The Art of Being Funny...

Tonight, I got to do stand-up comedy. It was my second shot at this dangerous little art form this year. I did it once in February and since no one threw anything at the stage, it was an easy "yes" when the invitation for tonight's gathering came in a few months ago.

For the past month, I've been trying out new bits...bits is the fancy comedy term for the little stories comedians (or in my case, comediennes) tell.

Being funny isn't easy. Matter of fact, no one really wants to brag about the fact that they are funny. "Yeah, I know how to crack 'em up..." It seems that one of the most important qualifications of being a comedienne is the fact that you aren't sure if you are funny or not. It's something you aren't sure of until the audience actually laughs...

It seems that comedy is the most honest form of communication out there. You can tell when someone is laughing and when someone is just humoring you by doing that fake "I'm going laugh so you don't feel like a loser" laugh. In comedy, there's no wondering if you are funny, the audience is always honest. If they don't laugh, you know what's up.

So, as I have been working on my bits, there's that nagging chatter in the back of my brain about what it will take to make them laugh. I realized early on that people won't laugh if I talk about what I think is funny, but they will laugh if I talk about things they are afraid of or won't talk about themselves.

For instance, why will a woman buy a shirt on clearance for $3.99 even though it is two sizes too small? It's like we can't pass up a bargain, even though it isn't right for us - we buy it anyways. Or, why do we bring the wrong size clothes in to the dressing room. For some reason, we can't bring ourselves to select the size we know we wear, we tend to sandwich ourselves into the size that we wore five years ago when we were 20 lbs thinner.

Women don't like talking about that stuff, but they will listen and laugh to someone else talking about it.

I like doing comedy. It's a challenge and I feel kinda like I'm skydiving when I do stand-up. I'm not sure how I'm going to land - I might even splat, but I do enjoy the journey in between.

I'm done.