Finding One's (Comedic) Voice

Still waiting to hear back about that casting call, but I also know that these things take time. As I wait to hear back about that, my focus is on finding my voice for open mic nights. I have attended each of these livestreamed standup comedy workshops that I could thus far, absorbing everything I could, but I now have the more arduous task of transforming these jokes into my own style of storytelling. This is in part because I do not care for the traditional standup comedy format. Every instinct in me wants to parody this, to somehow satirize it. Additionally, there is my physicality that I just have not used for so long. In my undergraduate days, I did slapstick comedy constantly, trained myself to do the types of physical bits that might have been performed on a Vaudeville stage, but I did for no particular audience aside from whoever may be nearby.

These comedy workshops have been great for brainstorming and for coming up with bits to mix in, but I am ultimately thinking that the standard style of doing joke after joke after joke is boring to me. Comedic storytelling with underlying physical bits and odd mannerisms is far closer to what I am looking to do. Today's study was of these types of bits, where the comedian in question does not say a word. I like (and have practiced) the approach of being surprised and confused by my various body parts and their movements and actions. Hands, feet, arms, and legs, torso, all of these can go in unexpected directions that, by my facial expression, apparently take me off guard.

The other element that I have been looking into is guitar. My grandma gave me hers. I only know a few chords, but that may be enough for comedic use of the guitar. Write a simple song or just play a few background notes to set the mood.

Tomorrow, I plan to go and see more standup comedy after attending a happy hour aimed at those like myself who are academically advanced health professionals.

That Casting Call...

Well, on the night that I wrote my last post, I learned that a comedian friend is on the casting team for that comedy show. So by the next night, I had sent in an application. And then I had a few days to prepare for her to interview me. And since that interview, I have been sending them clips as requested to highlight my comedic skills. It feels crazy, because I went through such a similar interview process before for a singing show two years ago, but this time, I am not pretending to be a good singer. I am specifically being my own self, someone who is striving to combine medicine and comedy, in large part because it feels like a waste to leave either behind.

My chances of getting on the show sound good. So instead of job hunting, I am shifting my next "responsible task" to cultivating some comedic bits to have in my back pocket just in case. I practice improvisation every week, but it is best to rely on something in which you are confident, then add to that as needed.

To some extent, I am hesitant to get my hopes up. But I once again have some advantages in this, and it would actually showcase me specifically in what I would consider to be a more authentic form of myself. Comedy, medicine, entertainment, and a myriad of life experiences all blended into whatever I am.