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| Be yourself. Like no one else who has come before you. Like this guy. |
I have been so bogged down lately with analyzing, studying, and trying to understand comedy that I have become completely comedically paralyzed, bringing my own creativity to a screeching halt. A big part of the problem is that I read too many blogs and listen to too many podcasts from other comedians and comedy critics, talking endlessly about what comedy is and what it isn’t and what it should and shouldn’t be. The mixed messages from self-proclaimed comedy experts are driving me insane. If I were to take all of the things I’ve heard from said comedy experts and lump them into one conversation, it would go something like this:
Comedy Expert: Just be yourself. Don’t be like anyone who has come before you. Use your personal experiences to be unique. People will accept you if you are honest.
Me: Ok that sounds simple enough.
Comedy Expert: Just be honest. Be true to yourself. Like Carlin or Pryor or Hicks.
Me: So I should be like Carlin Pryor or Hicks? You just said don’t be like anyone else.
Comedy Expert: No you should be like them. But don’t curse a lot. Be conversational. Just do what you think is funny without the cursing.
Me: But all three of them cursed a lot. And you said I should be myself and conversational. I curse a lot in regular conversation.
Comedy Expert: Well you don’t want it to look like a crutch. Also you’ll never get into clubs or on TV if you’re cursing all the time.
Me: But you said people would accept me if I’m honest and true to myself.
Comedy Expert: Yeah but you’re a woman. Vulgar women are a big turnoff. Speaking of which, don’t ever talk about farts or anything like that.
Me: But sometimes farts are funny to me. Even babies laugh at farts. Farts are innately funny. You said I should do what I think is funny.
Comedy Expert: You have to go deeper than that. Talk about something that has really affected you. But stay away from relationships. Every female comic talks about relationships.
Me: But relationships really have affected me.
Comedy Expert: Just avoid it. You have to find your inner voice. You don’t want to be like anyone else.
Me: Ok.
Comedy Expert: But don’t get too dark. You’re bumming the audience out with that shit.
Me: But I’ve been through a lot of dark things. What I’m saying is true. I want to talk about it.
Comedy Expert: People will think you’re just trying to be edgy. Just stick to lighter stuff.
Me: Like farts?
Comedy Expert: No. Now you’re just trying to be funny. Don’t try to be funny just be yourself and let the funny come from within. And stop wearing tight shit and showing cleavage. You’re here to tell jokes not make dicks hard.
Me: But this is how I always dress. If I wear baggy clothes I feel like I look fatter.
Comedy Expert: Oh my God no DO NOT wear baggy clothes. You don’t wanna look like a dyke up there or some kind of hipster idiot.
Me: So I shouldn’t wear tight OR baggy clothes?
Comedy Expert: Look Amy, what I’m trying to tell you is just be yourself. Don’t be like anyone who has come before you. Use your personal experiences to be unique. People will accept you if you are honest.
This is maddening. I don’t know what’s right anymore. The double standards and self-doubt have rendered me creatively impotent. I think one thing I definitely have to do is simply stop paying attention to what people say, but that’s so difficult for me because I want to get good at this. I love comedy, I want to study it. I live for it and I’m obsessed with it. I want to be a good student but the text book is fucked up and the professors are egomaniacs. Not to mention class never starts on time. I don’t have a solution to this right now, so there won’t be any clean tied up ending to this blog. I guess you could call this the unclean, untidy end.
Speaking of unclean untidy ends, did I ever tell you about my ex-boyfriend who used to shit his pants every time he farted?
