Ask Sam Slanders!

Dear Sam;

I’m a ‘Comic in Training’, in Kinley SK. It’s my objective to become a professional; so far I’ve applied myself, but the results have been disappointing, even after 32 comic appearances. I entered a contest at a local club, and I worked my material until I knew it inside out and backwards ...unfortunately, that was also the way I presented it! This isn’t easy for me. I’m an introvert! There must be some trick ...please Sam, I’d appreciate any insights you can offer. Sign me...

Tongue Tied in Training!

Dear Tongue;

Well Son, sounds to me that you’re a sow’s ear, with ambitions to become a silk purse! There ain’t no trick to it. It can’t be done; not by yourself, and certainly not by agonizing over ‘material’. Philosophers argued for ages over how to turn baser elements into gold ...and never come up with nuthin’ worth a plate o’ poutine! Well ...maybe there was one exception ...a fellow called Plato. He wrote books, but, ...don’t waste your time reading ‘em; it all boils down to two words: “Know Thyself.”

You call yourself an ‘introvert’, and that’s a term coined by a fellow named Carl Jung. He also coined the term for its opposite, the ‘extrovert’. According to Jung, an introvert is reflective and contemplative, while an extrovert is outgoing and rambunctious; kinda’ like an ‘inner child’, but noisier, and more fun at parties. Jung felt that an introvert could never become an extrovert, but, he also believed that every individual possesses the potential to develop and incorporate their opposite sides. He called the process ‘individuation’, and claimed that it wasn’t just possible, but, essential!

Son, I don’t call it, ‘doing a set’, any more ...haven’t for years! I call it, “Self Presentation!” Don’t ever write material! Try to put on paper your truest reflection of your thoughts and feelings on the matter at hand from your own point of view. It ain’t easy, there’s a knack to it; and, like any knack ...you get better at it with time and effort.

Don’t ‘learn’ your ‘material’, ...'Be' your material! When you rehearse, you aren’t rehearsing a set, you are melding the best edited form of the material, with the best edited form of yourself! When you do rehearse ...rehearse without Ruth! You are working to become yourself, and that takes, again, time and effort. But, as you become yourself, you are becoming absolutely U-Knee-Que & 100% Gen-U-Wine!

After all, you aren’t what you are ...that’s way too limiting. You must become ...what you are becoming! After all, that’s the way Human Potential works. I’ve never had much use for a silk purse, but, there’s always a place for a good sow’s ear!