so i was watching some stand up comedians the other night and i took the time to record and later write down what a few of them said. i did this as an exercise. i’m experimenting right now with writing my own stand up comedy and i wanted to break down other people’s approach, in all honesty, so that i do not follow the same format or formulas. i want it to be different, if i do it. if i’m going to get up there and sound like the same format but in a different voice, why bother? i’m trying to find my own voice. and if i get into it and find that my voice can only be like other people’s, then i won’t do it. i don’t see the point. but i doubt this will be the case.
anyways – what i learned was something interesting to me. the text of what just about all of them said wasn’t very funny to me. when i read it, it seemed just plain awful. but a couple of the better comedians made it SEEM funny. they sold their jokes well.
and it occurred to me that perhaps being a comedian isn’t always about BEING funny, per se, it’s about being a good ambassador for what you THINK is funny. if you are a good enough salesman, the customer will buy – even if they don’t necessarily need or want the product.
this isn’t a breakthrough idea. it might not even be true. but it helped me in my writing this week and i thought it interesting enough to create a blog post and all that. isn’t that nice?
