Funny

Tonight I got hooked on a new Neftlix show with Jerry Seinfeld called "Celebrities in Cars getting Coffee."  Sounds about at boring as watching paint dry, I know.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear their conversations, which didn't consist of one comedy schtick after another, but actually showed the comedians engaging in some fairly deep conversations about life and the oddities of every-day living. 

I found myself laughing at Jerry's evaluation of himself as a shrink and the advice he'd give everyone--"Just get over it!" He says, and we all laugh because we know that at some point in our lives, everyone encounters that friend to whom we want to say, "Just get over it already!"  But we don't say those things, no out loud anyway.

The biggest takeaway for me were the conversations with every single...passenger??  Guest?? about the struggles of breaking into the business.  They spoke of butterflies, of shaky knees, of feeling small and insignificant.  They talked about the times they bombed on stage and their frantic efforts to save themselves before they were eaten by the hungry audience of wolves looking for laughs, not jokes that flop.  They talked of numerous rejections and bad reviews and even their deeper emotional experiences.  Ellen opened up about once wanting children, but seemed to take Jerry's advice about letting her wife get more horses instead of having children.  Apparently Portia can't abide the joyful sounds of children playing in the pool.  There's a good joke in there somewhere, Ellen.

The common denominator for all these folks?  They started poor, unknown, and some of them, unliked. But they could see the humor in every day life--the humor that escapes most of us because we only see it at face value.  Comedians can be deep thinkers sometimes.  That's why they notice things that most of us never think twice about.  They call us out on our own silly human foibles, they make us laugh at ourselves and our families and the world in general for being so incredibly screwed up!  And most of all, no matter how much they're heckled, no matter how many bad reviews they get in The Times, and no matter how many times they flop on stage, they never give up.  There's always another stage, another joke, another human incongruity to exploit and laugh about.  We are their material.

Tonight though, I started to feel as if they could serve as my example.  There's something amazing about the talent of being funny.  I used to think I had it, but the years have taught me that I am much too moribund to turn life into one big joke.  To beat all I've ever seen though, I still find myself wanting to try.  Comedy though, seems to be a gift bestowed on few--the Fools of our modern day possess and air of sophistication and intelligence that comedians of the past never had to consider. 

So though I used to fancy myself a Lucille Ball or a Carol Burnette, I realize I'm a red head of a different breed--only funny when I don't mean to be, which I think means people usually laugh AT me, not with me.

But...Because I watched that show, I will vow to keep on keeping on.  I will write my sad, heart wrenching stories anyway, and maybe somewhere, find room for a funny tale or two along the way.  It won't be Jerry Seinfeld or Ellen funny, but maybe my own brand of funny won't be so bad after all.

Wish I had a joke for y'all.  I'm all fresh out.