Last post, I swear.

I know this is going to actually be recorded as my first post of Wednesday, March 3rd, but I believe in personal definitions of what "today" is, and my today won't be the 3rd until I get up tomorrow morning. For all of you smartasses who ask about all-nighters, trust me, I've given it lengthy consideration (I mean, in the middle of the night like that when you're loopy on caffiene there really isn't much else to do--meaningful contributions to whatever assignment prompted the all-nighter in the first place just don't happen) and have decided that in those cases, the next day begins when the sun rises. None of which has anything to do with my reason for even writing this post, which was to refer people to the first "Say Something Funny" in the Onion that actually was, and makes me miss stand-up comedy. I love Chicago, but will miss the occasional trips to Comedy Freakout USA 2000. Poor name notwithstanding, it's likely the only chance I'll ever get to pay only $5 (and no drink minimum!) and see some of the best comics around. I was sorry to hear the shows have been discontinued, as it was something I was really looking forward to for winter break. Actually, catching a live stand-up show isn't really possible in Chicago at all, except for the occasional big names that come through (will be missing Lewis Black on March 21st! Ok though because I probably will prefer the week-long southern Caribbean cruise to an hour laughing at Lewis Black... I can just catch him on the Daily Show every week).

Anyway, stand-up comedy isn't a topic that really lends itself to this medium because it's too given to impressions and one-liners, which lose 95% of their humor when presented textually (hence my being so impressed at Tom McCaffrey's contribution to the Onion this week). I miss it though; somehow Improv Olympic doesn't quite fill the same need. It could be either conditioning or a personality quirk or a little of both; I say personality because I'm one of those people who, when they hear a new song they like, will listen to that and only that for days on end, and this same principle applies across the board. It fits into comedy in that, when I see a performer I like, I only want to watch/listen to them, and could really do without the bother of others (like those in an improv troupe) getting in the way. I kind of like the consistency of stand-up too: I like hearing favorite bits over again, whereas in improv it'll be lost forever. The best part of both is consistent though: the rehashing of funny lines with friends... thanks to Improv Olympic, I'll be calling it ANALytic techniques forever, and probably laughing at that almost every time, too. Aw, don't it just give you the warm fuzzies all over? (: