Multi-hyphenate DiSASter….
6:02 am, 25th Feb 2009
Right, so this past week has been completely bonkers:
I’ve been working two part-time accounting jobs (plus cat sitting!).
Portraying Ann Curry.
Trying to keep up with the octo-mom parody being on CN-fucking-N (and how to follow it up).
Plus performing my TOOOOTALLY “alt” comedy, like my Demetri Martin Kit routine.
And starting a new sketch group with Evan and Kevin.
And being in my musical comedy duo, Tijuana Yacht Club.
And working overnight exteriors on a background job – which I questioned doing ever again this year, but they waaaaved a SAG waaaaiver all up in my face.
Blogging for TV Grapevine.
Plus recording a new pop song parody.
Annnnnd, uh…portraying a hipster in a short film (I’m talkin’ 3 nights of back-to-back overnight aka 5pm-5am shoots).
All this made me realize how completely ADD I am, and that I prooooobably need to prioritize (but of course, I’m free practically all of next week, so it could just be bad timing). And it’s not just me – most of us non-superstar comedians are hustling beyond capacity. When do we go from wannabe to “be” – from amateur to professional? Because trust me – being on CNN did not help pay the bills this month. And spending more than 40 hours a week on my career does not make it easier for me to tell people I’m a comedian.
Why is it that I still sheepishly tell people I’m a comedian?!
When they ask me where I perform, I say: “Uhhhhhhh………..Broadway Comedy Club (yes, I perform there a lot, that’s ok…)? Gotham (that’s the only place people would actually know, and I performed there once…does that count as a place I perform, present tense?)? The PIT (shit, i haven’t been there in like three months, but I’ll be there next week, so I think that’s legit) and lots of places in Brooklyn (theoretically true, because I’ll be at Entertaining the Bartender next month, but other “places” include a very nice living room and a bar so far on the L line that Eric is afraid to walk to the corner to use an ATM)? ”
When people ask me to tell a joke, my mouth wants to recede into my face like when guys’ balls scrunch closer to their body because they are scared/cold/nervous/doing boy Kegels.
It shouldn’t be fucking hard for me to respond: I am booked regularly as hell!!! Why can’t I stand behind anything I do?! ( Maybe it’s because I do 60 things, and I am trying to run around standing behind all of them for 2 seconds each at a time?)
Which leads to the fact that I am the entertainment scourge of the earth: the multi-hyphenate.
I am not just a comedian – noooooo…. I am a stand-up, musical and sketch comedian/singer/songwriter/actress/writer/blogger/producer/director/accountant/cat sitter/improviser/pianist/ukuleleist/glockenspielist and it makes me sound/feel COMPLETELY ridiculous. I’m just like my other fellow artistic plankton and I seem utterly illegitimate for it. My resume has the randomness of a 4-year-old grabbing handfuls of prizes from several different broken pinatas. RANDOM.
Renaissance woman or dilettante?
Multi-talented or non-committal?
Astonishingly productive or horribly inefficient?
Broad-ranged or schizo?
Tom Waits or Tyra Banks?
While I was struggling/suffering/freezing up during musical improv practices in late 2008, I realized that in the carnival game where you are supposed to spray a target with a water gun, I am using a fucking spray bottle. Forget aim – my low pressure dribble is barely misting the air in front of me.
Right now I’m exploring, so I have that excuse if I want it – it’s general education during freshman year of college and I am taking every 101 in the catalog. There’s only one way outta here, and I gotta start somewhere. Welcome to comedy career purgatory.
I just hope that at some point, I will figure out what I like/am good at, and fucking do it without being caught up in the joy of tending to 14 things, but not really being invested/responsible/able to put proper energy into all of them (I’M LOOKING AT YOU, NADYA SULEMAN)! It’s like dating with no end in sight. Wait, that was redundant.
Adam Sandler made a career being a man-child. I think I need to narrow stand-up, musical and sketch comedian/singer/songwriter/actress/writer/blogger/producer/director/accountant/cat sitter/improviser/pianist/ukuleleist/glockenspielist down. Or not. Or whatever. And if I do, I will also add “editor” to the list.
4 Responses to “Multi-hyphenate DiSASter….”
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Right, so this past week has been completely bonkers:
I’ve been working two part-time accounting jobs (plus cat sitting!).
Portraying Ann Curry.
Trying to keep up with the octo-mom parody being on CN-fucking-N (and how to follow it up).
Plus performing my TOOOOTALLY “alt” comedy, like my Demetri Martin Kit routine.
And starting a new sketch group with Evan and Kevin.
And being in my musical comedy duo, Tijuana Yacht Club.
And working overnight exteriors on a background job – which I questioned doing ever again this year, but they waaaaved a SAG waaaaiver all up in my face.
Blogging for TV Grapevine.
Plus recording a new pop song parody.
Annnnnd, uh…portraying a hipster in a short film (I’m talkin’ 3 nights of back-to-back overnight aka 5pm-5am shoots).
