Ever seen a standup comic? If you’re like me — a frequent media consumer, then I’m pretty sure you did. And, what’s the first thing that comes into your mind when you see a comic perform? The most common answer would be people struggling to catch their breath due to laughter.
You see this from the perspective of being an audience, who is in there to get their dose of laughter. But, when you shift your view from the audience to the performer, that’s when the magic happens!
Standup comedy is believed to have started in America in the 1800s as vaudeville. Charley Case, an African-American performer being the first one to start it out. He is also the first comic that gave birth to the stereotype of a depressed, tortured comedian. I was always fascinated by comedians because of their magical ability to make a room full of strangers cackle until I began to see a pattern in most of the well-known standup comics from the likes of Dave Chappelle in America to Tanmay Bhatt and Rohan Joshi in India.
The best standup comics are masquerading philosophers. I believe this because they understand and fully accept the trivialities of life and existence. This acceptance fuels them to see how funny life actually is. It also helps them plant an idea in the audience: be it taking a stand against a societal construct or oppose a fascist government’s regime. From improvising on the stage to handling a dull and rude crowd in the show, they are outcome-independent.
One of the biggest superpower one can possess is not to take things seriously. Being fun to be around and having the ability to amuse oneself is pretty rare these days. This also got me thinking about how the idea of being a Standup comic of my life would help me tackle it.
“Standup comedy is a peculiar performance art form. In a room filled with people, the comedian is the only one facing the wrong way. He’s also the only one who isn’t laughing. For normal people, that’s a nightmare, not a career aspiration.” — Jimmy Carr and Lucy Greeves.
Idea: Develop a perspective of a standup comic who sees the world as is. Understands and realizes that it’s idiotic to cry over trivialities and isn’t afraid to put oneself out there and be unapologetically funny.
One concept that all the comics use is Self-amusement. To explain this with an example, In social settings, we observe that it’s incredibly awkward for many of us to strike up a conversation with a random stranger. It gets more problematic if the stranger is an attractive person. Here’s where the concept of self-amusement comes into play. Self-amusement is being in the moment and amusing oneself without being attached to the outcome. The moment one removes “shame” and “pride” from the equation that defines his/her characteristics is when they experience the actual unfiltered reality. This experience of living, in actuality, is surreal to the least. Each event is exciting and you exist as a free radical.
By being the standup comedian of your life, you start treating the world as your stage. The people in your life as your audience. And, help them realize how amazing it is to just exist :)
