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Old 01-05-2015, 06:14 PM   #65
Clodfobble
UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 20,012
Thanks you guys! I have so much fun doing it, it's truly therapeutic. Even the one time I completely bombed, I felt like I should feel bad but I didn't, I swear to God it was an even bigger high than when I do well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce View Post
1- Aren't you worried about neglecting your family while doing World Tours, or just flying to this coast or that, for appearances?
I know you're joking, but in all seriousness, I'm not worried because this isn't a career for me no matter how much better I may get with experience. Obviously the reality of my life makes it a non-starter, but aside from logistics, I am actively refusing to let my left brain have any piece of this action.

See, here's how it is. I'm naturally about 90% left brain, and that's a balance that works for me. But dealing with my kids (not just emotionally coping, but successfully documenting symptoms and teasing out patterns from the observable data) meant going 100% left brain for a few years, just straightjacketing that fucker who likes to feel things and relate to people and throwing away the key. She got out a few times, but I got better at predicting and avoiding the escape routes. And by the time the job was mostly done and I was finally able to step back and check in on her, she'd turned into Helena from Orphan Black. You can't just release something like that back into the world, you know?

So not only did I choose these open mic nights as a specific way to ease my right brain back out on day trips, I made the conscious rule for myself that I wasn't going to let it become work in any way. Instinctively I want to be the best at everything I do, and this is the one place I won't allow it. I won't network with other comics before the show, I won't search out other places I could perform in town, I won't actively try to write material. It's all fun and no ambition and that's how it has to stay.
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