07/28/05

Have you ever felt like you are living in some sort of “Groundhog Day” world, where things keep repeating over and over again? I have begun to feel like I’m just doing the same shit day in and day out. It’s as if I’m just running in a giant hamster wheel. I need to change something. I’m not sure what yet, but I’m sure I’ll yell something like “Gadzooks” or “Eureka” once I’ve figured it out.

I spent most of yesterday recovering from the side effects of Novocain. I hate that shit. It makes me so woozy. (The upside is, the root canal is finally finished. They filled the tooth…) the last time I had Novocain; I fell down a flight of stairs afterwards. (I think the worst part is seeing the ground rush up to meet you in slow motion…) Happily I didn’t feel it, at least until later, and then for my troubles, I received quite the bruise.

My jaw still hurts. I swear I’ve hurt less after a fistfight than after a trip to the dentist. I’m starting to think that in the event of my most likely “untimely” demise, perhaps professionals in the dental industry should be questioned first.

I tend to think of dentists as being supremely confident people. You’d have to be. Given that your job is to inflict pain on everyone who walks through the door, and still manage to carry on with pleasant small talk. I’m not sure I’d be able to do that. Mind you, I guess that would depend on if I liked the person or not…

But I digress…

I had what you might call a happy accident yesterday. I ran into Freddy and Rob Hawkes. I wound up having lunch with them. It was a nice surprise. I got to hear about their adventures at the Montreal Festival. Rob met one of my comedic hero’s, Eddie Izzard. I have to admit, I was more than a little jealous when I heard that. I can’t wait till I go to the festival. I’m really hoping that I can get it sorted for the near (ish) future. (It’s a fair amount of work to get there, so keep your fingers crossed, and I’ll get stabbing away at it.)

I think we may have decided to start writing together. That has all the hallmarks of being a really good thing. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good writing group. It’s amazing how much more quickly you can bring things to the stage when you have some people you can bounce stuff off of. It becomes a little easier to refine jokes and separate the gold from the cannon fodder. I’ve tried writing with some of the newer guys, but they still have their comedy water wings on, and I find it less productive. (Although this just may be a perception issue on my part.)

I guess once you’ve found a groove, it’s hard to get comfortable elsewhere. Brett, Pete, Shane and myself all started at roughly the same time. We had each other, and despite our occasional bickering, we got funny together. It was always easy to write with those guys. We understood each other, and knew the mechanics of everyone’s act. Since we’ve all been scattered to the winds, it’s been hard to strike up a new group.

I think that Freddy and Rob will be a good fit. We have been around each other for years, and I know I’m comfortable enough to work with them. More importantly I like them as people, and that always helps.

Perhaps it boils down to this. I feel like the “middle child” in the comedy scene. This may partially be accounted for by the absence of my immediate peer group. Additionally, The guys who came before me, while still good friends, have their own things going on, and the guys who came after me are still at a level where self-indulgence is the principal writing motivation.

I feel like there’s an avalanche about to happen. I have scores of new ideas that I’ve been farting around with. It will be nice to iron them out, and retire some older material. This business should be about the constant evolution of material, (which is not often the case… And I’m as guilty as the next comic…)

Anyway, enough for now…