#comedy hajj

[comedyhajj]

With each level, there's a panic

Bill Burr, on the B.S. Report

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Ryan Crawford, on the hajj Two Moon Cafe, 2014

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9 followers now. We're 1 away from 100!!

a terrible mathematician

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Petey's Mic, episode 1: Tom Cowell

I never quite know where these journeys will go. --the "journey" being where I am when I start writing a blog, --and then where we end up together, by the end of it.

Just know, for the record, that as I write these first few sentences, I intend to let my mind flow.  So don't worry if we never fully arrive at the stated "destination" of this writing -- which is to talk about

Petey's Mic,

4 pm on Thursdays

at Greenwich Village Comedy Club, MacDougal Street, West Village, NYC __________ There's something about "Petey" that's just...positive.  32, born and raised in the Bronx -- in theory, he could be angry if he wanted.  But at some point, he just realized how much nicer life is when you let yourself laugh.

I can't do "a feature" on Petey...can I?  

Really?  A feature?? __________ No.  Not yet. __________ First, let's at least get to know me a little.  

I'm the one writing.  I guess it all started with...someone else.

(Phew! I almost just wrote "I guess it all started with me."  Which -- if you're fighting the occasional rumor that you might be a bit arrogant -- is like being a Nascar driver working in the pit crew of the guy you're also racing against) __________ (NEVER say I don't try, my beloved "flyover states") __________ __________ __________ It might have all started -- honestly -- with a seemingly-innocent lunch I had, in January of 2014.  One year ago this week.

I got lunch with Tom Cowell -- a fellow New York City comedian, and NYC transplant (which is more and more the case, as they start taking water away from different cities based on economic but-anyway-that's-another-blog!back!to!

Tom Cowell!!

Tom came here 8 years ago, from Northern England.  When I showed Butterfly the picture we took together yesterday

she replied "You guys could be cousins..."

Considering part of my family is originally from England...that's weirdly not entirely impossible. __________ The picture above is from lunch this year.  It was the lunch a year ago, however, when the topic of motivational speakers first came up.

It had always been a dream of mine -- or at least, since I'd known it was "a thing."  Tom explained why he thought that the skill of being able to motivate others is going to be really valuable, as time moves forward.

I don't know why, but I do tend to connect with people that have English backgrounds.  I hate even writing that, because it feels like if you like people you have something in common with, then you hate all the people that don't.

That's not what I'm saying.  But I will own my experiences.  Don't worry, I'm not wussing out on you, that quickly.  __________ I've found English people to be, on average, as self-aware as any group of people, I've ever met.  It's like, even when they're evil -- you can at least have a decent conversation with them over tea, and they'll admit they're evil.  

That's why it's fun to get lunch with Tom, and it's part of what makes him a good comic:  somewhere along the line, he learned how to notice his evil.

Which is why I think the next year-to-18-months is going to be his breakthrough stretch.

Already, admittedly, he's ahead of the game; there aren't many English-born comics -- at least not here in the states -- who have essentially broken the code and realized that people are just people.  

And so there's something doubly-hilarious about Tom making an effort to be a good person, and explaining all the ways he's noticed the advantage, and just how massive it is --

whether it be as a male, as a "well-educated" student, or as a jolly-good johnny-brook (or whatever the racist-toward-Englishmen equivalent is to that) __________ __________ That's what I think is so funny, about real people, sometimes.

They don't get written about enough.

I think because people are "real," people don't want to write about them.  Because we presume people wouldn't "get it."

If Tom had gone a different route, comedically, and focused all of his energy on being

THE BRITISH GUY *spins beanie*

in NEW YORK CITY... *holds mic like a dick*

KwaAZOOooOO!!!! *herds fake sheep* __________ he'd probably have experienced a lot more success, already. 

Seriously.  When you have those elements of a personality or a story that can be easily boiled down,

that become parts of the journey (or "hajj," if you will) for a comic.  

For a true comic.  Part of the journey is learning how to pass.  

It's learning how to remain selfish, as an individual.

How to say,  I want this time I'm devoting to this craft to benefit Tom Cowell, 

not Tall Englishman #2

or whatever other bullshit, oversimplistic label that someone else tries to label us as, so they can make money. __________ __________ Now, here's a footnote, as the author of this shining piece:  As I imagined Tom passing up a chance to play "Tall Englishman #2" -- I then 

immediately

thought to myself:  "Ooooh,...and then I could get that part."

Haha.  So basically:  Nobody here is saying we don't want the part.

I'm just saying:  Tom Cowell's a really good comic.  And you should come see him sometime, at  __________

Petey's Mic,

4 pm on Thursdays,

at Greenwich Village Comedy Club, MacDougal Street, West Village, NYC

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Step 16: Start posting your premises on here, as added motivation to try them. AND to let your friends BE A PART of you getting back up onstage again.

Me, thinking creatively

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Step 15: Admit you are doing this, in part, to gain 'followers'

brysonturner.com

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Step 14: embrace Tumblr. Admit you like it.

brysonturner.com

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Step 13: Use Your Fiance', Miss Butterfly Starfish, as an excuse to re-learn everything you ever knew -- and more -- about comedy

Love