ran it by the friend who had experience at these amateur nights and he helped me fine tune it a bit. That was definitely helpful. Then I rehearsed it until I had it memorized and wasn't tripping over my words. I do remember starting off by singing "Dancing Queen" and then saying that I thought I was at the live band karaoke that the restaurant had going on upstairs. I think I also talked about how Y2K was a total let-down and about my upcoming 10-year high school reunion (shows how long ago this was). Everything else is a blur to me. Apparently, people thought it was funny. My BFF even brought it up when she visited, and even though she's probably biased, it was nice to hear that I was able to make people laugh.

These days, I am not into public speaking all that much, but I like to put humor into my writing and I still like to make people laugh, even on an individual basis. I'd rather be told I'm funny than that I'm attractive. I recently took a quiz to see which female comedian I am and the result was Tina Fey:
Creative, reserved, and highly intelligent, you are most like the darling of the entertainment writing world, Tina Fey! Others see you as shy and a bit naive, and you may be at times - but at your core are a deeply intuitive and wise individual. Others seek comfort in your advice and company, and you're just glad to have the companionship. You give a lot to everyone and are ok with little in return.

Even that description says I put my humor into my writing. Validation! It's definitely an honor to be compared to Tina Fey. I respect and admire her comedic talent. I also wouldn't mind having comedic writing talent on the level of Mindy Kaling, but one can only dream.

So maybe I won't jump out of a plane or go deep sea diving, but writing a comedy act and performing it in front of a mix of friends and strangers is the most fearless I have ever been.

Side note: Since stand-up comedy is a hard field through which one can become famous, I wanted to give a shout-out to a comedian I saw a couple of times in 2012...Brian Parise. He was just hilarious and had great material and delivery. If he's ever performing in your neck of the woods, you should definitely go see him!