Make Me Laugh

One of the great joys of my life has always been live comedy. One of the most exciting days of my life was when I turned 21 simply because it meant I could go to the Comedy Store in San Diego. I was a fanatic. I would go every Friday and Saturday night, usually to the late show because I found that since there was no real time limit, there were more possibilities of something happening that wasn’t planned. I was there when Howie Mandel took the crowd out of the place and led us in a walk to the local 7-11 store to get a pack of cigarettes. That couldn’t have happened at the early show.

I can safely say that if there was a stand up comedian that played in southern California in the 1980’s, I saw them. I’d often make the drive to L.A. and hit some comedy clubs up there and also make sure to hit a live show or two whenever I would go to Las Vegas. While living in Vegas in the mid eighties, I’d see at least one show a week. Even when moving cross-country, which I did four different times, I would find comedy clubs along the way throughout the country. I really enjoyed it. I almost became a student of the art. I would literally study how each comic differed from the next. Like I said, I was a fanatic.

After I got married, Shelly and I would see live comedy when we could. When we’d go to Las Vegas we’d seek out comedy shows instead of the normal Vegas shows that were prominent along the strip. We once saw Drew Cary long before he was famous and, to this day, he’s probably the funniest stand-up comic I’ve ever seen. I never liked his television show and haven’t liked anything I’ve seen him in since but I had to leave the room at one point simply because I couldn’t breathe because I was laughing so hard.

Something in the last few years has changed for me. I can’t seem to enjoy myself at these comedy gigs anymore and I think I’ve figured out why. I think this might be a case where the Internet isn’t making things better. I look up comedians on the web all the time; I find stuff that brings tears to my eyes from laughing so hard. I’ve found all kinds of new comics over the last few years and really enjoyed some of them. Until recently, I had Satellite radio in my car. There are a few stations devoted to stand-up comedy and I’d listen to them quite regularly. Again, I found a lot of stuff to laugh at. But then, as with most things, it’s worn itself out for me.

I was talking to Shelly, my ex wife, about it yesterday and she kinda understood what I meant. She told me that I was probably just burned out on it, could be. I went and saw John Pinette the other night. He’s one of the top-touring comedians out there today. There was a nice size crowd and everyone seemed to really get into it, everyone but me. I just didn’t find much of it funny and the basic reason for it is because I’ve heard it all before. There was nothing new or cutting edge because it’s all over the web and radio. You can’t see the same envelope pushed over the same ground and expect to be entertained each time. It’s too bad, really. I love to laugh; I find most things funny in some way. I’m just having a hard time laughing at those who are paid to make me do so.