Days pregnant: 41 48 U.S., 27 34 Europe
Who’s there?
9-11.
9-11 who?
YOU SAID YOU’D NEVER FORGET!
Yesterday’s post about sympathy got me thinking. I (used to) consider myself a comedy writer, as it was one of my main hobbies before my current job. For the previous 10 years, friends and I have written and performed comedy mostly in Seattle, but occasionally in Chicago, New York, Montreal, San Francisco, Hollywood, etc. (Since you’re reading this and since this blog gets zero visitors a day, you can probably guess that the comedy writing thing didn’t pan out too well.)
Back on topic: when you spend the majority of your life viewing things with an ironic eye, trying to deconstruct every event and situation to find the kernel of humor in it… it makes you a tad jaded and cynical. And like too much weed killer on your lawn, it kills every living part of your sympathy. