On My Weird Hobby, Comedy
Two years deep and never looking back
Next week marks two years since I took a leap of faith and signed up for my very first improv comedy class. I had graduated from college with a music degree six months before and was at my first full-time desk job. The soul-suck was real and I needed a creative outlet. Though I stayed in touch with music contacts in the area- jamming with them was never my thing, and I never developed a community that fostered creativity around that outlet.
Creative energy burning a hole in my pocket, I expressed a passing comment with a housemate about how badly I wanted to be in the writers room at late night “but everyone wants that, of course,” I said. “Uh, they don’t,” the housemate pointed out. And for the first time I realized that the way I idolized comedians and the comedic process might not be the norm- maybe, I should explore the community I was yearning to be a part of and see if I could hack it.
I mustered courage and all my extroverted energy and signed up for my first comedy class, improv 101.
In the first few weeks something clicked. It wasn’t that I was (or am) some kind of comedy savant (I’m not) but one thing that stood out amidst the “Yes, ands” and the Microsoft dudes trying to be funny was that the few true comedy nerds in the room were definitely, without a doubt, my people.
I made my first comedy friend, who has become one of my best all-the-time friends, while in that first class. I learned life skills about interaction with others in scenes and in life. And as I progressed onto the next class levels through that year, I gained friendships and shared laughs that changed me as a person, and gave me life. That first year out of college at a boring desk job was rough, I spent my weeks looking forward to improv nights, thrilled when class turned into drinks and I could spend more time doing life with these people. It happened slowly, over that first year — but looking back I see how clearly my attitude took a turn for the positive. I became more optimistic, more outgoing, and more excited about life. It’s just the “Yes, And” effect.
The following summer I took another leap of faith, I signed up for comedy summer camp by flying to Chicago and taking a week of intensive classes with The Second City. I flew to Chicago alone to spend eight days on a comedy pilgrimage. I was challenging the notion that comedy people were my people, figuring that if this was all as exciting as I thought it was I would have a great time — but I was also armed with that northwest pessimism that people are the worst and I was probably going to hate half my class. I was (happily) wrong on that front. I had an amazing week, met fantastic friends from all over the US who I still keep in touch with, and learned comedy techniques that have carried into many of my creative projects to date.
I left that trip feeling humbled, knowing that I needed to find a community at home who was excited as I was about the technical aspects of a sketch revue. And feeling a little bummed that the robust land of comedy with a large audience was not where I lived. I started getting plugged into the Seattle sketch comedy community, which seems small from the outside but rich and lively once you experience a bit of what is going on there.
I attended shows, dipped my toe in here and there, but by the time New Years rolled around I still didn’t have a way to perform regularly. My resolution for 2016 was that I would perform on stage doing something comedic just once. And boy have I blown that out of the water.
In January I was selected to be part of Clayton Weller’s Sketch Summit groups. It’s making the band for sketch groups and for someone who hates small talk and networking — this was the ideal situation. I get to just show up and be coached through writing a sketch show with people who were hand-picked to do comedy together? Yes, please! Villains was born and we were thrust into the scene for Sketch Month at the Pocket Theater.
Following those first performances we were on our own, but far from lonely. The sketch community is full of the nicest, most welcoming people who are so genuinely excited to see others join the team that it exudes from them at seemingly unsustainable rates. But the more time I spend getting to know these new friends, the more their kindness and excitement was contagious.
Before coming down with the comedy bug myself, I resented the constant Facebook event invites, invitation texts, and emails about their latest show or endeavor. But I am now excited to receive these invites and attend these shows because supporting each other is part of what makes this community so healthy.
Villains’ second time out was for the SketchFest Fund Fight in May. We performed with over a dozen groups to compete for dollars to put on the festival this September. We got second place (!) and I’m still just as shocked as you about that, dear readers! (Whom I imagine to be friends from high school who are full-stop stalking me to see what I’m up to these days — go Spartans!) coming off our near win at Fund Fight we applied for the festival and waited results.
The results are something so flabbergasting that I’m still not (and may never be) over it: Villains will be headlining SketchFest 2016
This group of five newbies are going to be performing our second real show ever… as a headliner for a festival. Lucky, #blessed, afraid we are actually Villains — call it what you will, but I’m calling it the best opportunity yet.
I cannot believe that on the 2nd anniversary of dipping my toe into comedy, I’ll be headlining a festival with my sketch group. I’ve found my people and I cannot remember my life without them in it, my evenings not filled with rehearsals, or my heart more full of joy than at this moment. And I cannot wait for what is ahead.
Villains will be performing at SketchFest on September 23rd at 7pm tickets are available at http://bit.ly/SketchFest16
