Zen and the Art of Stand-Up Comedy

The subject title of this post also happens to be the title of one of the first books I ever read on stand-up, and I’m going to go through and read it again. Also on my list of things to do to feed my inner comic this year is:

– Watch and learn from more amazing comedians. I started last night by watching my new Bill Bailey DVD – apparently since our plans have commenced Operation Hiccup I am a little less motivated to save $$ – and was absolutely blown away. If there is a comic I want to be, it’s him. Though with larger boobies and more hair.

– Get my hands on a copy of Comedian, a documentary Jerry Seinfeld did on the comedy world a few years back. Both Fred Lang and Greg Sullivan have urged me to watch this, if not threatened to batter me senseless with a rotten cucumber if I do not.

– Spend more time talking to comics about comedy. I’m such a geek – but I do love hearing people talk comedy, share their experiences for better or for worse and get their take on how this whole crazy business works. Greg Sullivan, for instance, was sharing his thoughts the other night on how comedy is like martial arts – you work your way up through the belt colours, you learn from your teacher/mentors and when you see someone who’s finally cracked it and gotten their black belt, they’re just so pumped and you know the amount of time and effort it’s taken them to get there.

Here endeth the comedic resolutions for 2007.