Uhhhh ok

This is a short one but a gem I promise.

Yesterday while at work this guy came into my store. I had tried asking him a few questions but he was kind of a weirdo and also kind of a dick. He was looking at some necklaces and asked if he could just buy the pendant without the chain. I said no and showed him a collection of pendants that we sell without the chain and made a comment about how it was a knock off of something else. Like I said he was kind of a dick.

He was then looking at some charms and I asked him who he was buying for, he replied with, "my girlfriend." He then commented and said he wished we had zodiac charms since her birthday was in April. He told me how she was going back home. I asked him where she was going and he just said, "Home to her husband."

How the fuck am I supposed to even react to that bullshit? The only thing I could think to say was, THAT SUCKS. So I said that and he continued on and said, "yeah she also has to go back to her family and kids." WHAT? "I've had her for 3 weeks." WHAT?

I don't know why people feel compelled to tell me crazy shit.

Oh well.

Don't be a dick

7 months ago I started doing stand-up and at the end of the year last year I decided that I wanted to start running my own open mic not only for stand up but for solo sketch because I know there are a ton of people always trying out new solo stuff. A good friend of mine encouraged me to do it and since my independent improv group hosts a show twice a week at a bar in Wrigleyville so I had a space where I could make this happen.

I decided to do it the first Wednesday of the month. Last month went great and everyone that performed was great and everyone was very supportive. That's all I wanted was a fun, successful, and supportive show.

Last night I was worried that no one was going to show up because I was looking at my facebook newsfeed and realized EVERYONE had a show that night. Maybe I should think about switching it to another night. The show started off with only 6 people showing up at first. I know some other people had other open mics to go to so I started the show.

There were 5 people sitting and while I was trying to start the show on stage some dude was on his phone and not even paying attention. I wasn't trying to be a jerk but I pointed it out and he immediately got defensive. I just couldn't help but be annoyed. Seriously bro? There's no one in the audience and the least you could do is be a little supportive and at least pay attention for a couple of minutes. The dude was then being a dick that I had said something about it and then one other person made a comment how it was just an open mic. I totally understand that but when there's not that many people there you could at least pay attention.

Anyway this had me thinking why I had wanted to start my own open mic in the first place. I have gone to a few open mics and it isn't exactly fun. There's usually a TON of dudes and maybe a few women. I know a lot of people have been doing this for awhile so they are not exactly very friendly or even care about anything you have to say. This is a little discouraging and I realize that this kind of shit happens everywhere but I can't help but get very annoyed by this fact. I know that this doesn't apply to ALL male stand-ups but I just feel as a woman I have to work harder to even get a laugh or they immediately don't want to like me because I am a girl or whatever bullshit. Whenever I do stand-up the other women stand-ups are the most supportive, nice, and kind people ever and the ones that run their own showcases have reached out to me to do shows and other fun stuff. It's really cool and I can only hope to try to come off that way.

I understand that maybe I shouldn't have made that comment about that dude being on his phone but he wasn't very nice when he came to the show. I mean for real dude you could at least try to be nice to the person hosting the show. Maybe this is just my take on it but I have also noticed when I go to open mics or see shows and I see a guy doing something and it isn't going well I can see it completely destroy them inside when their jokes aren't hitting. I remember one particular set that didn't go well and then the guy sat through everyone else's set and was loudly making shitty comments throughout everyone's else's set. What a fucking cock. I don't see the same thing  in women but maybe that's because we have to worry about bigger things like maybe potentially carrying a child one day. I mean maybe some of these guys are just having a rough day. Or MAYBE they have just never made a woman cum in their entire life so they just hate all women. Or maybe they are just sad that their set didn't go well and will just go home and listen to Morrisey while masturbating to their own tears. WHO KNOWS. I don't give a fuck I just wish people in general would be a little nicer and supportive towards others when it comes to comedy. It's not that hard.

Moving on, I continued the show and my One Group Mind team wound up coming to the show and watching and some of them tried out some stuff and others just were awesome and watched. A bunch of other people came to the show too and tried out some stuff they have been working on and it was so great. It wound up being a lot of fun for everyone that wound up coming last night (at least I hope so anyway). 

After the show had ended I wound up getting into a discussion with a few people about how some people don't know how to be supportive. I have had this conversation multiple times because being in the comedy scene here in Chicago is very interesting. There are so many people here who are talented and trying stuff out all the time it is amazing and inspiring. However there are plenty of people who aren't supportive of other people or just walk around thinking that they are better than other people. I have heard other people talk about how they're better than some other people or how they can't believe how someone got a part in a show, team, whatever over them. I HATE this with a passion. Who fucking cares who is better and who got a part over you. You should be HAPPY for someone else. I think that everyone should just focus on themselves and not worry about others unless you are going to be supportive. When people say stuff like that I just can't help but think how much they sound like an asshole. Yes, I will say it if you are just going to sit there and talk about how much better you are at comedy in any sense than someone else you are an ASSHOLE.

UGH.

Ok, I need to calm down because I am just getting mad just thinking about it. I understand that I live in a city where hundreds of people are competing for a lot of the same things but at the end of the day we should all just be happy we are even doing this in the first place. I mean come on some of us talk about our vaginas, dicks, or just make shit up on stage. WE ARE PLAYING MAKE BELIEVE. That shit is awesome and it blows my mind all the time. So who cares who had a better "scene". Oh fuck. Anyway I know it happens everywhere but I just don't want to be associated with those kinds of people. Also, being in an improv group that hosts their own shows I have seen it one too many times where people come to do a show and leave immediately right after their set ALL of the time. Now I understand everyone is busy but I have seen plenty of veterans who have been doing this for more than 10 years who come by to play and they introduce themselves, sit in the front row, and are nice and are supportive. I see stuff like that and it makes me happy but I guess that's why they're so successful is because they are nice people.

I could go on and on but I won't all I am saying is that everyone should just be supportive if you haven't gotten that already by my mentioning supportive like 30 times already. I am also not shitting on male stand-ups it was just an observation I have made so far. Maybe I am going to the wrong places to perform but either way if you are doing comedy just be nice. It totally goes a long way and when I see someone who is awesome and nice it makes me want to play with them and see them more. So don't be a dick!