The Heckler

Isn’t that fun? Harlow sure thinks so. This is his “you ready to play?” look.

And this is his creepy Jack Nicholson “Here’s Johnny” look after he’s about to go bat shit crazy running hot laps around the park. Every time someone new meets Harlow at the dog park they ask me if he’s a year old yet. He’s almost four. He just has a little more energy than your average pup.

Besides my love for talking about snow every single day, I’ve spent the last few nights hitting the comedy scene. The only downside of telling jokes every night is that I feel like I constantly have to write new stuff because I’m seeing a lot of the same people and I can tell their laughs are getting stale because so are my jokes. I tried out an entirely new bit last night and when I was finished I asked Chris how it went and he said, “Well it’s new stuff, so there’s still a few kinks to work out yet.” Well shit.

Last night Chris was kind enough to bring his friends from work to watch so I finally got to meet one of his gal pal coworkers Leigh  (so hi Leigh if you’re reading today!) Trust me when I say any comedian is always more than grateful to get a new audience, so naturally I was excited to have a crowd. Anyway, they came from a work party so as you can imagine they were there to have a good time. Well one of his coworkers’ decided to start heckling… Which in hindsight is actually really hilarious because it’s good experience for comedians to learn how to deal with hecklers, but last night I was terrified. Mostly because it was a room full of experienced comedians and I’m still the new girl and I felt like they were all shooting glares my way every time Heckler Heckelson shouted “tell me about it” or “Bill Nye is a Science Guy” to whichever comedian was on stage. At one point when I knew the next comedian getting on stage was a really good girl who’s been doing stand-up for a long long time and knows how to hold her own with the crowd I knew the Heckler was about to get torn apart. I could literally see the look of “I’m gonna rip you to shreds” in the female comedian’s eyes. You might not know this, but female comedians can be scary. as. hell. She was practically foaming at the mouth she was so excited to take down Chris’s coworker. So I made a quick move and told some of the guys to take Miss Heckler out of there before it got ugly.

The first thing Female Comedian said when she got on stage? “Oh no, where did the heckler go? I wanted to have some fun with her.” And I knew I had made the right decision. By this time it was almost midnight and it’s safe to say a few too many drinks had been had by all.

Which brings me to my next point. Besides feeling the pressure to come up with new stuff all the time, I’m also struggling to adjust to life as a night owl. I’m an in bed by 10 p.m. with a cup of warm water and a book kinda gal. But for the past few months I’ve been out past midnight every week night with a beer and bar food kinda gal. Throw that on top of the fact I’ve been creating marketing strategies for three new clients this week alone  (which I am beyond thrilled and grateful for) but I’ll admit I’m a little bit worn down. Some mornings I wake up (like today) and I wonder why I’m doing all this comedy stuff anyway. What’s it all for?

But then I remember that’s just the weak side of me asking. It’s the part of me that is worried it’s never going to go anywhere so why even do it? It’s the part of me that knows great comics make their rounds at the comedy clubs for years and years and years and still sometimes never get noticed. So what’s the point of it all? I really don’t know. My only guess is “the point” is doing something you truly enjoy doing. And how could doing something you love ever be called a waste of time?

It’s too much for me to think about on a Wednesday to be honest. I could play the game of “what’s the point” all day in my head about almost everything I do but where does that leave me? Just in a big pile of self pity and self doubt, which I don’t really have time for at the moment. So instead I’m going to live on the optimistic side of things for a little while longer I think, it’s more fun on this side anyway.

And on that note, I wanted to share that I just got word that I get to be in my first official show at the Laugh Factory in a few weeks. And it’s on a Friday night no less! I was going to wait to announce this until it’s closer to the date but screw it I’m just too damn excited. More details will come, but for now I’ve been told the show is Friday, February 28th at 10 p.m. This is prime time, friends. I could almost shit my pants just thinking about how nervous I will be. Apologies in advance for how much I will be talking about/promoting this show in the upcoming weeks. For once I can say I am truly excited to invite anyone and everyone in the area who would like to come, details on how to reserve tickets and all of that will come soon.

I’m going to end on that note. Happy Humpday.