Chrsit Follower, Husband, Father, Writer
Getting started in comedy is the hardest part of getting started in comedy.
Huh?
Yeah – you read that correctly. Starting anything new is always the hardest part but with comedy there are so many variables – you have to know where to go, who to know, how to write, courage to get on stage – sometimes that equates to stupidity – and the list goes on but the absolute hardest part of getting into this business is finding stage time.
I got this off the internets – thank you internets.
Ever had the Pizza Hut P’Zone? If not I am super sorry. It was a delicious masterpiece of pizza-y goodness. You can get a decent calzone from just about any pizza place but the P”Zone was a zone I could easily get into.
Other zones? Not so much.
Photo From Creative Commons: Michelle Milla
https://www.flickr.com/photos/michellemilla/
<— THAT FACE.
That face completely sums up my feelings this morning when I woke up and realized that I broke the chain.
That’s right – I BROKE THE CHAIN!
I try writing every day – I am a firm believer in the Seinfeldian – DON’T BREAK THE CHAIN – train of thought.
In 2014 I frequently used the hashtag – #dontbreakthechain for motivation and encouragement to me fellow writers.
I am sitting here working on my goals for next year, something I neglected to do last year and as a result I drifted.
Going into 2014 I was filled with hope for getting back into comedy. I was excited by the prospect of getting back on a stage and the rush that accompanies the sound of laughter that I caused – inadvertently or not.
I missed that feeling – a lot, and had every intention of pursuing that feeling and everything that goes with it but I got sidetracked at the beginning of the year and it took me until almost August to see how far off track I had gotten.
Something that would not have happened had I had a plan – but not simply a plan but a written plan. A road map for where I wanted 2014 to take me or better, where I wanted to TAKE 2014.
Raising the flag at Iwo Jima
Hardly seems possible. The Wizard of OZ, Santa and the Tooth-fairy seem more likely than to say that 25 years ago today I was eating my first breakfast – having not slept for more than 24 hours – on Parris Island.
My Marnie adventure was just beginning and everything was moving so fast that I had little time to think. That’s not a bad thing – really.
My time in the Marines is a mixed bag of emotion for me.
On the one hand, I spent the required amount of time, overcame all the obstacles, met all the requirements necessary to become a Marine. I walked across the parade deck and was declared a “Marine”. That can never be taken away from me.
My #dontbreakthechain calendar as it looked on 10 JUNE 214
**Editors Note**
I wrote this back in June so some of the numbers and dates are old but the sentiment is the same. I took me this long to pull the trigger on posting this because I had grown so comfortable with the My 500 crew and was hesitent – to say the least – about making any changes.
God Bless you All
MickHolt
Photo By; katielips (Creative Commons)
I remember driving down the street to the first house we lived in when we moved here. It had been maybe 6 years since I had seen the house or really driven anywhere near it but in that moment I needed to connect with a part of my past. It had been far too long. It was a long drive but it was worth it. You could call this an attempt to get at something familiar before I embarked on what I believed would be the biggest change in my life and to that point – it was. However, I thought it would be the door to open up the whole world to me; a passage to another dimension – well, not literally but going from nearly not graduating high school to leaving for Parris Island in less than forty eight hours – I think another dimension really captures the heart of what I was feeling.
How much time do you spend beating yourself up for things you wish you had done? Or things you wished you’d done differently? Or things you’d wished you’d never done? Or, or, or…
That guy you dated for WAY too long, the girl you dumped WAY too soon, a class you wanted to take, a movie you wanted to see maybe you zigged when you should have zagged? I bet you have your own that you’re already thinking about.
Photo by: Waponi (Creative Commons)
There are many things that I do not understand. Among those are physics, the appeal of soccer and why Two Broke Girls is still on the air (with any luck I will need to update this reference inside six months) but the top of the list is the question of intolerance.
