I have this desire to be funny. Everyone around me is funny; my husband, my friends. I have a good sense of humor. I’m quick to laugh and I’m a great audience. But telling a joke and creating laughter wasn’t my forte. Still, I wanted to try.
I attempted improv once, taking a series of classes in Charlotte, NC. That was a failure. I would practice possible scenarios in my mind, which kinda defeats the point of improvisational comedy. Standup comedy, however, is all about writing and preparation. I wanted to see if I could make a crowd laugh on purpose.
8 weeks of classes at Improv Boston was a blast. Gary, our instructor was a wonderful, funny, and supportive teacher. The folks in my class were the highlight; 3 teenagers, a doctor, 2 Africans, a Black-Jewish woman, a white guy in the middle of bankruptcy and me, a Chinese chick working out her mid-life crisis on the stage. We were an All-American bunch and it was a hoot.
The penultimate class left me in a desperate place. I didn’t think I would be able to find my funny but Sam, my classmate, helped me parse out the crap I had written and left me with just the funny bits.
By the time our recital came, I felt my funny bone had been strengthened!
Being on stage or talking to a bunch of people wasn’t a big deal for me, but hearing a group of people chortle over something I’d written and delivered, well that was a first, and it was a thrill.
(Thanks to all my friends who were super supportive throughout this process… and to hubby, Dominick, Cary, Brad, Kristen, Kim, Tim, Ben, Drew, Padgett, Brendan, Laura and John who all came out to cheer for me!)

**This video has swear words that have been bleeped out but it still may not be ‘work appropriate.’
(You want to watch it even more now, right?!)