The Contest

I have a co-worker who keeps badgering me (in a good way) to become a stand up comedian. I shoo her out of my office constantly as she leaves articles about comedy shows and female comedians on my desk. Whenever I tell a story she interrupts me half way through and tells me I need to add it to my “act”. She’s not giving up anytime soon so as long as I have to work with her I will continue to tolerate her. Sometimes I wonder if she just wants me to quit and try something new…which is actually not such a bad idea…

A couple of weeks ago I took Nate to Staples (because who doesn’t love browsing office supplies?) and I found a cute notebook. I had decided that if I was going to let Marsha enter my brain even a little than I had to break down and start taking notes. I get a lot of ideas while driving which is a real pain so I usually email myself the topic really quick or will use voice memo to record a quick rant. I hate listening to my voice so the latter is really torture for me. I find it amusing because other people seem to like my voice. I am the “lady” on the voicemail for my office and the hospital and in a couple of days I am recording something for a radio commercial. I guess I should embrace the voice I was given and forge ahead with my new career!

Marsha keeps telling me to go to local comedy clubs and write material and go to an open mic night. She had no idea that I have stage fright. I still can’t believe I danced in a 5th grade talent show…thankfully video cameras weren’t popular back then. I have been writing and I have been open to maybe one day doing something that people may see. Saturday morning I was flipping through the channels and a commercial came on for “Joan and Melissa” which I love. Joan Rivers is someone that I admire so much and if I could be fortunate enough to have a fraction of her talent I would die. At the end of the commercial there was a clip promoting a contest that they are running…

So, I grabbed a pen and wrote down “Joan Knows Comedy” and grabbed the iPad. Entries must be 90 seconds (no big deal right?) and have to be submitted by next month (good for procrastinators like me). I grabbed my notebook and started writing. I wrote about this crazy job I had before I got married. I think it’s funny and I did a test run and it was 90 seconds. Not so bad. After reading a little I decided to write some more. This time I changed to a pop culture/music theme. I like the material much better and have decided to tape myself. I’m going to go for it and hope to win a trip to NYC to meet Joan…now I just have to find a quiet spot and hide away like a criminal to tape myself!