Thursday at Mesquite ,Why I Don't Go to the Comedy Club as Often as I Used To

100 Miles for Five Minutes of Comedy

Some people might wonder why I don't go to Mesquite Comedy Club more often.

The main reason is pretty simple: I live about 100 miles away.

With gas prices the way they are, I can't justify driving 200 miles round trip every time I want to get on stage. So these days, maybe once a month is about all I can manage.

The other reason is a little more complicated.

Comedy and Anxiety

I have anxiety.

And as I've gotten older, it seems like my anxiety has gotten worse instead of better.

I have good days and bad days.

Some days I feel like I could walk into a room full of strangers and make everybody laugh.

Other days, just getting out the front door feels like an accomplishment.

And unfortunately, making money is still a priority.

Everybody has bills to pay, right?

Apparently, the electric company doesn't accept "I'm trying to become a better comedian" as a form of payment.

But the truth is, making people laugh and having a good time is what I enjoy most about doing stand-up comedy.

I love being on stage when I'm in the right frame of mind.

But when my anxiety is high, it isn't fun anymore.

And I don't want to get up there and spend five minutes staring at the audience like a deer in headlights while my brain is screaming:

"WE HAVE MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE."

There was actually one time I went to the club and the anxiety got so bad that I felt like the walls were closing in on me.

I had to give my spot to somebody else.

That was hard to do because, as a comedian, you want to get on stage.

You don't want to admit that your own brain just called an emergency meeting and voted unanimously against it.

But that's reality.

I Write Because I Enjoy It

I also got an email today from somebody trying to sell me a service to make my blog bigger.

I appreciate the offer, but that's really not why I do it.

I don't write because I'm trying to become the next big internet celebrity.

I write because I enjoy it.

And if you're one of those people emailing me to tell me that my writing is all AI-generated and that you know exactly what I need to do to fix it, don't waste your time.

Yes, I use AI to help punch up my writing.

But the thoughts are mine.

The experiences are mine.

The bad jokes are definitely mine.

😂

I write about the things I enjoy — music, movies, comedy, and all the weird, funny, and sometimes ridiculous things that happen in life.

That's what I like about writing.

I can sit down and take something that happened to me and hopefully turn it into something that makes somebody else laugh.

And that's really what comedy is.

Finding the Funny

I think everybody knows what they personally think is funny.

But comedians have a strange ability to take something completely ordinary or mundane and look at it from a different angle.

A comedian can look at something everyone else sees every day and say:

"Wait a minute... isn't that actually kind of ridiculous?"

Some of the funniest people I've ever seen seem to have come from hard times.

Maybe that's because when life beats you up enough, you eventually have two choices:

Cry about it or find a way to make a joke about it.

Sometimes the joke is the only thing that keeps you going.

Speaking of Stupid...

And speaking of finding humor in strange places, here's one I think is funny.

God created the chicken and the frog and said, "I have a special purpose for each of you."

The chicken asked, "What's mine?"

God said, "You're going to cross the road."

The chicken looked confused.

"Why?"

God said, "I don't know. Humans have been asking that question for thousands of years. At this point, I'm too embarrassed to admit I don't remember."

Then the frog asked, "What's my purpose?"

God said, "You're going to sit on a lily pad and eat bugs."

The frog thought about it for a moment.

"Can I cross the road too?"

God said, "Sure."

The frog nodded.

"Great. I've always wanted to see what the chicken was up to."

I know it's stupid.

But sometimes stupid is funny.

And that's the whole point.

Give the Comedian a Chance

The next time you see a comedian get up on stage, don't heckle him and make his job harder than it already is.

He's not up there giving a speech.

He's taking his time, his talent, his nerves, his mistakes, and sometimes a little piece of his soul and putting it in front of a room full of strangers because he wants to make you laugh.

And if you're lucky, he'll have a quick comeback when you heckle him.

Because remember:

That microphone works both ways.

A comedian isn't just standing up there telling jokes.

He's watching you.

So be nice.

Because there's a pretty good chance you're about to become part of the act.

And honestly...

that's when it gets really funny. 

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