Standing up and delivering punches

For once this has nothing to do with my love of of martial arts and apparent aggression which i still insist I'm not... 99% of the time. Im actually talking about stand up comedy

A few Saturdays ago i went to a stand up comedy class. Ive always knew the cleverest people are those that can make us happy and laugh. I loved the show, it was really good. At the end of the show, we were told about a class on stand up comedy, slightly intrigued i sat up a little, but thought "Nah that's not me i don't really wanna be in the spot light, sure like most i enjoyed the attention but on stage like that. No freaking way". But over the next few days that idea kept on creeping up in my mind.. Its only a class right? Its not like ill be on stage, just sit there and listen to the ins and outs of being funny. So i emailed the organiser and said i want in, in return i was given some homework, ten things i truely hate and ten faults my friends see in me. That pretty much meant i would have to speak up at some stage, a little nervous i got emailing and writing.

Fast forward a little and there i was sitting in class being asked if i want to give it a go. Knowing fully well i haven't wrote the best or most suitable stuff i forced myself to put my hand up. A few people went before me and i was thinking they're good, very good for beginners at least, am i gonna be their level with what i wrote... I've always been able to make my friends laugh, spotting perverted situations faster then most, how bad could i be? I found that out when i stood under those million watt bulbs feeling like i was standing on a tiny platform 10m above the ground, i read out what i had in mind from the shit loads of notes i've made and boy did i crash! I don't mean badly here and there either i meant from beginning to the end, not so much as a chuckle, the silence felt incredible painful, ironically one of the things i hate the most is noise! (Ring tones, people talking loud, construction sites 10m from my window) I knew i was doing badly about 90 seconds in... so I cut my loses and got off the stage with my ego the size of a penny.

We were warned there's nothing that would get us going for comedy but the real thing and getting on stage, I'm glad I got on that stage even though I sucked (Thank you for the class and opportunity Jami)... A very stubborn part of me is still thinking, no freaking way can i leave it like this... but the other 99.995% of me is thinking, don't you even think about doing that again. it was an interesting experience and I really would love to be better at this... maybe once I've settled in HK a bit more without working 13 hour days I would give this another go, at least now I know what a punch is. Meanwhile I'll keep on taking notes on what's going on around me and go to as many shows as I can despite the 2 hour journey to get there!

I'll post my "10 things I hate in life" & "10 faults my friends see in me" later when I get around to scanning it.

Anyone in HK should check out TakeOut Comedy they do shows both in Chinese and English!