I’ve always been a clown. One of the ones who could make others laugh in almost any room. Those who know me more than superficially would list ‘funny’ as one of the top five words they’d use to describe me.
I trained as a classical actor and worked professionally for ten years. I wanted to be Branagh but should have chased Mike Myers. After years of drudgery I eventually accepted that I wasn’t tall or handsome enough to be the leading man, nor quirky-looking enough to be cast as the comic actor. By then I had tired of unending rejection and scraping by financially and convinced myself that I didn’t need to be a professional ‘actor’ to be happy.
Since then, I’ve worked as a spokesperon in the auto industry, touring our nation for 8 years. I was an IFR air traffic controller trainee until I had a technical ‘loss of separation,’ folded and went home. I followed that minor career disaster with stints as a pharmaceutical sales representative, a corporate trainer, a bed and breakfast owner, an instructional designer, a food truck business owner, freelance writer, a consultant to the department of national defense, and finally, in the financial industry.
Through all those years I nurtured a strong interest in comedy as a written and performance art. I studied steadily by reading and watching, and I’ve finally reached a place in my life where I can delude myself no longer. I’m doing it. Here are the books that have been in my library for years, dog-eared and loved almost to death.
Stand-Up Comedy The Book and The Comedy Bible by Judy Carter, Comedy Writing Step-By-Step and Successful Stand-Up Comedy by Gene Perret, Step-By-Step to Stand-Up Comedy by Greg Dean, The Hidden Tools of Comedy and The Comic Hero’s Journey by Steve Kaplan, and Finding Your Comic Genius by Adam Bloom.
Step 1 in my journey is to recognize and accept that I can be funny.
Step 2 is to decide that I’m going to act on Step 1 by writing and performing.
Step 3 is to review the comedians and jokes that I find funny and analyse them to understand why they’re funny and why they resonate with me.
Steps 1 & 2 complete. Next post I will share my Step 3 list and thoughts. – Taffy
Outta The Fog 