My open mic comedy set!
For a bit of context: I had a great time in Brisbane and Sydney recently. This included attending a Daniel Sloss show — someone I love for his funny yet deep material.
With post holiday blues, the start of Autumn, and also being off my medication, I could feel myself on the way down… Spontaneously one night I googled ‘open mic shows’ and signed up to the next show without having any material.
Over 4 days I wrote and rehearsed this set. The advice I was given was to just go up with a list and fire off unrelated individual jokes.. But I wanted to challenge myself.
I was feeling confident until I rocked up and found out i would be number 27 of 35 other comedians. The nerves built and built. I had a double shot cold brew to pick me up, then cider and wine to bring me back down — also politely refusing another comedian’s offer of valium. I was 100% certain I was going to throw up mum’s spaghetti. But once I stepped on stage, something else took over. The feeling was surreal, and took me back to my primary school days as the class clown.
The killer was the strict 4 minute time limit. I could have slowed down, but I’m stoked I delivered my entire set! I also appreciate the people who wished me well and showed up to support me.
What I took from this is that the fear of something is often the worst of it. And that if we’re having fun with something we love, others will respond positively to our energy. We just need to show up, and stand up.
I’ve been asked when the next one is, but I’m not sure. Stand up feels too scripted for me — almost like acting. For now, I got what I needed: A creative kick, a bucket list item ticked off, and a reminder of how much making others laugh and smile means to me. Making other people happy, makes me — even when I feel far from it — happier.
“I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know what it’s like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anyone else to feel like that.” – Robin Williams
