I was going to finish my whinefest about the bad part of comedy, but I am truly an optimist and people always talk about how I am a ray of light and true joy. OK, no one does of ever has. Let’s look at the bright side, though with the best things about doing stand-up.
1) It’s cheaper than therapy. Nothing like bitching in a funny way and getting paid for it (sometimes).
2) You can drink on the job. You don’t even have to hide it! (Don’t drink too much, you’ll get fired, even from comedy.)
3) You see new places. Thanks to comedy, I’ve been to Minnesota, Milwaukee, east Maryland, the UP of Michigan, Savannah, and a lot of places I had never been to. I got to stop by Gettysburg on the way home from another gig, which I hadn’t been to since grade school. I got a free week’s vacation in Virginia Beach once – actually I got paid to go there. I’ve found out Village Inn Pizza and Western Sizzlin still exist (for what that’s worth) and long road trips helped me find new podcasts and music to download. I’m also now an expert on shitty hotels – need to know about shitty hotels/motels? I’ve got you covered.
4) Small towns are boring, but I love doing comedy in small towns because they are usually so happy to be there, it’s refreshing. IN OTHER WORDS THEY PUT THEIR DAMN PHONES AWAY PEOPLE.
5) You meet some generally interesting people and on occasion, see pure genius in comedy. Stand-up, sketch, improv, and story shows – sure sometimes they suck, but I’ve seen, no exaggeration, 1000’s of comedy shows for free and the vast majority have been good, great or amazing.
Well, that was way too positive for me, so I’m going to read people’s political opinions on Facebook until I can chew on glass again.