Keeping Creative

[Alex Mac]

Hey there, folks! I've kept out of "Stage Time" for a bit now mostly because I've not had too much to write about. Things have gone slow and outside of an amazing experience with my improv troupe opening a show for Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter, I've not really been getting up on stage.

I'm pretty sure this has been a major problem for me when it comes to keeping creative. I started stand up three years ago and at the time, it was really making progress. But now? I've had a hard cord mental malaise for a while now. Without the consistent stage time that I enjoyed before, I've really had trouble getting motivated and really producing quality writing. Hopefully this will not be a problem once I turn twenty one and don't need to do as much bending over backwards to get on stage at some places but I can't really just use that as too much of an excuse here.

So, I guess my question is a simple one: I this a common problem that people face? How do I move on from this plateau and really get creative again? What works for you when it comes to spurring on your process?

[JayP7]

Honestly the biggest thing for me has been getting a regular gig, idealy with a frequency greater than or equal to "weekly".

It's always tough when things are sporadic, it's kinda like starting the mower whenever you feel like the lawn needs mowing. Sometimes you get right to it, but other times you pull the chord 12 times before it works, or you need to pump that little button or whatever... um... yea... rhythm is important.

Having something regular I think kinda trains your brain to sniff out the bits when they come up, which is big. Experiences are pretty common amongst everybody. But there's something trained about, say, Brian Regan's brain to be in a regular human situation EVERYBODY experienced and be the one to say "Hey... there's something funny about that".

Also makes you improvise more when you're strapped. Also good I think.

[pg13]

I hear you, Alec.

I've taken myself off the road since the birth of my baby boy (who is pretty damn cute, if not entirely up to Sidney Star's standards)...and I thought I'd be ok, because I've got years of experience and I thought I could write lots of stuff at home without taking it to the stage.

That didn't happen. I found it almost impossible to write without having a reason to whip into the shape for performance. I found that my creative mind was too distracted by the child raising process to work independently.

The shows that I HAVE done in the past few months have been troublesome. Still generally successful, but I can feel the rust on both my material and on my ability to properly read the room and make good choices. It made me very frustrated, because a year ago, I'd travelled the entire country, banging out solid sets and feeling confident about my comedy skills...and it's hard to recognize that I'm not quite "there" any more.

That's what's been fun about this little jaunt to Canada I've been on. I love my little boy, I love my wife, I love my Seattle...but for ten days, I'm thinking about NOTHING but comedy...and I can feel my confidence return--better yet, I'm writing and trying out a ton of new stuff.

The nice thing about being as young as you are, Alec...you don't realize the value of being able to be patient. This is just a speed bump for you before you can go full speed ahead on a road that won't seem to have an end. Being as old as I am, I've got to get my comedy ya-ya's out before climbing on stage might risk my breaking my hip.

pg--Temporarily trapped in a world where nobody gets my references...either because I'm old or because I'm not Canadian, like everyone else...--the otherwise lovely and wonderful edmonton

[ASR]

I find that the creativity comes in waves, and those waves are almost entirely dependent on how much stage time I'm getting. If I go through a couple weeks without doing any stand-up, I sort of stop thinking about it and no writing really occurs. Then when I find out when I'm next going on stage, I start getting excited about it and I'll usually experience a burst of writing. The surge will last for a while after I go up, and if I keep managing to go up at least once a week it stays consistent.

I'm sure it's different for everyone, but I think your biggest problem is just that you're not going up as much as you used to. There's no pressing NEED to write since you're not going on stage often and there's no immediate demand for new material.

Bite the bullet and jump through all the hoops you need - set a goal for yourself and try for at least once every two weeks if stage time is scarce. Back when I couldn't get up anywhere due to not having a car and nobody wanting to drive to the very few open mics about an hour away, I had the same problem as you. It'll pass.

Also, when I'm talking to other funny friends and fellow comics, the juices start flowing.

[Alex Mac]

I just sort of feel like any voice I might have been finding has scurried off into the wilderness only to be ass raped and left to freeze in the snow.

Certainly, a lack of stage time is a major factor which needs to be amended. Badly. Especially given the limited local venues and the travel to the Mass area which makes a lot of potential opportunities a bit of a hassle, doubly so now that I am trying to prepare for a job. When I started, I was 17 and got in at least a set a week, maybe two, until I was 19. Consistent work, good crowds. It was great. Gave me vital perspective and experience at a relatively young age. But then shipping to college made for a bit of a hiccup for everything outside of improv. And even the audience for that is dying down faster.

