Laugh Lines
Back in October, I told you all that I was taking a stand-up class.
It was quite honestly the scariest thing I have ever done.
So why did I do it?
For a couple of years now, I've been trying to keep myself open to adventure. That's one reason. The other reason is that ever since the horrible Mrs. Staples, music teacher from the Black Behind the Door (with a name like that, what were her options?), judged my rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" not worthy of leaving the chalk tray, I have had a horrible fear of solos. (I am sure my singing was atrocious; badly swollen tonsils and adenoids made me tone deaf, but still, it was majorly humiliating.)
I took the class because I have always loved comedy, loved to laugh (is there anyone who doesn't), and after watching (and memorizing) Eddie Izzard, I discovered Jim Sweeney of The Comedy Store Players and the original Whose Line is It Anyway and bought "The Sweeney," a documentary about him that made me think comedy or improv (or both) was something I should try. And I figured that if I stood up in front of people on my own, and got at least one laugh, the demon from the Blackness Behind the Door would be exorcised.
This past week, I was so nervous I had trouble sleeping. Yesterday I'm sure my students thought I'd hit the caffeine too hard. If I hadn't had time to hit the Fitness Center for my five bike miles, I would have been bouncing on the Green Room ceiling. If I had been number one in line-up, I don't know what I would have done. But I wasn't number one. I was number four.
All the same, like I said, I don't think I have ever been that nervous. It was only after I got to the FlynnSpace and was surrounded by my fellows in comedy (some of whom you will be most definitely seeing more of, and you should because they totally rock it), the nerves calmed--until all those seats filled.
But the thing is, we had a great audience--friends, family, comedy lovers. The laughs other people got helped me relax, enough.
And then I was on.
Let me tell you something: Laughter coming out of the darkness, laughter you deliberately enticed, is as warm as sound can be.
When it was over, I could have stepped straight into the air.
I am still floating.
