Successfully Avoiding Anything Planned
Archives: Comedy
Recording the HaHa
For the past month my behavior has been odd. I’ve been mumbling words to myself. Missing exits while driving. Spacing out while spacing out. Pacing like an Umpa Lumpa in skinny jeans. Visualizing each beat of a story about being at a party where a tiny bread crumb projected from my mouth and landed directly into the tear duct of the woman I was talking too. A tragic tale of dating dreams crushed by rogue bruschetta.
Why relive such a mortifying moment (over and over and over)? This is a question everyone who performs comedy must answer and it’s not an easy one. While I’m still seeking why I’m compelled to stand in front of friends and strangers and share these bits and pieces of my life for their entertainment, one thing was certain: I was recording a comedy album on October 23rd and I needed to mumble my way into cohesiveness.
Navigate
I’ve heard stories of Native Hawaiians who navigated their canoes by the stars. They found direction by studying the sun, ocean swells, and the flight patterns of seabirds. I’m lucky if I can find the Big Dipper. It’s incredible they learned to use elements in nature to map specific destinations. I’ll try to remember this next time I yell at my GPS for re-calculating when I miss a turn. Continue reading
Stand-Up to Cancer
I’ll never forget seeing a newspaper article several years ago about a group of fifth-grade boys who shaved their heads so their friend with cancer wouldn’t feel out of place. One of their 11-year old classmates went through chemotherapy and lost all his hair so the kids rallied together to ensure no one could tell who was sick. How cool is that. I remember being pretty obsessed with my hair at that age, meticulously shaping my jr. mullet with neon green Dep hair gel. I used Aqua Net if it was windy. #Confession is good for the soul. This was the 80’s man, it could of been worse, I knew guys with perms. Continue reading
Hawaii Sketch Fest
“Hey, I’d like to pretend to have a heart attack while a room full of friends and strangers watch for their entertainment,” said no one ever. Well, that’s exactly what I did this weekend and I have to say it was quite liberating. Most everyone’s biggest fear is dying on stage and now that I’ve gotten that out of the way I can move forward. Continue reading
How Improv Makes Me a Better Chaplain
In November of 2009, I became a full-time hospital chaplain and it’s no accident that by January 2010 I was enrolled in improv comedy classes. I think it was about week two…or hour two…that I realized I was going to need a healthy outlet to bring life balance to the intensity of the job. I was going to need a good dose of self-care as they encourage in the healthcare biz. I’m not sure being on an improv team called The Homewreckers is what they had in mind. Continue reading
Comedy Week In Review
People who know me at work can’t believe I do comedy. People who know me from comedy can’t believe I’m a chaplain. It’s ok, I can’t believe anyone’s a rodeo clown.
I’ll never forget seeing the flyer for a comedy class in Chicago. It was on a grocery store bulletin board in Comic Sans font with a cartoon smily face..obviously destiny was calling. Continue reading