Providence has a comedy scene but it is so painfully obfuscated that I wonder if they are not trying to keep it hidden on purpose. And my last club shows were a bit dryer than I would have liked and sapped some confidence from me, I think. After all, there are only so many times you can do a Wednesday night show for a crowd averaging 40 years old, receive a moderate reception (at best), and say to yourself " At least I'm doing something". I'm not expecting to kill every time I head up; I'm not completely delusional. But I want to feel like I'm making progress with my act and within whatever community I am involved with and that just hasn't happened. Even in NH, where I was churning along for a while, I feel like a stranger again.

I think part of it is that the internet offers plenty of potential ways to be creative and I have no real talent in the areas that the internet offers. I don't know how to really edit video nor do I have equipment, I can't draw, and my writing drive has dried up. I know people are seeing my website. I'm averaging anywhere between 75-100 hits a day. Not that any of that matter much but I don't know why people are looking at any of the dreck that I've been putting out. I want to make something of quality but it just hasn't been happening. I know that I have plenty of time ahead of me. I just don't like feeling like I'm wasting what I have in the immediate.

[Vercetti]

I have to admit I've been in a bit of a weird haze lately myself. Not sure what it is, really. I get up and get laughs but I feel like I'm just not able to connect as naturally as I usually do.

I thought about taking a week or two off but I've done that before and it doesn't help. Any time away from the stage just feels downright wrong to me.

It's a weird paradox. But ya, know, things happen in waves, I guess.

[Cameron]

It sounds like you something other than straight stand up to keep your comedic juices flowing. Even when I'm not going on stage or preparing to go on stage, I do comedy related things that keep me thinking about it pretty much constantly. I do a weekly comedy podcast and have started booking big comedy shows (I'm bringing both Doug Benson and Paul F. Tompkins to OKC this summer).

Just start to do something comedic other than straight performing and I think you'll see a marked improvement on the things that effect your performing.

[kellydavis]

What works for you when it comes to spurring on your process?

do something you've never done before.
whether it's talk to a girl with a french accent on a bus,
or just going to church with a red pitchfork.
new experiences make new thoughts.
alcohol is also handy.

[punkdc]

Because I am not a stand-up and focus much more writing I get a lot of my creative juices flowing by just watching classic Woody Allen movies. I also try and talk to strangers to try and get other points on view on things that I normally wouldn't think of. And because I don't drink, but tend to go out to bars with my drunky friends I experience the drunk life through vicarious experiences which is really fun. This might be just be a me thing but exercising keeps me active.

[trenchmc]

Because I am not a stand-up and focus much more writing I get a lot of my creative juices flowing by just watching classic Woody Allen movies. I also try and talk to strangers to try and get other points on view on things that I normally wouldn't think of. And because I don't drink, but tend to go out to bars with my drunky friends I experience the drunk life through vicarious experiences which is really fun. This might be just be a me thing but exercising keeps me active.

Yeah, definitely. I feel like I use a lot of other work as indirect inspiration. Mostly though, as I'm sure is the case with many other people here. I just look at what pisses me off. Even though I've only been on stage a small number of times, it's clear that the stuff that really gets me angry, that I then translate into a joke, works the best.

[SlyBattery]

Does anyone feel the old adage about certain comedians who all of a sudden start leading a better happier life and start to lose their edge holds any weight? I ask because I feel like one of those people effected by this. Generally I feel pretty happy with my writing. But when there is something good going on in my life that starts making me feel less melancholy I just start to lose all ability to write anything half-way decent.

It sort of feels like its because normally I just don't care and write anything without consequence. But when stuff is going my way I feel like more people are paying attention and judging and I can't help but subconsciously care what they think. Does this make sense to anyone else?

[ErikNielsen]

You know, I wouldn't worry about it. I know the most productive eras of my career have also been the times when I've been happiest. And let's face it, if leading an unhappy life is a prerequisite for you to write, you're probably better off either figuring out some way around that, or not writing.

[pg13]

I think the most compelling performances--comedy, music, otherwise--are when the artist has something that he/she needs to express...

Frustration lends itself very well to that theory. Powerlessness...the inability to change your situation...that NEEDS to be expressed. What else can you do but express your feelings...perhaps artistically?

Joy, on the other hand, is often merely lived. Rare is the compelling NEED to express your joy to others (well, other than in power ballads, of course. There is little comedic tension in happiness...other than a play on expectations.)

You can, certainly, craft comedy even when you are not compelled to express a particular thought. Comedy can exist purely in the mind...but, again, there is something much more vital about someone who can put their heart...their full being...into their art...

It is a criticism that I've leveled at myself quite a bit--as I've grown comfortable...more pragmatic...more allowable... I don't have anything I NEED to say. How do I invest my comedy performances with enough vitality to make other people care about what I want to talk about...when it isn't entirely clear that *I* care deeply about it?

