"I did stand-up comedy for eighteen years. Ten of those years were spent learning, four years were spent refining, and four were spent in wild success."
These are the first words in Steve Martin's Born Standing Up, his hilarious, heartfelt memoir about his time doing stand-up comedy. What hit me the hardest was how long he spent performing, practicing, and honing his craft before making it big. Reading the book made me think about the amount of time I've put into my craft, and forced me to do a little self-assessment. What was the verdict?
Unfortunately, things looked pretty grim. I wasn't one of those kids who was surrounded by crayons, taking numerous art classes. Even in my high school days, I never really gave myself the time I should have. Damn.
It's not all bad though! I still have time... time that I need to make the most of. That's what this blog is for. Hopefully, this will serve as an informal outlet of sorts, pushing me to create, experiment, and have a little fun. Maybe now I can give myself the education I need, because if slugging it out for years means I can end up like Steve, I'm willing to put in the time.
#0001
YAH MAN BLAHG SPAHT DAHT CAHM!
ReplyDeleteNo success without taking the time to figure out what exactly it is that you're doing... what things work, what things don't... and of course, never stop. Let's stay fresh here, Matt. We are entering treacherous territory full of 'creative types'. Keep it fresh to stay alive. Of course, we've discussed this already, but I think your blog deserves a good opening comment.
...it's mah middle name!
ReplyDeleteAH! I can't believe I didn't catch that! At first i thought you were just going to play up the holier-than-thou, highly judgmental culture snobbery. But the header didn't seem to convey such a meaning. These shortened forms of names just don't make sense to me..!
ReplyDelete