my element

Steve Bragg was kind enough to take a group of us to see Frank Caliendo last night. It ended up being a good night. (despite the 'ol Crohnes disease making me feel like someone was repeatedly stabbing me in the side)

The night started off with someone who was not quite as funny as that kid in third grade who kept repeating, "I know you are, but what am I?" I was a little disappointed because it was the first time I'd ever seen anyone ever truly bomb. It was to the point of feeling sorry for the little fella. He just didn't seem comfortable up there....or funny, which is disappointing for a stand up comedian.

The second guy (we'll call him Ryan) was great. I wondered later if he seemed great because of who he was following (you'd never want to follow David Hasselhoff or Sags onstage) or because he was just a natural. He seemed to be more comfortable on stage than he was before or after his show. He was in his element and you could tell.

Frank Caliendo started off the night with the bases loaded, three balls and no strikes on the count, and one of the Pirate's pitching. He could do no wrong. I really thought he was average, but he could do some amazing impressions and the audience knew him from tv....so they were going to like him no matter what. He got a standing ovation. I've seen some amazing comedians in NY, seen Robin Williams in a little club smaller than the one I was in last night, Dane Cook, the great Gary Gulman...none of them got standing ovations. I think if you're on tv, play in a comedy club in a mall in Northern Kentucky and don't suck...you're going to get a standing O.

The fun thing was watching just how comfortable or natural Frank and Ryan were. They really were good at their craft. It was inspiring to see how they'd put together their sets, set up jokes, went from subject to subject and peaked in the end (except Ryan kind of got screwed by the DJ).

I think that'd be a pretty good way to go. Often I'm left just sort of observing people because I don't know them that well, I'mfeeling kind of mellow, don't feel well, or am insecure because my purse doesn't match my shoes. Sometimes I'm incredibly comfortable hanging out with friends and it feels like a great night of laughing, hanging out and possibly talking about the deeper things in life. I love those nights. Lately I haven't had a ton of those nights because of how much discomfort I've had with this cursed Crohnes thing.

I'd love to be just "in my element" in how I encourage, inspire, and spur on people, that it is just the most comfortable/natural thing. I'd love to have been doing it for so long that to not do it, would seem unnatural. I'd love to be able to point to life giving words, follow up with questions that go deeper, flow from one topic to the next and have great natural conversations with people that years later would be seen as something that helped them move on to something bigger and better in their life. I'd love to not write so many run-on sentences....it's just not natural.