Snog & Standup Show

Well, I finally did it. At the ripe old age of almost 33, I finally made out with a girl. After passing up so many opportunities to do so over the years, I was feeling increasingly anxious about any acting job that reqiured romantic interaction. But I went on a pub crawl last night and hung out with Irish med students throughout, and one kept gushing in comparing me to various celebrity actors. So we made out in the club, then again at the door after I walked her back to her hostel.

I was pretty unimpressed with the experience. Granted, I might have been a bad kisser, or maybe she was, but assuming that that was not the case, it makes me feel pretty okay about all those times I skipped over in the past. Previously, one of the reasons why I held back was because I did was afraid of how it would impact the other person emotionally. But fortunately, a pub crawl in Eastern Europe is a great place to find someone with whom to snog without significant consequence.

People in my shared room in my hostel have been sick for days. And yesterday, I was having chills, just laying in bed between trips to the toilet until it was time for the pub crawl. Going out was admittedly not the most ethical thing I could have done, but fortunately, I did feel better once I had a buzz going.

I have reached the point in this trip at which I am kind of tired of being here, which was one of the goals. I have seen enough of the city that I have little excuse to avoid working on writing. This is critical because I booked my first standup comedy show, and it is scheduled for a week after I get back to the States. And they want me to do 15 minutes, though they said it was not strict with regard to timing. I should have plenty written, but now I am also writing the delivery, and having to add checking in with the audience to prevent it from feeling like a monologue.

In Budapest

I have been in Budapest for six days now, and it is wonderful. I did some fancier activities and food with my mom for the first few days before she flew back to England for a cruise, and have since finally been able to think about what I want to do, rather than managing her things.

The ratio of pretty people here is highly disproportionate, with a walk down the street typically being very pleasing to the eye. It has been nine years since I last had an extended stay in a European city, and one aspect I have noticed is that I have some insecurities about my age. I gave up my 20s for medicine, and an aspect of this reality is that if it comes up, I am no longer regarded as a fellow young traveler, but rather am asked things like whether I am there on business or for pleasure.

The weight of age and my current professional insecurities all weighed upon me yesterday when I went on a free walking tour, but I fortunately got drinks with some Australian travelers afterward, and it was a day well spent, with us drinking our fill of the local beer and discussing cultural, linguistic, and geopolitical differences.

Tomorrow, I will likely head north to a smaller town that, like Budapest, is a melting pot of a few very different cultures. Then I will potentially hop over to Bratislava, because Slovakia is quite close to here, and I am told that one day is plenty to spend there.

Second Try at Standup

I realized this week one reason why that potentially career-making project has been so quiet. The writers strike had been looming and is now happening as of this past Tuesday. Last time this happened in such a big way, it ruined shows like Heroes. I remember it well. It apparently only lasted for four months, but it had a big impact. We all know that the union will win this, so it is just a matter of waiting. So hopefully everything will be full speed ahead once the strike ends.

Speaking of writing, I have been working on this standup for close to a year now, and I finally went to an open mic again for the second time. I hated it, but I achieved my goals of staying under five minutes and getting it on video with decent audio. But it was after 2 1/2 hours of mostly bad standup, so the remaining audience was understandably not happy. If I had been in the audience, I would not have been easy to win over. I got some laughs, but they they were sometimes at the parts that I did not think were as funny. Rather than pause for these laughs, I was nervous enough to push right through them, which likely cost me future laughs in the set. So we plan to review that footage tomorrow with a critical eye, and hopefully I will give it one more at an open mic next week before I go to Europe.

Just as when I went to Europe last year, this trip will be surrounded by financial insecurity. The hope is that I get some good writing done while I am there, along with some inspiration with all that comes with new cities and countries. And possibly hit up an open mic there to get another video.