A new stage: Turning to comedy

I realized this week that I have transitioned into a new phase of pandemic coping. I’m officially turning to the comedians.

My brother-in-law, me, and Kirk in Houston for the Douglas performance (June 2019)

Maybe you, in all your wisdom, did this long ago. But I was slower on the uptake. If you know me, you know I’m wont to take things all-too seriously. I’ve also historically failed to understand what makes standup so funny to people. I vaguely remember jokes about business socks and Hot Pockets that friends repeated for years in college, but I’d generally leave the room in confusion and in interest of “not wasting my time” when they’d watch these performances on the TV.

But that was before I found out Pete Holmes was making it weird and talking spirituality with lots of my favorite authors, musicians, etc.

And that was before I found Hannah Gadsby, whose work I fell in love with immediately upon seeing Nannette. So much so that we went to see Douglas live in Houston before it came out on Netflix.

Photo from the Offerman Woodshop ; Order book via my Bookshop

And that was before I heard Nick Offerman on The Ezra Klein Show, Armchair Expert, and Design Matters and was so fascinated that I immediately put his new book, WHERE THE DEER AND THE ANTELOPE PLAY, on my wish list. Well I wished and my hold just came through on the Libby app (free with a Shreve-Memorial Library card), and I listened to that whole book this weekend. I’m so sad it’s over. I’ll probably re-listen. I highly recommend.

Finally, all that and other things apparently fed the YouTube algorithm what it needed to suggest I might like Tig Notaro interviews. And those robots were correct. I have watched her documentary TIG, her standup special Happy to Be Here , and am about 25% through her book I’M JUST A PERSON.

Next on my list is Naomi Ekperigin’s Netflix special because some of the best Hysteria podcast episodes are when she makes a guest appearance. Bo Burnham’s Inside also looks intriguing.

So what’s going on here? First, laughter is literally healthy. And we can use all the healthy uppers we can get right now, am I right? Second, I’ve long since admire standup comics from afar after hearing Nadia Bolz-Weber talk attribute her 12-15 minute sermon-writing brilliance to the economy of language she’d learned from honing her standup craft. Third, I don’t really know. I do know these humorists are talking about really substantive things mined from the cultural moment and their personal lives, which I always appreciate. But my mind is also more open these days to wisdom in whatever form it presents itself, as well as the value of art for escape’s sake. That alone—it seems to me—has value in a world that is so consistently overwhelming. If a momentary escape helps me ultimately to stay in it and re-engage more fully upon return, I think that’s a good use of my time and attention.

So here’s to the comics! Thanks for your good work, folks.