Juan David's Newsletter - October 10, 2021
What I Learned from doing Stand-up Comedy.
Hello, again my friends!
I’ve always wanted to do acting so this year I tried to join acting clubs on campus but the time commitment was one, only an acting major could handle.
The closest thing to acting is stand-up comedy, and here it gets interesting.
Last week, I saw a flyer about a talent show, and you guessed! I signed up.
At first, I thought, “Hmm, it doesn’t matter. Only 5 people will show up, and I will just get up there and see whatever comes out of my mouth.”
The organizers kept asking what my show or talent was but I was as clueless as them. I posted on social media and invited some friends. They couldn’t believe I was actually doing, and neither do I.
My justification was that I wanted to do some type of acting. But actually, I just crave the feeling of random uncertainty borderline amusement, embarrassment, and “risk.”
Tuesday comes, and I show up at this event with way more than 5 people. The whole auditorium was packed with at least 200 people.
I underestimated the situation, and at this point, I’m not sure what type of randomness would come out of this event.
I’m sitting in the seat, waiting for my turn, and thinking how I have no idea what, how, and why I’m going to say what I’m going to say. But I like the weird feeling so I’m enjoying it.
My turn comes, and I get to the stage.
And……I blanked out, panicked, and passed out.
Just kidding, I’d never do that.
So I get to the stage, and I start talking. I had thought about my introduction because I knew the first few seconds is where you hooked viewers so I recite my “nice” little introduction, and the challenge begins.
I soon realized that I find myself thinking about what I’m saying, my body language, future topics I’m going to say, things I’ve said, and whether what I’m saying is even FUNNY.
The latter, especially, wasn’t as easy at all. Besides scattered awkward laughs here and there and crickets, the auditorium was very much quiet.
The other thing I realized is that I’m good at thinking on my feet but not so good with my filter. I started saying jokes or stories, you’d tell to a close friend, and they’d find hilarious but in an auditorium with a bunch of college willy wonk kids, I’m not sure how that would turn out.
I was quick and somehow natural talking for almost 15 minutes but I wasn’t really thinking about the stories, punchlines, or even the meaning of what I was saying.
In the end, I found a way to trace it back to a previous joke I had made and left the stage.
Thankfully!!!!
I’ll keep trying though. Next time, I better think and prepare about what I say.
Until next week,
Juan David Campolargo