Noblog November!

This month has been lacking. I apologize. I have been writing lots though. Like on Aleina's blog! In the comments section. Because I was up late and wanted a distraction from the work I should have been doing. Sorry Aleina's blog. You didn't deserve that.

I've also been working a lot on my comedybrew act. One problem I've had is figuring out what is "stand-up funny".

There are things that are just universally funny in all contexts, like farts. And then there are things that are funny in conversations. But not everything you say in a conversation would be funny on stage and a lot of things you say on stage wouldn't work in a conversation. So as I'm writing things I'm trying to figure out what kind of funny it is.

I'm also trying to actually write jokes with some attention to structure. Usually I just think of something that's funny and then just kind of pile stuff on top of it like a sand castle you'd make with your hands. But I think having a real structure helps you be more certain of its "funniness". If I can continue with the sandcastle analogy, if you use one of those plastic sandcastle molds, you won't have to worry about people not understanding that you're making a sandcastle. It becames more palatable and not just a crazy person spouting things/ piling sand. I've never really thought in joke terms though. I've tried to just rely on some kind of intuitive "silliness" level.

So yeah, sorry this is just a rant. I'll try to given an example of something I've been working on:

(this is all true by the way)
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So this summer a strange lady came up to me and said, "Well, hey there young man! What do you want to be when you grow up?"

And I said, "Older."

But what I meant was, "Old enough for people to stop asking me that stupid question."

(It's sort-of set-up punchline style, right?)

An equally annoying question is, "What are you going to do after you graduate?" I don't know! That's like asking me what I'm going to have for breakfast. I'll figure it out when I get there!

I don't want to get my heart set on eating eggs and then discover a scarcity of eggs. That would be disappointing!

It's like that phrase, "don't put all your eggs in one basket." The point of that phrase is that eggs are not a solid investment strategy.

If you only have a limited number of baskets you should put important things in there like gold nuggets and dental insurance.

That's the limit of my investment advice: not....eggs.
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I know it's not effective to type it out like that and that's another problem. Speaking is very different from writing. I write just about everything and only ever say it a few times when I perform. Then I usually write more and perform new stuff so I never get a chance to get a good feel for the sound and flow of a joke being spoken. I could repeat stuff but...I don't go up enough to be telling the same jokes all the time.

Yeah! Comedy!