On a Decade in Maine Comedy
Reflections on ten years of pussy jokes
Welcome back, my friends. Hope everyone is keeping their feet warm and their hands clean. As I write this first post, we’re coming to the end of another wacky (horrible )year and the end of the year holds a particular significance to me as it also signifies the beginning of my comedy “career”. And the end of this particular year holds extra weight as it marks the end of my first decade of performing comedy.
I used to perform with my eyes open onstage
I don’t want to make this too much of a woe is me post. Especially considering it’s one of the very first on this Substack. This is not the tenor and tone that I’m hoping to establish here. A lot of people have had it a lot worse than me over the past two years and my heart goes out to them. However, if you’re willing to indulge me in my pity party, please take my hand and read the next few paragraphs.
Fact of the matter is I thought celebrating my 10th anniversary in comedy would feel a lot different, a few years ago. Do you remember the beginning of 2020? Friends, I can never forget the excited optimism that filled me as we approached the new decade. Bernie Sanders was looking like he might possibly actually become the President and here in the little micro universe of Maine comedy, it was looking like Portland, Maine would have its own comedy club for the first time in nearly a decade.
There was a lot for irrational Southern Maine liberals to be happy about in late 2019.
No longer would I have to travel to Boston, Worcester, or Providence to work with the top comedians in the country. January and February 2020 were some of the best months of my career as I got to crush feature sets in front of packed houses and work with great comedians. I got the invite to perform at a Just For Laughs audition at LaughBoston in April. Visions of being seen by network executives and getting cast as the third lead in a CBS sitcom danced in my head.
Then March 2020 happened. Our comedy club has yet to reopen and at this point, hopefully not speaking out of turn here, I kind of don’t think it will. I’ve still yet to resume the normal performing schedule I had pre pandemic.. I’m performing about 40% of the amount of the shows I was in early 2020. That reduced schedule is partially of my own volition. I think that time off has made me realize that time spent at home really is more valuable than some gigs. However, a lot of it is simply out of my hands. Even though the world has reopened, so many of the places I used to perform at are permanently closed.
There’s also the fact that over 800,000 people have died of a virus that a third to half of the country denies even exists. We haven’t even begun to process the collective trauma, anger, and grief we’ve faced in the last two years. These are not the best circumstances to perform (or watch) stand up comedy in. It’s not to say that their hasn’t been nights in the past six months where I’ve locked in and performed some of the best sets I’ve had. However, there have been just as many nights where I’ve been getting ready to go onstage and the rational side of me thought “Should we really be doing this?”
My friends, it doesn’t take an expert to tell you that when you’re performing comedy and your rational internal thoughts are poking through, it’s not a great sign. As it stands right now, in the world of stand up comedy, it certainly seems like there are more miles behind me in the rear view mirror than there are ahead of me on the open road. Is the party really winding down? Even in the microworld of Maine comedy, there’s still goals left for me to accomplish. I’d love to perform at the State Theatre and being a three time winner of “Maine’s Best Comedian” is even better than being a two time winner but I definitely feel the need to reassess and reconfigure where I’m going. This may not be the end at all but rather a new beginning.
I’d always heard that in comedy, it takes at least ten years for a performer to get good. Even beyond that, I think it’s more important to be smart and even more important to be lucky than it is to be good. Goodness is objective but no one can deny how many great times I’ve had on stage. In terms of intelligence and luckiness? I think it’s been a mixed bag, at best. Maybe I should’ve followed my friends’ advice and tried to make a play in New York or LA but then I wouldn’t have built my happy, humble home life with my girlfriend and cat. Maybe I should’ve taken more road gigs and rubbed more elbows but I probably avoided a lot of anxiety and stress and lonely nights in the process.
I don’t know where this road takes me or how much longer it will go on but I will forge on for as long as I can. Every great set is worth every angsty blog post. And sometimes, all it takes is one lucky break for everything to change. So please keep the dream of me starring on a CBS sitcom with Marlon Wayans and Kevin Nealon alive in your hearts. If you’ve seen me perform or performed with me, thanks for coming along for the ride.
My Comedy Career
December 22nd, 2011- ?