Standing up...

The last four years of my life have been much different than I could have ever expected. Whether it being grown up things like being married or owning a home or my involvement in one of my lifelong fascinations (pro-wrestling), I can honestly say I don't know what's going to happen next.

Several months ago (around November), Jerry (you know who I mean) was toying with the idea of going to an open mic night and testing out some stand up material. On a very long car ride, we spoke at great length about this and I was very excited to see him do this.

Flash forward to a few weeks later and, while I was on vacation, on a whim, Jerry decides to go an try his hand at comedy. I will be honest with you and say I was pretty upset that I missed him doing this as we spoke about doing so quite a bit. So, to give him grief, I decided since no one was there to see it, it didn't happen. The old 'it a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, did it make a sound' defense.

I kept on him about doing it for the 'first time' and he continually told me they aren't doing open mic around here anymore. He even went so far as going to Bethlehem this past Sunday to watch an open mic night.

My brother Tony fancies himself many things (writer, musician, etc.) and has wanted to perform at an open mic night, but didn't want to go by himself. I said I would go with him, but there weren't any in the area. I mentioned the usual place in Scranton and he confirmed that they in fact were still doing open mics. With this, he schnookered me into performing as well.

By nature, I do not like much attention directed towards me. I'm very happy staying home most weekends and "staring at the wall." Based on my current position, as mentioned above, in the world of pro-wrestling, most times I am either playing off other people, behind a microphone or in a warehouse with less than five people watching. All of these are greatly nerve racking but after four years, I've gotten more comfortable in my own skin. But I have my days.

Now, I was going to have to be on a stage, by my lonesome, not only holding court, but also charged with the task of making strangers laugh. I don't consider myself a "funny person" but I feel I have a good sense of humor. This, at times, translates into me saying things that make people laugh, usually my close friends and family. How was I going to translate to a live, unforgiving crowd?

I don't want to say much about my performance or Tony's performance (who had the unenviable task of going on last) as video of both sets exist (I have them, duh!) and am toying with the notion of posting them on the YouTube. However, having never been to an open mic night before, I was shocked at how...I don't want to be mean...but let's just say any concerns I had about being outshined by people who attend open mics all the time were all for naught.

Thanks for hanging in there, this was a bit long. In closing, it's done, I did my five minutes and JERRY NEVER DID!