Comedic Relief

My husband and I love to drive places. We have done the trip to New York from Virginia and vice versa many many times. We’ve also driven to Florida from New York and back several times in the past 5 years. One thing that kept us sane, and awake during these treks, comedy.

Yup.
Did you know that you can go on Pandora and create a comedy station? That station is what kept us alert in the wee hours of the morning on many of these long drives.

I  remember in early 2014 trying to think of something good to listen to while I was doing my work at a corporate job. The hours would go by slowly if I didn’t have some upbeat music or entertaining podcast to listen to. Then one day I remembered the Pandora Comedy station and put that on. I spent the next month listening to some of the most hilarious people you can imagine. Most days I would sit at my cubicle with a ridiculous grin on my face listening in my earbuds to people who were so funny I had to try not to snort at my desk.
I was happier at work and that snowballed into my life.

I don’t know why but life is so much better when you can look at it and laugh.
There’s a lot of really intense things going on in the world, but when you see them with a bit of humor… it just makes things easier.

The definition of comedic relief is: Comedic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.

So this week in my world was a bit tense. By the time Friday came around, I was ready to fall on my face. A lot of stressful situations all crashing down and I needed something to change the trajectory.
So… I decided to pitch something different to my husband for a ‘date night’ and we went to a show at the Comedy Works Club in downtown Saratoga Springs. I didn’t know either of the comedians that were featured but I was open and excited to have a different kind of evening.

The first comedian that took the stage was Chris Franjola. He took the mic with a beaming smile, surveying his surroundings and declaring that he couldn’t believe he flew across the country to entertain this tiny crowd in a basement in Saratoga. His segment was so funny,  honestly… I had trouble breathing most of the time because I was laughing that hard. His style was very direct, very sarcastic. He had incredible delivery and you could tell he was being authentic just because of how much he used us – his audience to formulate his material. He touched on everything… the ridiculousness of the fact that several audience members (including my husband) had ordered ice cream sundaes in a dark comedy club… to the stereotypical traits of the people of Wal-Mart.
Sure… some of his material could be offensive… most comedians are to some degree. Honestly, I LOVED him. My cheeks hurt from laughing the entire segment he was on.

Next up was Joe Matarese. Joe was a completely different style in my opinion than Chris was, but just as funny. He was an awesome story teller and EXTREMELY relatable with his material. He spent a good portion of his segment talking about the painfully funny traits of his marriage… normal marital issues that if you are lucky enough, you can look at them and laugh at. He was so accurate with some of his jokes, that my husband and I went up to him after the show, laughing at how much he described OUR marriage! He was a very entertaining comedian and super complimentary to Chris.

As much as I try to write about the power of thinking, of spirituality, God, hope…. all of that great stuff – sometimes I need to go off in another direction. Life is tough. Seriously. I don’t have the answers, and most times, I’m my own worst enemy. It’s pretty easy for me to look at a friend, a client, whoever… and offer some wisdom and help them get out of their head. But it’s really friggan hard for me to do it for myself most of the time.

Last night I spent a good 3 hours happy, smiling, and doubled over in hysterics. We look at these dramatic lives we’ve created, full of problems and intense confusion. It’s great to take a comedic relief  and realize that really… it’s better to just laugh at this stuff in the end.

Thanks Chris and Joe… keep doing what you do!!!