The Comedy Lifestyle Or, The Post in Which I Wax Poetically and Verbosely About the Pros and Cons of Being a Comedian

I have to apologize for the lack of blogging. It's not for lack of subjects - actually, I have a kind of reverse writer's block. There are so many things I'd like to write about that I have trouble picking one subject - there are tons of ideas fighting to be written about and I find it difficult to make one the victor over any other. Starting tonight, however, I'm going to try to tackle at least one topic a day and wrestle through this thicket of things about which I would like to be writing.

Let's start with this "comedy lifestyle" I'm still adjusting to.

The decision to devote my life to performing comedy was about passion; the decision to immediately make the move towards performing comedy full time was about pragmatism. I realized that spending 100% of my time on comedy was the best way to make comedy my job: I could work on more material, do more shows, and spend more time on my career with comedy as my full focus. There's also benefit of the push that comes from realizing that your welfare and ability to eat and pay rent is dependent on the quantity and quality of comedy that you do. On top of all of that, I knew that I wanted to make comedy my life, so why delay the inevitable? Why not just jump with both feet and pursue the thing I'm most passionate about with all the passion I have?

I'm proud to say that I'm a professional comedian. I make my living doing what I love. I'm most happy when I'm on stage performing comedy in front of an audience and I get to do that several times a day - what more could I ask for? The lifestyle is not without difficulty, however. The fact that I can't predict what will happen on any given day, that there will always be a surprise or something unexpected, is both a blessing and a curse. It makes things fun and exciting, but it's also tough to plan things in advance (which the "real world" requires you to do) and hard to feel or have any kind of security. There's also the negative side to the comedy industry - the constant rejection, the mistreatment of performers, the competitiveness (whether intentional or not), the drama and politics of working in such a relatively small community of professionals - all can be harmful to one's positive outlook. Add to that the unusual hours (I'm essentially nocturnal and practically don't see the sun at all in the winter), which has left me vampire pale (no sun) and unable to hang out with my friends who have "normal" jobs (as an entertainer, I work when everyone else isn't). My love life (not to get too personal) is also in shambles because, as I've told a few of my comedian friends, when I'm spending time on anything but my art (like with a girl, for example), I honestly feel like I'm cheating on comedy.

But that analogy also illuminates why I'm still doing what I'm doing. Comedy is my love, my passion, my reason for being. As a result, I can't imagine doing anything else. (Okay, I can imagine what it would be like to do something else, but I definitely wouldn't want to be doing anything else.)

That's why I - no matter how hard it's been or how hard it will be - will keep on truckin'. I'm excited to see where the road will lead, but - more importantly - already happy and fulfilled by the journey itself.