a priori/a posteriori

Friday, March 24, 2017

Can a Comedian Be Successful Without Facebook?

That is the experiment.
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I have lived in Virginia Beach for almost two years now.  I love it here, and


Vanessa and I are starting to talk about decades instead of years,


in terms of how long we might stay here.
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I still love stand-up comedy, even though we moved away from the "mecca" of stand-up that is New York City.


I'd love to get involved in the scene here in the south.  Just one problem: 


I'm not on Facebook.
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Even the nicest comedians I've met in town -- the people who ten years ago would have helped me meet the right people in a comedy scene --


all say the same things:


"Oh yeah -- just hit him up on Facebook."


"He runs a great show -- friend him on Facebook."


"I'm not sure what time that one's at -- but just look up the event page on Facebook."
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Our industry exists more in a scrolling blue timeline than in any smoke-filled room or any history-drenched, checker-floored club. 


I fell in love with comedy for a  lot of different reasons.  But one of them was because it was art that happened IN THE ROOM.  It happened IN FRONT OF YOU. 


Stand-up comedy -- the type I feel most inspired by -- is a surreal combination of a magician who performs real magic, and one of those chefs that kills the food and uses 6-foot flames to cook it while you're watching.


Great stand-up is like a gust of wind.  It's there, and then it's gone.  If you catch it and try to show it to someone later, it's too late.  It's just air.
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For me, "how good I was" is irrelevant.  Because whether I was the worst comedian ever, or the best one ever,


I'm still interested in working at it again.  And getting better and better at the craft.


I just wish I could get a f___ing hold of anyone.
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So I've decided to document this new journey.


I'm going to use this site -- BrysonTurner.com and thecomedyhajj.blogspot.com -- to see what it's like for a comedian to pursue comedy


without Facebook.
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