Hey everyone! I didn’t realize I’d get so many positive (and some negative) responses to my two pieces about women and comedy. I’m glad you guys have enjoyed them, I still hold those beliefs today.
I’ve been busy for a while and haven’t had a chance to write on women/comedy. I’ll be cracking down on that soon, so stay tuned!
Thank you again for supporting women in comedy!
Thanks for commenting on my blog…mom.
I’ll put up a new post as soon as I get back from the International Lindy Hop Championships in Washington DC! Whoo-hoo!
(Mom, thank you for being my super cool fan. Wow, that was actually a little sad. Love you mommy!)
I came across this amazing article yesterday and had to post a link to it. Numerous times, I myself have bitched and complained about this and it’s nice to know that I’m not alone. Snaps to this dude for one bad ass article.
There are two kinds of people: those who only see the end goal and those who see the end goal and then find the steps in between to reach it. The first type are the dreamers - the ones who tell you about how they’d like to travel to Europe one day. The latter are the doers – the people who tell you that they want to travel to Europe and have begun saving money and vacation time from their job to do this trip in several months. They’ve also researched affordable places to stay, methods of travel and already know the cheapest time to buy airline tickets. There really no is middle ground, you either see only the dream or you not only see the dream, but also the way in which to get there.
One type has a very difficult time understanding the other, which can be frustrating depending upon what side of the scale you’re on. It’s incredibly difficult to put yourself into the other person’s shoes, especially when your thinking method is entirely different. From the doer’s perspective – How can he/she only talk about what they want? Why is it so difficult for them to take the steps towards doing what they want? If they want it so much, why not find a way to make it happen? From the dreamer’s perspective – How does he/she do it? Aren’t they risking a lot? Aren’t they afraid?
This post is coming from a recent personal experience. I admit, I am a doer. That is how I’ve gotten to where I am today – I saw where I wanted to be and found a way to get there. A majority of my new-found college friends are like this as well – they are doers. We understand each other. If someone says they want to make a movie, I already expect to see a finished product in about 5 months. However, I do know a few people who are the dreamer type…and I have a hard time talking to them. I struggle to understand why they are unable to take the next step – why they can’t get past the dreaming stage. ”You know what you want! Just go for it! Find a way to make it happen!” A few days ago, I was talking to a dreamer friend. While he/she has recently figured out what they want to do as a career, he/she has failed to look beyond that. He/she knows the profession and where it could take him/her…but has not looked at realistic ways to improve this specific skill and propel him/herself into this area. He/she knows where they want to end up – the end-goal is known. But getting there? Hasn’t been seriously thought about. I was ready to slam my fist into the wall. “THINGS ARE NOT IMPOSSIBLE!” I wanted to scream into my tiny cell phone. If you’ve found something that you want and desire it bad enough, why doesn’t one go after it?
It’s easy enough for doers to take the next step, their thinking process goes from “OK, I know what I want.” to “What do I need to do to get there?” Speaking from a doer’s perspective, I can’t help thinking that way. You’re not losing sight of what you want, but taking the baby steps to get there. Whatever it is that you’re doing at the moment, even though it’s not that dream, is leading up to that ultimate goal. Is that where the misunderstanding begins? Do dreamers think that they have to be doing their end-goal immediately, or else they are unable to do it at all?
“Hey Hilary, we think you need to appeal to the local people more. Why don’t you go out and drink with ‘em?”
“Well, alright, let’s do it.”
That woman takes a shot of whiskey like a pro. I salute you, Hil.
Oxymoron – New York Auto Show
While taking a 20 minute internet browsing break from working on my midterms in the library, I just happen to come across these pictures. Don’t ask me how. I just did, ok.
I’ve been having a bit of a rough week and they brightened my day. I’d like to share in the wealth.
This article was emailed to me from my friend Ray (thanks bro!), who knows I like to write about women and comedy.
The article itself is really interesting, especially about the changing face of women in comedy. No longer do they have to play the trashy, drunk, retarded female character (even though it can still be kind of funny if not overdone) in order to get laughs. Being funny and sexy is the new trend! This has both pros and cons. Pro – women don’t need to wear window curtains to get a laugh (think Carroll Burnett and her Gone With The Wind skit). Con – Is this a necessarily healthy female image to promote? I’ll dissect this more later on. But for now, enjoy the piece on my home-girls Tina Fey, Amy Pohler, Kristin Wigg, Maya Rudolf and (not so much) Sarah Silverman.
Who Says Women Aren’t Funny? By Alessandra Stanley
One last note – how hot is this picture? These women worked hard to become so successful. One day, (hopefully) there’ll be a picture like this of me and my own funny crew – my Brooklyn sisters Jess, Jenn and I, rockin the comedy scene.
Last night, over hawaiian pizza with jalepenos, a good friend and I discussed life in general and the key to being happy with yourself. Realizing your own value and being aware of your worth will get you to where you want to be. It’s when you aren’t aware of what you are capable of that gets you exploited by others, whether it be good or bad.
And this epiphany isn’t easy to come across. There’s no set time as to when you should discover it – I just turned 20 and I honestly haven’t had that realization yet. My friend is 23 and he just had it, which is partially why he was telling me about it. It’s empowering, because you have confidence in your own skills and knowledge.
This all comes back to me and my comedy writing. I’ve put it aside because of school, helping to produce a benefit, writing for a play and helping edit a book. I need to crack back down on my writing – how can I have confidence in my skills if I don’t put them to work? I took the train home last night with a million thoughts zooming through my brain and the second I got home, I sat down and wrote out the skeleton of a skit.
Before I get back to writing some more, my friend told me something that seems fitting to end this particular post;
“Look at it this way. You have creative ideas now…but that just means that you’ll have more ideas. And you’ll aways have more ideas in the future. Don’t get hung up on just one – keep writing.”
Thanks James.
Now that I’m back in California, I’ve returned to work at kids camp. I’ve forgotten how much I like working with kids, being in New York has turned my soul black. You can get them to believe anything (“Yup, I’m 25,” says my 43 year-old co-counciler) and they think you are the shit, the coolest person on the planet, the end-all-be-all in awesome people they have met in their lifetime. And being a camp councilor, I get to take part in the fun part of childhood – making animals with pipe cleaners, painting figures, creating Gak with glue and starch, endless games of Sorry and eating sugar cookies that you’ve decorated with an entire tube of frosting. It’s a good time and I can’t believe I’m getting paid for it…and I’ll probably be sick of it in about 3 more days. If only the magic could last.
