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Because yesterday I attended my very first class in stand-up comedy, taught by a real live stand-up comic who has actually made a living by being funny in person, as opposed to just documenting their random mental snarkiness on the Internet for free.
This is very different from the “live” situations in which I normally place myself, such as teaching a Spanish class. In those situations everyone is more than happy to support the illusion that I am actually funny, since they know that if they don’t I could very well say that I’ve just taught them the proper way to ask, “Would you be interested in doing business with our company?” when in truth they will have just proclaimed to their potential business partner that “You are a large monkey filled with giant, hairy balls of cheese.”
It was also different because, as someone remarked, most of us there were used to being the funniest person in the room. But now, there we were in a room FULL of “the funniest people in the room.” That, plus the fact that out of 17 people, only 5 of us were women, made for an interesting dynamic, to which people tended to react in extremes. Either they hung back and didn’t say anything, or they reacted in manner which can only be described as, Whipping It Out Onto The Table At The Slightest Provocation.
It is hard to be a creative person, hard to consistently offer up little pieces of your soul to others never knowing exactly how they’ll be received. And I fully admit to having my own fair share of ego.
But I don’t think that’s any excuse for, when you are three men working in a group with one woman, and the woman notices the three of you completely taking over the exercise for which you all are responsible and so speaks up to make sure that you include some of her material too, that you treat her either as an hysterical, irrational female, or a bitch, and condescend to include one of her jokes with the attitude of someone “throwing her a bone” so that she’ll just shut up already and let The Men get on with the real work.
However I am finding quite a bit of comfort in the saying that, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Because I? Am the one with the blog, a highly-trafficked piece of cyber-space where I can state, firmly and unequivocally that clearly, I am Just Too Much Woman For Them.
You go girl! Crazy boys!
Those men just don’t have a clue who they are dealing with, do they?
Enjoy your class. I am really curious how it goes. Not something I would ever try, so I will live it vicariously through you.
The beauty is while they will drown in their own egos, you can just let it all wash down and reap the fruits of their failure. I cant wait til you are famous so i can say i knew you when!
More power to you. Public speaking is one of those things I just prefer not to do. Why? because I like not peeing my pants.
As for the guys, there are always going to be men like that. Unfortunately. Kick some ass… ass. 🙂
You tell ’em, girl. Reminds me of that commercial where the men are snacking and looking out the window at the people working (or not) on the street… making comments about them… while the woman is doing the work. And then they take credit. Don’t know why it reminds me of the commercial, since it’s really nothing like it, but that’s the way my brain works. The curse of being blonde.
So. If you pass this class in stand up comedy, do you get a certificate or something? Suitable for framing, maybe?
Thanks so much for all the fantastic encouragement! 🙂