As long as we're on the topic of regular readers...

...some of you might have noticed that I take comedy, especially written comedy, really seriously, perhaps too seriously, and as a consequence hold the people who do it to an extremely high standard. This is either a character flaw or something admirable, I can't tell which. But I seem unable to stop doing it; maybe because I am an a-hole, or maybe because I really had to sweat and starve to be able to carve out a niche for myself. And when you're sitting there at 3 am, working on a piece that nobody will likely see, even if you do eventually make $50 from it, you have moments that force you to either love what you're doing or quit and go to law school. In those moments the curtain falls and you realize that you are spending some of your painfully finite life doing this, and you had better love it and give all you've got to it, or quit and make room for somebody else who will do those essential things.



People who haven't been forced to make this kind of decision have a lack of committment in their comedy, in my opinion, which makes it less sharp and personal and true and (ultimately) valuable. Since they have no other concern other than the utility of what they're doing, ie "what can I write that will make me rise in the field, or make me lots of money, or whatever" they DO rise, and they DO make lots of money, and generally turn comedy into something other than a haven for people who really, truly can't do anything else, can't help but do it.



So if I seem overcritical, that's why. It's nothing personal.