Alright, so I’ve got some potential projects lined up in my life. My novel is underway. Nero is wrapping soon. Tory’s new flick is about to get cranked out; he and I are meeting Sunday. I’m looking ahead to One-Act festival. Hartman and I are discussing a potential sketch comedy show.
So it’s all got me thinkin’.
What is comedy? Who is comedy? And as I try to come up with some names of girls in my life who are funny I find myself asking, “Are women funny?!”
Now, I know the answer to that last question can very often be an emphatic, “Frick yeah!” But the problem is are women intrinsically funny.
After reading through the numerous comments my facebook note brought on, Chuck Stone raised an excellent point. That men are reared to be funny and brave and all sorts of things and women to be dainty and pretty. Kristen pointed out that comedy can be taught, and I think she’s right. I think someone can fully understand how comedy works, but it’s one thing to know how something works and be able to do it in a way that still works. I know many people who would know how to direct something comedically, but that does not for one second mean that if you put them in place of an actor they’d be able to do the same thing.
So where does that take us?
Am I funny? Am I comedic? I like to tell people, quite regularly that I am. In fact, my sense of humor is one of the things about myself I’m truly proud of. Maybe I’m not always proud of the things I say for the sake of comedy, but I do know that it’s funny. I told someone just the other day that I’m not a thief, but if I knew it would be funny I’d thieve in an instant. And it’s true. If I know something could be made funnier by a word or an action and I see the opportunity I’m going to take it. Maybe that’s what makes everyone so certain I’m an extrovert, but that’s not the case. I’m not an extrovert. I’m an entertainer.
The only way to make comedy really work is to move with reckless abandon. You can’t think about what’s going to be a consequence or what someone else is going to think. You just have to act, and then anticipate what’s going to happen from someone who may be willing to play it back to you. Comedy truly is give and take and then give some more. And without the willingness to make a complete and total ass of yourself, then you’ve no place in comedy. And that’s just the truth.
So sadly, what Chuck said burdens many women, because making an ass of oneself ain’t a pretty thing. In fact, most of the time, it’s down right ugly. But that’s what’s so good about comedy. You can make yourself as ugly as possible in a situation whether it be through what you say or what you do or how you actually look, but that comedic outcome, that punchline, that laugh is a beautiful thing.
