Have I ever been away for awhile! After the year I had and the way I kicked off 2015 – 31 posts in 31 days with my Proverbs challenge (Day 31 here) – I really thought I’d be a blogging machine this year. I got distracted from blogging but for a really good reason – I am working on my dream of becoming a working comedian!
And it takes a TON of time.
I am still writing – almost every day. Not keeping a calendar like I did in 2014 (See that here) but my joke notebook is filling up and I have nearly 10 minutes of very usable material so far this year – and that is a good thing.
Below are the MAIN goals I have for myself to accomplish my dream of turning comedy from a pastime to a profession.
1) Long Term Comedy Goal – LTCG – I want to be able to replace my full time job and support my family doing, 100% clean, God honoring comedy.
2) Comedy Education including – Rik Roberts’ School of Laughs (I highly recommend checking out the school and the podcast). I will read books and take workshops to improve my material, my mindset and my drive. Always looking to improve.
3) Writing Daily – I will write at least 2 pages of free thoughts and note what might be usable as material and work on ideas as they come to me or that I have keep track of in either my notebook or Evernote
4) Open Mics – I will attend at least one (1) OM a week – more as family and work allow but 1 for sure. I heard RR say it takes about 100 OMs to know yourself and your audience so I have about 80 more sets to go before I really know what I am doing – YIKES!
5) Accountability Partners – Along with sending this list to RR, I will recruit some guys from my church as well as a couple a my comedy buddies to hold me accountable to all of the above.
So, Whaddya think? Did I miss anything, would you add anything? What is your dream – your passion? Please share it in the comments.
A great man once said, “If you never failed, you never tried.”
Of course another – much meaner – man once said to me “If ya ain’t cheating, ya ain’t trying” then he knocked me down.
I do miss Grampa.
Both quotes have a degree of truth to them and your willingness to adopt these into your mindset could determine how or if you – or I – see any success in 2015 ( no this is not my EOY encouragement for you to write out your goals for 2015 – BUT it’s coming).
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.
Whew! It has been a long time! I have had an odd couple of months.
I did my first open mic – in nearly 6 years – back in August at Side Splitters in Tampa. It’s a great club, close to home and they offer a lot of opportunities to new comics to get on a stage and work out their material.
A few years ago, 2005 – to be exact, I swallowed my pride and pushed fear as far down as I could, and found myself on a stage telling jokes – to actual people.
I never wanted it to end. People laughed in almost all the correct spots and in some I had not intended. It was magic.
Never in my life had I felt the rush or satisfaction that I felt that night. I have never done drugs but if that feeling is what heroin addicts feel…I GET IT!
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.
Lake Geneva from Montreux (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
**I AM OFFICIALLY OUT OF THE COMPETITION*** Thank you for your efforts!
**VOTING DATE HAS CHANGED – AGAIN – TO NOVEMBER 8**
I NEEDyour help!
Yes, YOU!
Here’s the deal – I posted a video of my stand-up at Daily Motion for the chance to win a trip to the Montreux comedy festival in December.
All I need is – well – your support.
Follow the link below to the participating videos page – you’ll need to scroll through those – you should find me on page 18 – watch the video and vote for me .
THAT’S IT! Watch, vote and send me to Montreux. Could anything be more simple?
Because of some encouraging people that are part of Jon Acuff’s START Experiment – #STARTEXP, some VERY encouraging people over at Sammy A’s site and – yes you too mom – I decided to post this. Trying to embrace #alltheawesome while punching my fear in the face – and adding a body blow for good measure!
This is from the first time I took the stage. It’s a short clip. I would love to hear you thoughts.
Mick Holt 