Frankenstein

trying to be funny from the safety of your own blog is one thing.

trying to be funny on stage in front of strangers is quite another.

see, i have been absolutely, completely, utterly fascinated by stand-up comedy my whole life -- from the first time i saw (and memorized) Bill Cosby Himself when i was like, 9 years old -- yet have been absolutely, completely, utterly terrified to try it.

but.

well, sometimes i guess it takes the right kind of push (or the right kind of pusher) to convince you to do something you've always wanted to but didn't know how, or were too scared to attempt, or were so sure you'd fail at that you just never did.

"so why aren't you doing this?" Ish asked me, just hours in to our meeting.

"me? gah! no!" i said. "i mean, i'd LOVE to do stand-up, but i couldn't possibly..." and then i proceded to give him every reason why i'd never be able to do it. which he soundly refuted.

and so over the last two months, he's been amazingly encouraging. he's talked to me about my (potential) material. he's introduced me to the local circuit and its many aspiring comedians. and he convinced me to sign up for an Intro To Stand-Up Comedy class.

which i started last night.

so really, who knows where this will go. (uh, if anywhere.) for one thing, it'll be months yet before i venture to actually like, get up on stage. for another, i have no idea what i'm doing and am still completely terrified of completely sucking. but i do want to be brave. i do want to try. i do want to just...see.

"i have a feeling," Ish said to me over the weekend (after i'd spent 15 minutes reeling off "ideas" i was working on for material asking, roughly 952 times, is this funny?), "that i may be creating a monster."

"what? why? what do you mean?" i asked, pretending i didn't know.

"i'm pretty sure once we finally get you up on stage and hand you a mic," he said, "you won't be giving it back."

and he smiled.

of course, i have no idea what he's talking about.

Comments

  1. Phew! For a second there I thought you were turning into the cat lady. Good luck on your new adventure. Remember: if YOU think it's funny it IS funny. Incidentally, if you're concerned about performing in front of a group pick a single person in the audience and perform TO them (or about them) and you'll find it easier. Just some thoughts from an experienced performer. I have lots of other strateegies like that if you're interested.

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  2. it'll be months yet before i venture to actually like, get up on stage.

    Close. A month, tops. Then it's into the pool with you!

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  3. Good luck, Can't wait to hear about your breezy elegance on stage! FYI, fear is an allowable feeling, just don't let it make your decisions for you.

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  4. DUUUUUUUUDDDE!

    I'm just hearing about this *here*???

    Break-a-leg.

    And I'm with Ish.

    I'm thinking sometime before Thanksgiving I'll be seeing an evite to your first stand-up performance.

    YAY!

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  5. Hey can't wait to see you in Philadelphia when you're too big to just stay in SF and start the tour ;)

    Break a leg!

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  6. Cool! I think you'd be great on stage. :-)

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  7. VERY exciting. You'll have to let everyone know about your performances....

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  8. Go you! That’s awfully brave and impressive. You will rock the house because you are so freaking hilarious. Can’t wait to see your act when it comes to LA :)

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  9. Fantastic!! It's just mean to keep all this wonderful funny to yourself and your IIFs - time to share with the world (or at least the greater SF area).

    We can't wait to say we knew you when...even if in an ever-so-slightly invisible way. :-)

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  10. If you talk like you write here, you'll be fine! GL on your endeavor.

    -B-

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  11. Good Luck!! I've always wanted to try stand up as well (which is too bad since I'm not at all funny).

    I'm interested to see how your experience turns out!

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  12. I'll be waiting for the evite to your first gig. Can I heckel you??? :D

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  13. Inspirational!

    We should all do brave stuff sometimes - it's easy to forget that. I'm sure you'll be wonderful.

    x

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  14. Ok, would one of you many terribly intellecutal IMs of Kristy's please tell me when and how the common abbreviated usage of microphone went from mike to mic? Granted, I'm mostly retired, but still I've edited some 500 books and by habit try to stay current. (As in "this is the 2000s", not "2000's". ((further note the positioning of apostrophes)) ). I mean, you don't pronounce the ballpoint pen bike, or the thing that you extract crumbs from you teeth as pike or the prostitue who was murdered as vike. If you know, please contact me at bsweet@fcgnetworks.net. thanks. Hi, Kiki.

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  15. he gets the apostrohpes right, but maybe isn't so much clear about IMs versus IIFs. unless i'm missing something.

    (note: when you grow up in a household where cocktail hour discussions center on proper apostrophe usage and the evolution of nickname spellings, well, this is what you get. see why i don't capitalize? i'm a rebel! a REBEL! sorta.)

