Wolsamnoraa's Blog

I’ve wanted to be a comedian since as far back as I could remember.  There were two distinct moments in my life that initiated my desire.  When I was in preschool, I vividly remember two teachers discussing the difference between the spelling of a male “comedian” and a female “comedienne”.  One of the teachers made a joke about how comediennes sound like Canadians but are less funny.  She proceeded to spell out the words in her explanation of the joke.  It wasn’t very funny after that, thus, proving her point.  Even though I had no idea what they were gabbing about, I felt intrigued just by the word.  I think I may have rounded out the day by stealing some communal Legos and taking a nap.

The second instance was in the second grade.  I remember this kid named Mark Melchior who would suck the on the neck hole of his Ninja Turtle tee shirts and get spit all over himself.  He always looked like he had just finished jogging.  He has nothing to do with my memory other than he was in the class.

My realization to become a comedian came when my very Korean teacher, Mrs. Simpson, asked the class to define what it meant for the dinosaurs “to go extinct”.  I was leaning back in my chair like a cool kid and just shouted out, “It’s when they just said, ‘See ya’ later. We’re outta here, and we’re not coming back!’”.  Comic genius.  My response was perfectly timed and my demeanor was so confident that the class laughed out loud.  It felt good.

Up until that point in the second grade, I was kind of a bully.  I didn’t have many friends and I pummeled the ones I managed to keep.  I remember being sad a lot and having long awkward talks with my cat, Max.  I felt I had purpose after that and made the most of my natural ability.  I started gaining weight make my wit less intimidating and more accessible.  I was the funny man in and around school.  I was voted the runner-up class clown my senior year of high school.

It wasn’t until the end of my collegiate days, however, that I vocalized my interest in becoming a performer.  The idea festered in my mind.  The fact that I never acted on the urge to try stand up burned me out mentally.  No job ever seemed good enough for me because I was limiting my creative capacity.  It led me to belittle myself.  I thought the fact that I hadn’t tried it, made me too old to start and made the idea too unreasonable.

After quitting an extremely stupid job, I got fired up about trying stand up comedy.  I was scared.  I didn’t (and still don’t) want to fail.  It’s equally frightening to think that I might succeed.  I’m a funny guy and I work hard.  I have a shot at a career.  I’m scared that I might not be able to keep up the discipline that’s required to become successful.

Even with those fears,  encouragement from my friends and loved ones helped me (even after the pummeling).  A few months after quitting my job, I wrote some “jokes” and got on stage.  I’m glad I tried.  I’ve got a long way to go and a lot of work to do.  I’m certain that I’m going to do it because I want to do it.  This isn’t just a dream; it’s a feeling…and it feels good.  I recommend it.