Successful Meeting with M Buddy

So I've had two more meetings with this same comedy buddy, we'll call "M". It's been great so far!

M seems interested enough to want to improve upon the craft.

The first meeting, M brought some of M's previous work, and as we combed through it, we realized more and more that it was in "story" format, rather than "joke" format. So luckily I brought my handy Comedy Bible, which M owns. Not to say it was easy to explain the idea to M that, "These jokes need to be rewritten in a new format, or we need to start fresh!"

My LSAT course... oh, by the way, did I tell you I was taking an LSAT course? Yeah, well, I need to be prepared, just in case this comedy thing goes south! Anyway, it starts May 12th and I will swamped the minute that gets underway. I still have to remain 'logical' and law school is on the horizon as a back up.

I also need to start thinking about letters of recommendation. I have no idea. I haven't had a steady job--well, ever! And although, I'm a great law school candidate, I might have a harder time than most proving it.

Anyway, Comedy Buddy M and I met up now for a third time, this time with M having completed 'homework,' assigned by me. (Pretty funny idea, eh?) So when we met up he had a better idea of how to approach joke writing.* We read his premises (basis topics on a joke). Okay. Fine. Then we got to hashing away at his premises, and some how we tapped a nerve and a flood of ideas came flowing out. It was exciting to witness the comedy process firsthand.

This reminded me about the myth behind inspiration. Inspiration and great ideas don't come to you at will. Sometimes you have to go out and drag your muse back in the building. You gotta show the muse that it's now or never. Eventually, you'll intrigue Muse. Muse might see that you're hard at work and begin to pace around you while you drill away. Eventually Muse is going to get restless and want to grab the pen out of your hand, like some curmudgeonly school marm.

"No, no. Don't do it like that. Do it like this."

And Muse finally adds its two cents, and together you make things happen. The point being, you need to entice Muse by doing the work anyway. Eventually, the Muse will want to 'get in the mix,' jealous and irked Muse is not involved in the process. Muse can be a bit of a bastard is greedy for praise. And despite Muse's best attempts at wanting to see you fail, Muse's need for accolade wins out. And eventually, Muse wants to be apart of every single accomplishment. Muse can't sit by the sidelines and watch you at work. So you need to entice Muse by getting started in the first place. Even when you're so uninspired, it's mind-numbing. Muse will get involved. I promise!

~Lucy


* By the way, I don't want to say, by any means that I have any grasp of joke writing or comedy at all. You've seen my history in comedy, which has consisted of a month and 3 days. But M has been 'out of the loop' for much longer.



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