Comedy and Comedic Training

Something I decided to do for the new year was to go out and find something that would take me past the boundaries of my comfort zone; something that would help me crack out of my shell. Someone suggested to me once that I take an improv class - she thought I was a performer and on some level she may have been right, but I don't see myself as one. I see myself more as a comedian. Sure, comedians are performers, too, but they aren't actors; they're storytellers. And they're usually closet mental cases with a need for attention who have a lot of angst and depressive tendencies. That's me. Sometimes.

So, today I went to my first comedy workshop where I met a few very funny people who are, in some way, shape or form, fucked up. And that's just cool; people I can relate to. There were 8 of us in this Newport Beach apartment where, looking out from the balcony, one could see the Pacific Ocean. And, on a day after the rains, it's a spectacular view.

It was in this apartment where, in front of a microphone fed into a karaoke machine, they stood up and tried their material. I saw how they wrote, where they got their inspiration and what techniques they used. The crowd (the other 7, I just watched) shot back suggestions, told whether the jokes were funny or not or how to make them funnier. I was just stoked. I found something I could really get into.

There is a comedy workshop every week and for a small fee I can go and learn the trade, meet some new friends and watch some funny stuff. I also learned it's not a good way of getting laid. Hey.. I thought chicks dug funny guys. Only mentally stable ones, apparently. :-)