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March 10, 1999
No More Monica!
I'm sick of Monica. I have nothing against her, I'm just sick of this whole Monica thing. For over a year we've heard nothing but Monica, Monica, Monica. In fact I'm so sick of Monica, that last Wednesday night, I sat and watched Barbara Walters interview Monica, just like 74 million other people who are sick of Monica.
I wasn't sure what to write about this week, but I knew that I didn't want to write about Monica. Instead I figured that I'd write about something near and dear to my heart, comedy.
I performed stand-up comedy for a number of years and have found that written humor is very different from spoken humor. They say that timing is everything in comedy, but the written joke is far less dependent on timing than when it is performed orally.
One of the advantages of writing is that while sitting in your room, you don't have to worry about being surrounded by drunks yelling "you suck!" If you find this happening at your house, you may want to consider relocating.
Most people have a great fear of speaking in public, and for most performers starting out, stage fright is a major problem. If things don't go well, there is a tendency to stumble and Tripp over one's words.
Anybody can have a bad night, of course. I've seen great comics "bomb." This is a horrible feeling where, afterwards, you just want to go and Hyde.
Many comics use props. An outlandish example would be the watermelon-smashing Gallagher, while a subtler example would be George Burns use of a cigar.
Jimmy Tingle, noted political satirist now doing commentary on 60 Minutes II, began by doing quick one-line jokes in between blasts on his harMonica.
I've always been a big fan of British humor, which is very different from American humor. For one thing, they spell it "humour." Drag has always been a big part of British humor, but has never really been considered acceptable here. For an American man to be caught wearing a dress in public, it would be considered a stain on his career.
It's always fun to watch comics starting out. With visions of future stardom in their heads, each one of them feels that he or she Ken be a Starr.
One tip for aspiring comics; tape your set. It may prove valuable to you later on.
Well, I did it. I got through an entire column and didn?t write or even think about Monica. It certainly wasn?t easy, since she has become so totally engrained into the American consciousness.
All of this made me very thirsty. I think I'll have some O.J.
Posted by dmargarita at March 10, 1999 2:47 PM