Yesterday, I kind of talked about the idea of a “comedian’s brain.”
First off, is that even a thing?
I don’t want to stereotype comedians. (I don’t want to stereotype anybody). But it seems as though many comedians have certain traits in common. And I don’t know that those traits fit with me… I don’t know that I fit in with the funny people.
Some comedians I know have said they express love and friendship by basically being mean to each other sometimes – insulting each other left and right (as a way of showing love).
And I know it’s all in fun and you can’t take yourself seriously. And I played along when we did theater officer skits in high school. People loved to see me make fun of myself for being so intense and competitive. And I am. And I embrace that. And I happily played along.
But in a day-to-day roasting each other at dinner or wherever… I’m not cool enough for that. I just like to have compliment time where I tell people sweet things genuinely.
I also see this incredible attention to detail when it comes to most of the comedians I know. I am just not that observant.
It’s a super cool skill! I love Seinfeld. And I loved getting a peek into his brain. But I don’t have it. (And it feels to me like it might be exhausting to to have it… Probably cool, but probably exhausting.)
Also, in the circles of the comedians I’ve met, it seems like there’s often a lot of sarcasm that flies around. (Again, not always. But there seems to be this sarcastic wit thing going on semi-often.) And I just don’t want to be sarcastic.
Sometimes if I’ve been spending a little too much time with sarcastic people (be they comedians or not), I feel it rubbing off on me. And I don’t like it. It’s exhausting to be sarcastic.
(And it’s exhausting to often have something to complain about.)
Of course, then there’s a part of me that’s maybe not self-aware… I am sarcastic here on this blog, and I do complain a lot! From kidney stuff, to volunteer events that I think could’ve been run better, to beating myself up for mistakes in improv classes, and more! If you read this blog, you see complaints.
So, maybe I am a sarcastic complain-y person, and I just don’t know it. I don’t want to be that person. But I might be!
Plus, I’ve known comedians who aren’t sarcastic and never complain – who break every idea I’ve said in this post. (And I’ll talk about that tomorrow.) So I don’t want to lump everyone in to the same category. There are lots of different types of funny, and lots of different types of people!
I guess I’m saying in my experience it seems like there’s sort of “scene” for comedy people. And I feel welcomed in the iO West bar and at the Groundlings. There are definitely people who’ll smile at you, laugh with you, and make you feel nice and invited – especially when you’re an audience member…
But to really hang with the comedians as a fellow comedian… I don’t feel like I’ve fit in any scene that I’ve found. (I might not be strong enough to hang with comedians.)
It makes me question… I don’t know that I’m meant to do so much comedy. There are days where I just think, “this isn’t my thing. I’m just not wired that way – not onstage, not offstage. I’m not meant to be funny. I should just go tap dance somewhere.”
And maybe I will. I don’t know what I’m gonna do – if I’m gonna keep trying my hand at improv or what.
I know you can be funny without being a comedian, per se. And improv is a good life skill to try to hone (eye contact, listening). But, I dunno. There are just days where I don’t necessarily feel like I’m made for comedy (and where I feel I should be putting my time toward things that are more worthwhile to my life, and things for which I have more talent!)…
But let me know if you think I got anything in this post wrong. I hope I didn’t come off mean toward comedians. You know I love you. :-))