All this made me realize how completely ADD I am, and that I prooooobably need to prioritize (but of course, I’m free practically all of next week, so it could just be bad timing). And it’s not just me – most of us non-superstar comedians are hustling beyond capacity. When do we go from wannabe to “be” – from amateur to professional? Because trust me – being on CNN did not help pay the bills this month. And spending more than 40 hours a week on my career does not make it easier for me to tell people I’m a comedian.
Why is it that I still sheepishly tell people I’m a comedian?!
When they ask me where I perform, I say: “Uhhhhhhh………..Broadway Comedy Club (yes, I perform there a lot, that’s ok…)? Gotham (that’s the only place people would actually know, and I performed there once…does that count as a place I perform, present tense?)? The PIT (shit, i haven’t been there in like three months, but I’ll be there next week, so I think that’s legit) and lots of places in Brooklyn (theoretically true, because I’ll be at Entertaining the Bartender next month, but other “places” include a very nice living room and a bar so far on the L line that Eric is afraid to walk to the corner to use an ATM)? ”
When people ask me to tell a joke, my mouth wants to recede into my face like when guys’ balls scrunch closer to their body because they are scared/cold/nervous/doing boy Kegels.
It shouldn’t be fucking hard for me to respond: I am booked regularly as hell!!! Why can’t I stand behind anything I do?! ( Maybe it’s because I do 60 things, and I am trying to run around standing behind all of them for 2 seconds each at a time?)
Which leads to the fact that I am the entertainment scourge of the earth: the multi-hyphenate.
I am not just a comedian – noooooo…. I am a stand-up, musical and sketch comedian/singer/songwriter/actress/writer/blogger/producer/director/accountant/cat sitter/improviser/pianist/ukuleleist/glockenspielist and it makes me sound/feel COMPLETELY ridiculous. I’m just like my other fellow artistic plankton and I seem utterly illegitimate for it. My resume has the randomness of a 4-year-old grabbing handfuls of prizes from several different broken pinatas. RANDOM.
Renaissance woman or dilettante?
Multi-talented or non-committal?
Astonishingly productive or horribly inefficient?
Broad-ranged or schizo?
Tom Waits or Tyra Banks?
While I was struggling/suffering/freezing up during musical improv practices in late 2008, I realized that in the carnival game where you are supposed to spray a target with a water gun, I am using a fucking spray bottle. Forget aim – my low pressure dribble is barely misting the air in front of me.
Right now I’m exploring, so I have that excuse if I want it – it’s general education during freshman year of college and I am taking every 101 in the catalog. There’s only one way outta here, and I gotta start somewhere. Welcome to comedy career purgatory.
I just hope that at some point, I will figure out what I like/am good at, and fucking do it without being caught up in the joy of tending to 14 things, but not really being invested/responsible/able to put proper energy into all of them (I’M LOOKING AT YOU, NADYA SULEMAN)! It’s like dating with no end in sight. Wait, that was redundant.
Adam Sandler made a career being a man-child. I think I need to narrow stand-up, musical and sketch comedian/singer/songwriter/actress/writer/blogger/producer/director/accountant/cat sitter/improviser/pianist/ukuleleist/glockenspielist down. Or not. Or whatever. And if I do, I will also add “editor” to the list.
That sounds familiar… I’m currently in my narrowing down phase. I’m not looking at it like reducing, just focusing. We’re still going to be all those things, right? But at least we can put them in an order and let something stand out as the priority. And it helps. I’m actually saying no to things. Imagine that shit, yo. But it does take time and you have to go through that ‘101′ stage just to figure out what it is that you really want. Keep it up. You’re kicking ass.
I find that when you are in the ruttiest point of a comedy rut, something great happens and makes you think you can do this.
I think you can do this. (Hopefully something better than this comment will happen.)
As a fellow person who wears numerous hats (hip hop/comedy/interviews/reviews/videos/production/improv/banter/singing/violin/piano/drums/blah/etc), I say keep doing it, because before you know it, the following will happen:
Step 1: One of the things you do will suddenly take off.
Step 2: You will be all over the media.
Step 3: The average person will be all like, “Who the heck is Jen Kwok?? She just came out of NOWHERE, and now she’s EVERYWHERE.”
Step 4: You will smile and say, “Heh heh.. if you only knew.”
You should be proud that you are a comedian and not shy about it. So you may not be able to tell a joke at the drop of a hat when you’re not on stage.
If you were a doctor, would you be able to cure a patient at the drop of a hat when you were off duty?
How about a cab driver.. Will you be able to take someone somewhere if you’re just chillin on the street?
If you reaaaaaaaaaaaaally have to tell them something, just ask them, “Umm.. why did the chicken cross the road?” And then when they say, “I don’t know,” Just say, “Do you believe in Jesus????” or some other non-sequitor….
Also I’ve done a lot of shows myself, but I have a hard time remembering where I’ve performed.. I’m just like “umm at cool places in new york” or something to that effect.. “umm.. go to my myspace page cuz I forgote”
thanks, soce! <3