That's one reason that, despite it being a well-furrowed field, I feel compelled to talk about being a new father. It is definitely a topic I have a lot of emotion wrapped up in...even if, so far (knock on wood), everything is going just fine and my boy hasn't done anything that hasn't already been commented on by Cosby, Romano, etc.

pg--I often feel like Meryl Streep's character in "Adaptation"...seeing other people with such passion for things...and not understanding how to get out of your head and live through your heart in that way. Age has a way of doing that to a formerly passionate person, I think.--seattle

[MJEH]

I'm pretty sure this has been a major problem for me when it comes to keeping creative. I've had a hard cord mental malaise for a while now. Without the consistent stage time that I enjoyed before, I've really had trouble getting motivated and really producing quality writing.

Drama queen.

I find that the creativity comes in waves, and those waves are almost entirely dependent on how much stage time I'm getting. I think your biggest problem is just that you're not going up as much as you used to. There's no pressing NEED to write since you're not going on stage often and there's no immediate demand for new material. Bite the bullet and jump through all the hoops you need - set a goal for yourself. It'll pass. Also, when I'm talking to other funny friends and fellow comics, the juices start flowing.

I really like this.

I just sort of feel like any voice I might have been finding has scurried off into the wilderness only to be ass raped and left to freeze in the snow. Certainly, a lack of stage time is a major factor which needs to be amended. Badly. I think part of it is that the internet offers plenty of potential ways to be creative and I have no real talent in the areas that the internet offers.

Graphically put. Also, everyone has an "internet talent". Think Justin Beiber.

Does anyone feel the old adage about certain comedians who all of a sudden start leading a better happier life and start to lose their edge holds any weight? It sort of feels like its because normally I just don't care and write anything without consequence. But when stuff is going my way I feel like more people are paying attention and judging and I can't help but subconsciously care what they think. Does this make sense to anyone else?

Yes, it does. Just watch any Happy Madison project after "Big Daddy".

P.S. Alex Mac is funny.

[The40YearOldVegan]

I don't get very much stage time, but I find that watching comedy really helps me a lot. Often, in the middle of watching a stand-up comic, I'll have a burst of inspiration. I'll pause the video, literally "stand up" and deliver a bit to an imaginary audience. Once I get a feel for how the bit goes, I'll write it down.

If you know what type of comedy you're best at, listening to comics who perform a similar style may help you to remember where you "find" your jokes.

[mikemayberry]

Do things that you have not yet done - drugs, weird sex stuff, strange food, knitting, hang out at nursing homes, shop for women's clothes (or men's clothes if you're a woman), sleep on the street for a night or two. Get out of your comfort zone and do shit. Write a shitty song or two and go to a music open mic, then tell jokes until they pull you off stage.

If what you are doing isn't working, it's probably because your life is boring.

[ErikNielsen]

That's a terrible way to live though -- reshaping your entire life to make for a better story. (And then you don't even end up with a better story, because the whole thing seems obviously forced.)

[mikemayberry]

I think doing things that will give you a different perspective does not require you to reshape your life. Even if you are not writing, you learn shit. If I never took my girlfriend to yoga, we never would have known that it makes her horny. Just as an example.

I go and hang out with a couple old people that live in nursing homes, and I see and hear crazy shit each time I go.

Trying new shit will always make your brain work a little bit differently.

[ErikNielsen]

All I'm saying is, the best comedy almost invariably comes from the heart of what you call your "comfort zone." Not comfortable with that description, because the way one actually lives one's life isn't necessarily comfortable. But you know it better than anyone else.

Humor doesn't come from the things you dabble in -- it comes from the things you inhabit permanently, or the things that bounce off you. 99% of good joke premises are either "this is a thing that is inside me, a thing that has affected me greatly, and I am going to talk about that" or "This thing has nothing to do with me -- I am drawing a sharp distinction between this thing and the things in life that are mine -- and here's why." (And the latter isn't always "I don't like it" -- in fact, at least for me, it's more frequently "I don't understand it.")

Once you start getting into grey areas, you lose a lot of the strength of your perspective. You're claiming a connection to reality -- you're saying "I was there" -- but you were only marginally "there", and that's going to cut into your authority. If you're not there there, you're better off speaking from the position of a real outsider.

But yeah, if you go to a nursing home to talk to old people in the hopes that they'll say something you can use in your act... um, that's not yours. That's you just reporting on a thing that some unrelated people said.

[Just Brett]

For me personally, as long as I have a date that I know I'm going to perform on, I have something to look forward too and I'm preparing for that.

I try sharpening/shortening my jokes. I'm always on the lookeout, I write everything down, etc... as long as I'm improving then I'm staying creative.

I went for a couple of weeks without having a date to perform, and wasn't writing. I just found out im doing 3 shows coming up soon, and I've written about 2 minutes of material since I got the news. (3 days ago)

So as long as I have something to get ready for, i'm staying more alert and attentive in becoming a good joke-smith.