Day five of seven here in Vegas.
Despite the fact I enjoy the town I'm starting to make tick marks on the side of the video poker machines to count down until I leave. A week here is too long. Tonight I have ticket for the Improv at Harrah's casino. I have not been doing much winning this trip and therefor though my evening would be better served laughing rather than crying.
I enjoy live comedy and I applaud anyone who can stand up before a crowd (an inebriated crowd in lots of cases) and deliver material they created. Writers at least are afforded a bit of time and space before their babies are judged and reviewed. A comedian's mental offering are up for immediate appraisal.
Sometimes in my crazier, or more insane moments I imagine that I could be a comedian. I make people laugh on a fairly regular basis and sometimes I even do it intentionally. I have a habit of noting the unnoticed as do many stand-ups. I'm not afraid of people or public speaking. I have read my fiction in front of groups of various sides and truly it doesn't frighten me much anymore.
And I'd love to make a living spouting off my ideas and thoughts, but guess what? If given a choice, become the next Larry the Cable Guy, Jeff Foxworthy, or Ron White. (make no mistake I'd fall into that Blue Collar Crowd type of humor), or the next Carl Hiasson, John Grisham, or Nicholas Sparks I'm joining my literary brothers.
I'd rather hammer out my diatribes in solitude than under the glare of lights. If I want a drunk heckler to point out my creative shortcomings, I'd rather print out a page and let my wife read it while I refill her wine glass. That means I'm never likely to get my own sitcom, but that's okay, because I've got my own blog.
27 comments:
LOL- though I'm sure J is also laughing at the thought of being your lone drunk heckler.
Going on stage for a comedy routine is on my Bucket List. It's the only place I can think of where my cursing might be perceived as funny and not just a blonde with a sailor complex.
Have a ball tonight!
Tape some stand-up, put it on youtube and let us see it! Best way - and i think you are in the best town to do so. If you are in vegas, you have to see KLAUS PIERE - he should be taping some of his webisodes sometime soon, i think. Anyways - just searching random vegas stuff. Have a blast!
Duuuude, I feel ya.
My wife and I stayed in Vegas for a whole week on our honeymoon.
By the 4th day, we were having to keep an eye on our bank account!
Good luck with the last 2 days!
If this writing gig doesn't pan out, at least you have a back-up plan. However, I think you won't need to use it.
I often thought I could do stand up too, however, I much prefer to be the heckler.
Hubby frequently bemoans the fact that he never became a comedian. He gets super-funny after a couple beers. He justifies his non-comedy career choice by saying it saved him from being an alcoholic!!
I so want to be on a stage somewhere telling jokes. I've always wanted to be in a sitcom. Roseanne Barr/Arnold was my hero. I loved her brash and ballsy comedy and I still LOL at her show.
That being said - I make a much better drunk comic than sober. Although people tell me I'm funny sober or drunk. At least sober I don't cry and blubber. :D
And here we are. Your hecklers.
You're right about one thing, a week in Vegas is plenty!
Yeah, three days is usually the max for us in Vegas. Any more and it gets too costly.
No way could I ever do stand-up. I admire those who can, though.
when i was a kid that's how my daddy kept me in school and in line..promised if i stayed in school i could go to jerry lewis commedian school...when i found out there was no such thing i quit school and got married at 16...i wanted to be (and still do) a commedian soo bad..
Well you made me laugh with this post. Standing up in public is not my thing. I'm pretty uncomfy speaking in a crowd of more than three. And so when I want to be heard, I blog. And when I want to laugh, I'll visit yours.
I'd rather just joke w/friends than get on stage, where I'd likely piss my pants & run offstage crying (kind of like Butters on South Park.) I love going out to a show, though. Live comedy's always a great time.
stand up all the way dude!
"If I want a drunk heckler to point out my creative shortcomings, I'd rather print out a page and let my wife read it while I refill her wine glass."
HA!
I bet you'd be a great stand up comedian. But I prefer reading to watching comedy, so stick with your dream.... :)
I love standup comedy. What a hard job. Comedians are writers, too, and because the bits are short and it takes many bits to comprise an act, I think it's a tough job.
I wonder how comedians feel when they have a favorite joke but the joke has served its time and is now on their Comedy Central Special and on their DVD. It would be hard to retire your favorite bits.
Isn't it funny how many of us would want to be comics on stage? I wonder if there's the same amount of struggling-to-make-the-big-time comedians as there are writers struggling-to-make-the-big-time?
I used to love about two or three days in Vegas, no more. Now, it's so congested it's like going from heaven to hell for the traffic.
There is NO way I could be a comedian. I would rather run the Boston Marathon naked than try to make a crowd of people laugh.
Wait a minute. I think what I said up there WOULD make a crowd of people laugh.
I can't win for losing.
I also went to Vegas for my honeymoon. We stayed for five days and I think we went to the airport a little early. Four and a half days is the perfect amount!
I have no problems speaking in front of large audiences, but I ain't no comic. It takes a certain rhythm to land the punch line in front of a crowd. I've only ever managed a few chuckles.
Sometimes I think being a teacher is not far different from being a stand up comedian. They have moments of identity. All in all, though, I wouldn't want to live the life of travel required. I'm far too much a home body.
I could never do stand-up comedy. My husband could, I think, because he delivers one-liners like no other.
Seven days in sin city IS too much, methinks.
I've never seen anyone compare having your own blog to having your own sitcom. I like it though. It makes me feel famous.
I'm one of those poor unfortunates who is paralyzed with fear by the mere thought of saying 10 words in front of an audience. No way could I read stories in front of people or, God forbid, tell a joke.
Pretty sure that's what sparked me to become a writer. I wanted to communicate my thoughts to people.
Just not out loud. :)
Enjoy the rest of your stay and I hope you get lucky before you go.
Sometimes I think about trying stand-up comedy. It seems like one of the scariest things in the world, and if I actually got up there and did it, maybe I wouldn't ever be scared of anything again.
And everybody knows there's WAY more money to be made writing, right?!
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