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  16. When you become rich and famous (ok..well you're already famous), dont forget to come to Fresno. And...when up on stage, you might consider wearing flats or some of those socks with tread on them just for safety's sake. Good luck!

    iif in Fresno

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  17. Come on, Dad. Since when has the spelling been related to the sound? I mean, bough doesn't rhyme with cough, does it? Or through. Or rough. Or dough.

    Good luck with the stand-up, girl. Just remember what Joan Rivers said: either you're the master or the victim. Which one's it going to be?

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  18. You will be FABULOUS at this. I wish I lived like 2500 miles closer!

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  19. Microphone was abbreviated as "mike"? "Mic" has always been the abbreviation used in the music industry as far back as I can remember.

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  20. (K, please don't delete, addendum to previous posted response enclosed. My thanks. ME)

    wtf?

    Hey K'sIIF's, please don't take it upon yourselves to lecture me about what I may or may not, seemingly, post here in the comment section of K's blog.

    After my initial post saw light of day, I'm quite certain that K doesn't think that I'm sitting here in my little corner of the world anxiously awaiting her compliance with my previously stated blog topic idea/suggestion.

    AS IF!?!?

    I guess I'm irked by the idea that some of K's IIF's take it upon themselves to be her Blog Comments Enforcement Squad (hereby known as BCES), swooping down on the unsuspecting souls who KINDLY TAKE THE TIME TO POST A RESPONSE TO K'S LATEST TOPIC IN THE FIRST PLACE, only to inform them that their posted response didn't quite meet the BCES's general satisfaction (K's own satisfaction remains unknown at present time) and was/is somehow inappropriate and thus a waste of everyone's time.

    Geeze, and to think that K actually accommodated a topic request of mine just a few months ago in the first place, a topic request that many of you thought was brilliant enough to warrant participation by forwarding birthday greetings to a previously-unknown small town's chamber of commerce.

    If K doesn't want us/me suggesting blog topic ideas, she can tell us/me herself. Fiddlesticks, for that matter, her dad can tell us/me himself. But the fact is, I really don't need any of you BCES doing it for her. I mean, really, that gets old after awhile. Just ask Dan, or any of the anonymous posters whose blogging response path unfortunately had to that belonging to the BCES.

    And by the way, Dan, believe it or not, I really really really REALLY empathize with you. Right now. This very moment.

    Sometimes we just need to go where the action is, and sometimes, we just need to mind our manners.

    Whatever.

    MissyE.
    southwest misery

    P.S.

    This is directed to K's father, should he be reading this. I meant no harm in suggesting a future blog topic be something about her mum. None. She's given us bits and pieces, from a distance and microscopic both, and it's been a privilege all along to know something of her.

    Perhaps I don't praise your daughter enough, perhaps I don't post a comment-worthy response on a daily basis, perhaps I don't gush senselessly over a topic's subject matter that really just doesn't appeal to me, I don't know. I just know, as far as her BCES goes, I don't fit in here.

    Fine. It's still my face I see every morning in the mirror. I'm still grounded.

    MissyE.
    southwest misery

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  21. I know I said I'd stop commenting but since MissyE doesn't have a blog for me to thank her on I'm doing it here.

    Thanks.

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  22. word missy.

    also, standup rules. i love it. i'm jealous. some day i'll do my bit about the invisaline bitches...

    also, i feel you on odd dinner conversations. my dad and his wife have PhD's in Theology (he's a priest, she's a professor). It wasn't until college that i realized that most of my friends were just politely laughing at my "How can you tell a methodist from a roman?" jokes.

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  23. There's a pub right across the street from my office that has stand-up on Mondays... If you ever decide to come down from the City to Palo Alto...

    You rock girl!

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  24. I think you'll probably be great at standup because your blog is hilarious. Good luck.

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  25. K- You'd kick serious ass at the Comedy Connection in downtown Boston. Good luck and congrats on taking a risk.

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  26. k - good for you to go for something and put aside your fears. very brave.

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  27. You're a braver soul than me! Good, good luck!

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  28. Are you taking classes at SFCC? I did that and it was an awesome experience but shortly thereafter my life imploded so I never made it up on stage. I keep thinking I'll take the advanced class sooner or later.

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  29. k- good luck with stand up... you can do it.

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  30. kristy,

    the best part of all is that your IIFs, BCEFs, fellow CCSFers and FSICCSPs* will provide endless fodder for your adventures in standup!!!





    *Freakishly Self Involved Compulsive Comments Section Posters

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