Are All Good Comedians Depressed?
Vinny looked like Woody Allen, but that’s where the likeness ended
The thing about Vinny, the aspiring stage comedian was he was a serious character.
On bar night, usually Friday or Saturday he would turn up, looking like a clown. But he always only, looked the part.
His method was to listen and poach any humorous ideas that drifted his way.
Either from his friends (us) or anyone else he heard bantering away.
He would test lines, gags and ideas on us. If he heard something that he felt had potential he would say, something like:
Man, that is funny, that’s hilarious, funn — nny, don’t ya think?
Two points should be noted. Vinny rarely laughed, if he did, it was a silly snorting, high pitched affected giggle and notice, the question mark.
He lacked faith in his own ability to judge funny — maybe with good reason.
He never encouraged us to go to any of his shows; we found out why.
A bunch of us turned up one Thursday evening at the local live comedy venue.
Vinny was on stage, our eyes met and I think I saw fear, maybe shame or a similar quick emotive flash, then gone, back to Vinny the clown.
His routine was like the bush poet my wife and I had endured when broken down in the outback one time.
On night one, the poet seemed brilliant, entertaining and genuine funny.
By the third night, he was a boring hack. Just repeating the same gags and one liners.
Vinny was up there regurgitating weeks old lines from the Friday pub nights.
To be fair, the audience laughed pretty solidly through the half hour performance. We didn’t.
Later, Vinny: What’d ya think, guys?
Me: Fantastic Vinny, hilarious, you had them pissing themselves.
I answered this way, because I now understood what he was about. He was not about being funny. He was about making people laugh, and he did that well.
