Calm before the comedy storm! Oh yeah!!
Sure, I may be a newbie to the whole stand-up thing, and I may not even have done my first gig yet, but in the lead up to what I’ve decided to call my ‘Year of Comedy’, I feel like I’m already kicking comedy goals. Or, in north american parlance, I’m “shootin’ comedy baskets!”
Whatever. My metaphorical ball is in the metaphorical hole. And I don’t mean my metaphorical jeans have a hole in the pocket.
I mean my aim is true. And in this warm-up period to my year of comedy I feel like I’m doing all the right things to prepare me for a fun stand-up debut. Not only am I writing, re-writing and re-re-writing material I’m also delivering said material to an unsuspecting wife, innocent vegetable garden and any light-pole, tree or interesting club of shrubbery I can find. And since I live in a very lush part of Melbourne there’s plenty of vegetable matter for me to try out my gags on.
Don’t worry though, I’m not going mad in, what is now, the final week before my FIRST EVER STAND-UP GIG!!! The gum trees and hydrangeas haven’t been laughing. Much. Just a few encouraging rustles.
Having said that, my wife, who is notorious (at least in our marriage) for not liking many comedians—baring your Robin Williams in full flight or maybe, Ricky Gervais—did laugh quite loudly and longly when I surprised her a couple weeks ago with the opening to my routine. We were driving along—maybe back from buying nappies or some other toddler necessities—when I spontaneously went into a bit I was working on. She laughed and I smiled. Good. Cool. Maybe the audience will dig my stuff too, I thought.
A few days later we went to visit some friends in Healesville (country town a pleasant drive from the city) and when I told them of my plans to make 2013 my year of comedy, and how I would be doing my first stand-up routine in the first week of the new year, they handed me a book. The book was a ‘best of’ compilation of one-liners from some of the best Australian comedians. The thing was I had already bought this book at a comedy gig a couple weeks previous—directly from the guy who edited ‘Funny Buggers’ and put the whole thing together (Karl Chandler TWITTER).
“Nice coincidence,” I thought.
Havin’ a larf at Spleen Comedy, Melbourne.
One of my friends then went on to tell me how her favourite comedian at the moment was a guy I hadn’t heard of called Michael McIntyre. I took a photo of the DVD she had, with the idea I would get it out, but before I could get around to that, a couple nights later I flicked on the telly to find his, already familiar face, grinning back at me.
“Nice coincidence,” I thought.
My friend’s favourite comedian.
At the time of my rare late-night alone TV time I was also scribbling some ideas down about what exactly were my comedy goals. Not only for the year of comedy but beyond. I do have a tendency to get ahead of myself sometimes, but, and even though I hadn’t done one gig yet, I do like a challenge. What’s more as a father now I feel a certain healthy kind of pressure to get things done. Good things. Things that bring nappies to the table. Well, not the dining table—but you know what I mean.
So while struggling a bit with how big I should allow myself to dream—whether it was silly for me to imagine myself one day taking a lead role in a big budget Hollywood comedy, or whether I should just be happy with finally making it to the open-mic stand-up stage—I realized something cool: I had already appeared on a world-stage, making people laugh in an impressive English theatre holding over 2000 people.
And here’s what made me realize that fact about my comedy-self.
Watching my friends favourite comic, Michael McIntyre, introduce his comedy roadshow guests I recognised the theatre they were performing in. It was the Sunderland Empire Theatre (in Sunderland!, England), the first theatre I performed pantomime in way back in Christmas 1993 following another humour-filled acting gig, playing a motorcycle riding lovelorn lad on Neighbours for a year.
“Nice coincidence,” I thought.
Was the universe trying to tell me something? With the unexpected appearance of that Funny Bugger book (out of town), my friend’s recommendation to “check out Michael McIntyre” and then finally it all coming together on the hilarious box, was I being shown a series of signs that I was on the right track as I headed to my first stand-up gig?
I like to think so. I like to think the signs are good that this new chapter in my creative life will be as fruitful, focussed and fun as I feel it’s going to be.
Bring on 2013!
This could be the start of something wonderful. Or at least one nervous bowel movement.
PS. If you’re in Melbourne on 3rd January (and even if you’re not!) my “First Ever Stand-Up Gig” will be at the Exford Hotel’s comedy open-mic night. The fun kicks off at 8.30pm and entry is FREE. Do come along :)
