So, the main reason I started this blog was to get the creative juices flowing to write what I really enjoy; Comedy. Ever since I can remember, I've always enjoyed making people laugh. My sister was my first audience member, but she didn't really have a choice. I had the bad habit of being the older brother who would get his sister upset. The waterworks would start and I would immediately feel guilty for what I'd done, never really thinking about what I might be doing to hurt her feelings. As soon as I would feel that way, I went out of my way to make her feel better by trying to bring a smile to her face. Sometimes it involved saying funny lines from movies (usually Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) or whatever slapstick a little kid's mind could come up with.
Sure, there were also tons of influences around me. There were movies, TV shows, and Mad Magazine. My dad worked the graveyard shift at a 7-11 for a brief moment in time and he would bring me the old issues of Mad that would find their way to the garbage. The movie spoofs were my absolute favorite. I loved seeing popular things made fun of. Then it hit me; I wanted to be in comedy. Too bad it took me this long to listen to my "inner child" and act on it.
The earliest movie that made me really want to make other's laugh was Dumb & Dumber. Seeing that movie in the theater changed my life forever. Sure, I might not have gotten all the jokes when I first saw it, but I knew the theater was laughing and I wanted that kind of attention for myself. Yes, it's a very selfish act, but who doesn't love the limelight? From that moment on, I made it a point to make everyone around me an audience and I wanted to make them smile.
The earliest movie that made me really want to make other's laugh was Dumb & Dumber. Seeing that movie in the theater changed my life forever. Sure, I might not have gotten all the jokes when I first saw it, but I knew the theater was laughing and I wanted that kind of attention for myself. Yes, it's a very selfish act, but who doesn't love the limelight? From that moment on, I made it a point to make everyone around me an audience and I wanted to make them smile.
A good friend of mine recently let me read some scripts that he had written. I was jealous to say the least. This guy has talent. How he doesn't have a job writing movies or a sitcom is beyond me. Even hanging out with him makes me feel like we've got a shot at making it in comedy. It also makes me feel like I'm not that funny (there I go beating myself up again). After asking him how he became good at writing scripts, he told me that he just absorbed as much as he possibly could. I took that advice and ran. It wasn't just because he told me to, but because that was the one piece of advice I kept hearing over and over again.
From that moment on, I read, watched, and listened to as much comedy as I possibly could. I bought books on script writing, listened to podcasts, watched all kinds of stand-up, and paid especially close attention to sitcoms. Every thing flowed into each other. What I read in the books was happening in the movies and sitcoms. What I heard in the podcasts were proven methods and great advice for what I saw in stand-up. But with all that information, there was one bit of advice I wasn't following; just go out there and do it.
From that moment on, I read, watched, and listened to as much comedy as I possibly could. I bought books on script writing, listened to podcasts, watched all kinds of stand-up, and paid especially close attention to sitcoms. Every thing flowed into each other. What I read in the books was happening in the movies and sitcoms. What I heard in the podcasts were proven methods and great advice for what I saw in stand-up. But with all that information, there was one bit of advice I wasn't following; just go out there and do it.
That's how this blog was started. It's how two great friends and I started writing skits for a troupe we called Mod Follies. It's also responsible for my one successful night at doing stand-up. I still tell people that I do stand-up because I like the attention it gets. If you're reading this and I've told you this before, I'm sorry. I'm a fraud and have done stand-up only once. Don't be so quick to write me off yet, though. I've got pages of bits that are just waiting to see the light of day/a stage.
So, that's where I'm at. I type away on a MacBook and hope that one day it'll lead to something else. I'm out there. I'm doing it. I've just got to keep up to date with this blog. The next time you see me and you've noticed that I haven't posted anything new the previous Tuesday or Friday, I give you full permission to punish me by getting me a beer.
So, that's where I'm at. I type away on a MacBook and hope that one day it'll lead to something else. I'm out there. I'm doing it. I've just got to keep up to date with this blog. The next time you see me and you've noticed that I haven't posted anything new the previous Tuesday or Friday, I give you full permission to punish me by getting me a beer.
