There are some great writers out there, some great comedians, some great musicians…
Why bother trying? Let the masters dazzle. We should just consume.
One difference between those that achieved mastery and those that didn’t:
When they were pre-mastery, the masters at the time didn’t scare them.
Sometimes life’s confusing.
The world wants you to be as reliable as an assembly line worker, but with the flair of an artist.
Best I can offer today – Ernest Hemingway*:
“Write drunk, edit sober.”
*(Shhh. Let’s just enjoy the quote before we start worrying that Hemingway never actually said this.
There seems to be a debate about where the exact line came from. I’m not seeing a solid conclusion.
Maybe the moral is: “Write drunk, edit drunk, do your tags sober.”)
Humans have been around for 7 million years.
Language has been around for 100,000 years.
The earliest (discovered) cave paintings date back to 40,000 years ago.
First “actor” – 12 B.C.
Stand-up comedy has been around for a split second. It’s probably too soon to write the rule book.
Between an audience and a performer there is the invisible fourth wall.
A difference between most performance and stand-up is that comedians “don’t have” the fourth wall. Or so it needs to seem.
Just my take, but I wouldn’t worry too much about “breaking” the wall.
There are all kinds of way successful comics out there, from the ultra who-are-you-what-do-you-do? types to the the tightly scripted one-liner merchants and there’s a place for them all.
People come to know you through what you’ve created. That’s intimate enough.
I reckon even the comedians that get audience members up on stage to dance/answer questions/pick a card haven’t broken the wall. It’s still a show, there’s still a wall, and those punters just became props.
I say pick your own relationship with the wall. For me it’s more of a serving hatch.
The diners can come into the kitchen if they like, but the stuff that’s relevant to them is coming through the hatch.
Is there someone out there who is better than you at a certain thing? Does it bother you?
Well, answer me this.
I know for a fact there’s someone out there who could take you in a fight.
Why hasn’t it stopped you walking around?
Welcome to being alive. With 7 billion choices, yes, there just might be someone out there “better” than you in some category.
It’s your turn right now. You can be best at dealing with that.
I’m always forgetting that all my favourite people are mould-breaking one-offs.
Note to self. Stop trying to fit in.
Saturday Night Live doesn’t air when it’s perfect.
I love this quote from Lorne Michaels, its creator:
“We don’t go on because we’re ready. We go on because it’s 11:30. There’s no getting out of it.”
Commit. Deliver. Done!
There only two ways to get a laugh, my old improv teacher said to us.
One is status drop*.
Imagine the scene. Jeeves (a valet) and Wooster (his boss) are in a room. Jeeves acts deferentially (verbally and non-verbally), tidying up after Wooster, hanging on his every word.
Wooster acts regally. Fluid, deliberate movements. He doesn’t even make eye-contact with Jeeves, to signal how in control of his own space he is, as he holds forth on some Society enemy.
Jeeves (respectfully, in an effort to please) breaks into Wooster’s monologue and offers some valuable information about Wooster’s enemy, and hints there is more.
Wooster now changes his physical behaviour. His movements and speech patterns are less fluid, he makes eye contact, maybe deigns to touch Jeeves on the arm. His confidence is gone. Wooster has something he wants.
I was taught this is called “status”. We were taught to think of the two players in the scene as being on a see-saw. One’s up, the other’s down.
When the arrangement is reversed, and the see-saw tips, there’s a laugh to be had. The high-status person has dropped and the low-status person is elevated.
Famous people are high-status. If they make themselves humble or contribute in way people like, it’s harder to drop their status.
If they bang on about “eco-mentalists”, or suggest we should shoot striking public-sector workers in front of their families, or put nuclear waste on the Rainbow Warrior, some people are going to enjoy a laugh at their expense.
This might be why people are enjoying the occasional Jeremy Clarkson joke today.
*I’ll talk about the other one tomorrow
“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso
“Action expresses priorities.” – Mahatma Gandhi
There’s got to be something in this.
And also, this:
“Never mistake motion for action.” – Ernest Hemingway.
Happy Monday! Today’s the day I take my son (seven years old) ice-skating.
I always say to him, “I remember when you were a baby, you couldn’t even crawl! We used to have to carry you everywhere. Then you learned to crawl, then you could walk and run, and now look at you. You can skate!”
He’s probably sick of hearing it, but I’m taking the opportunity to sneakily reinforce the idea that no-one taught him a lot of crucial stuff. He can’t remember being between the ages of 0-3, being helpless and then helping himself.
We did our first stint on the ice at Christmas. He was wobbly at first, there was a fair bit of falling over, but after about three sessions, he stopped holding on to me, another three sessions after that, he’s like a pro!
He only asked me once, at the beginning, how to skate. I said, “Just try and stay on your feet and go, there’s no secret.”
Don’t get me wrong, he might benefit from some lessons, but I like that he’s gotten himself to the point where he’s having fun with it.
This week, I’ll be writing and singing for my supper. A lot of people taught me a lot of different things (thanks!), but no-one quite taught me how to do this kind of work I’m doing now.
It was (and will probably continue to be) a fair bit of falling over.
(A bit like being a parent!)
Christian Reilly 