I finally had another show last Saturday and it was a blast. More on that later. I haven’t blogged in two months. I hadn’t written a joke all year (until last week). I honestly had lost interest. Beyond that, I was tired of people talking about it. “Chris does stand-up!” NO I DON’T ACTUALLY. I had to fight snapping at people that asked me since all this went downhill. I understand that stand-up comedy was not crucial to society during a pandemic, but it was rather amazing to some parts of my brain working again.
I was asked by a booker that I really respect (David Lee) to headline 31 West in Newark, Ohio. From the time I was asked to when I walked on stage, the mask requirements had changed, people were actually ready to go out of their houses, yet the show was still respectful of distancing and safety. I didn’t even realize when I got there if I had updated my web page as I haven’t had any desire to blog. My site has comedy in the url, so no comedy, no updates. I didn’t know three of the four comics on the show, which is rare at this stage for me. No shows, no open mics, no meeting new comics. In fairness, I don’t really do open mics anymore. I have two kids so using a hall pass to hear 23 comics work out new material is borderline criminal.
I enjoyed watching the other comics and I felt myself both enjoying hearing jokes and also rewriting their setup and punchlines in my head. I could feel rust flaking off parts of my cerebellum or cortex or wherever the funny is supposed to be that haven’t been used in a while. Since February 2020, I had done exactly three shows. THREE. My busiest month, granted, pre children, was 17 shows in 31 days. I did three shows in 15 months. I absolutely hate comics that call comedy therapy, but it was definitely beneficial to my demeanor. NOT THERAPY FFS.
I actually took a very small cheat sheet, but didn’t have to use it (much) and felt like I had a solid set. As a bonus, the crowd wiped out my merch, which hasn’t since the day I released them years ago. I can say for the first time in a long time, I actually feel like a stand-up comic and I actually have interest in comedy again. So tune in, I’m going to make an effort to blog more and write more for my next show…which I don’t have scheduled yet, so maybe this was all for nothing. Suck it COVID! If you’re vaccinated or masked or rolling around in a bubble, go enjoy some comedy.