Funny you should mention …

I’ve always been a big fan of comedy – in fact, having a laugh is a big part of who I am and how I try to look at life. I’m often quick with a line or observation, and am usually one of the funny ones in the group. To be fair, my “group” at times has actually included TWO Ringling Brothers circus clowns, so of course there were plenty of times they had the (ahem) last laugh instead of me.

Over the years, my comedy interests have evolved – from bad 70s sitcoms to Steve Martin and Richard Pryor (apparently the camp counselors at Twin Lakes had a wide variety of tastes), to Monty Python and British-based humo(u)r, including my college favorites The Young Ones, then SNL and National Lampoon and just plain goofy jokes, then to surreal and deadpan types and then darker, deeper and more sarcastic humorists, including my all-time favorite George Carlin and my new darling Stewart Lee (HT to Jacco). And I was able to dissect and recount many of their acts, jokes and approaches to humor, which was nominally interesting, but of course quite different than being a part of it.

However, over the past 8 months, I’ve started to put a little more skin in the game. On a whim, I contacted a local live improv show called Fight Comic, which is more or less a Mock the Week-type show in Singapore with elimination rounds, and mentioned that I had once upon a time taken a few ComedySportz improv classes (but never performed with the troupe, as I was only in the practice squad for a while). Well, next thing you know, I’m onstage throwing out one-liners, dealing with surprise confessions and photos projected behind me and even having to put down hecklers. And despite some rough moments, surviving through it all, getting some laughs and even putting together some half-decent mini-routines for parts of the show.

So that’s the groundwork – which has led to a few really nice experiences, including getting to know the local comics in Singapore. Who are really a very welcoming, supportive and inclusive bunch, perhaps because the scene is so small they kind of have to be. But whatever the reason, I’ve really appreciated getting to know them and even working with a number of them. I’ve also gotten to meet some others in the industry, including some folks from Comedy Central and especially a New Zealand comic Andre King, who was not only kind enough to give us a workshop based on his decade-plus of making a living at all of this, but also even spent the time with me working through and refining a bunch of very rough ideas into a good usable 90 seconds of actual stand-up worthy material. Great guy – and hope I can return the favor someday.

Next up – putting myself a bit more out there by going onstage for Comedy Masala, a weekly open mic led by a guy named Umar. Five minutes total. Got a minute and half in the bag, so a bit more writing, a bit of verve to fill the gaps and off I will go. Hopefully in the next few weeks. In the meantime, just to have blog things to do, I will start randomly explaining either comedy ideas or talk about comedians I happen to like. So, as comedy tends to do, be prepared to be slightly offended in the posts to come. But all in the name of humor …