I have always always ALWAYS been a lover of good comedy.  Dane Cook, Mitch Hedburg, Russell Peters, Demitri Martin, Chris Rock, Pablo Francisco, and Jim Gaffigan are just a few of my rockstars.  I had my favorite bits from each of them that I could literally recite verbatim…Dane Cook’s “Chicken Sangwich story,” Mitch Hedburg’s line about flyers being given out in New York, Russell Peter’s “Indian customer-Chinese salesman” joke, Chris Rock’s “bad phone-sex” rendition, Pablo Francisco’s “Spanish girlfriend” story, Jim Gaffigan’s “robe” joke..and of course, “hot pocket” joke.  And since peering into NYC’s own local comedy culture, I also quickly came to respect Wil Sylvince,Godfrey, Eliot Chang, and Kevin McCaffrey.

Now, enter another factor into this equation.  People have always told me that I am funny.  Somepeople have even gone so far as to say that I should do comedy.  So, for the average person, this would elicit something to the tune of a “psssshhh!”  in response and the notion would soon evaporate from their mind.  For me, however, this often offhand comment excited me.  Part of me wanted to believe that it was true!  Part of me would have loved to possess just an iota of this comic genius I had come to so admire.  But alas, standup was always fear’s reach away from me.  I didn’t spend too much time brooding over it, but for the record, I loved the fantasy.

I went on to live vicariously through comedians that I dated, an impromptu jump up onto stage at an open mic, and glossing over a standup class that did not fit my schedule.  Eventually, the planets aligned and God must have deemed me ready.  And about two months ago, I received an e-mail from the PIT promoting a standup class that actually cooperated with my schedule.  Now, it was scarily possible!  I diligently surveyed my comedian friends and non-friends alike as to the necessity of a standup class.  Most of them touted it as unnecessary, pointing instead to open mics as being the true training ground for any standup.  I could see their point but enjoyed the structure that a class promised.  I hinted at my dad enough for him to spring for half of my class tuition.  And it was done!  A day before The Art of Standup was scheduled to commence, I was enrolled!

For the next two months, I was thrust into the world of New York’s amateur comedy circuit…and I have lived to tell the story!  Following are the most prominent observations from my experience in the standup world!

• Comedy is hard work! Comedians walk into a stigma of being a lazy, bitter, late-night drinking, non-contributing members of society.  What the general public doesn’t see, however is that these guys are constantly working! They carry a pad and paper with them at all times to record joke material as it is inspired and have stacks of already-filled pads at home!  According to comedian Joe Wong, the average comedian uses about 1 out of every 10 jokes that is written and then practices that joke nearly 72 times before it is perfect.  That means a comic, at any given point, is simultaneously thinking about material, writingmaterial, and practicing material…meaning the cyclical process is never done.  That’s a lot of work!
• Comedy Open Mics are a twisted concoction. I remember thinking that it was backwards for comedians to have to pay in order to perform.  Yet, I found myself doing it during these two months!  What I quickly learned was that http://badslava.com was the go-to resource for open mics.  Every comedian in New York hops on this site to see where open mics are happening on any given day.  They then attend these open mics, taking place anytime between 4pm-10pm, and tolerate the 5-minute performances of their fellow amateur comics until it is their turn to hop on stage and try out their material.  Open mics are accepted as being a brutal setting where laughs are not expected, as the audience usually consists of hard-to-please fellow comics.  The organizers of these open mics strike deals with the clubs with the door and drink fees and are usually comedians themselves and host the open mic.  In the end, all anyone wants to do is practice.  The hierarchy of spots seems to be open mics, bringer shows, scheduled spots, and eventually headline spots.  It’s an even crazier industry to navigate through than acting, I believe, and that’s hard!
  
• Comedy is teachable. I used to see what standup comedians did as this intangible gifting that they possessed.  I used to think that I could never do something like that.  But upon closer examination, I realized the methods and the practice and the true, blue work that went into comedy.  I realized that comedians often repeated jokes and that sets were no different than monologues, save for the risk of unexpected hecklers.  I saw the discipline behind comedy, especially after watching the documentary “Comedian” by Seinfeld, in which one comedian tirelessly recorded and played back performances, kept a file cabinet full of jokes, filed according to category, and truly breathed comedy.  And I was reassured that I could do this thing.     
  
• Comedy is terrifyingly exciting. I performed at a total of 5 open mics and 1 show during the course of my standup class.  Every single time, my heart raced in anticipation.  Every time, I threatened to jump ship.  Every time, I experienced mini-anxiety attacks.  And every time after a good set, I was elated!  It’s the natural nervousness and accompanying high that accompanies doing something you love.  I know that every artist has thought to themselves at some point, “Why am I torturing myself like this?”  And the ironic answer is “because I love it.”  I know.  Crazy.
• Comedy is not my new career. I am so glad that I can now check “do standup” off my bucket list.  I feel a personal sense of accomplishment.  I am already reaping the benefits of having done this, both personally and professionally as the needle on the funny meter has climbed in both my conversations and auditions.  I am beyond happy with this foray that I took.  In the same breath, however, I know that I do not want to invest the amount of time necessary to do this thing well.  I am very happy to draw from my comedy experience to complement my acting career, but don’t look for me at a comedy club near you anytime soon!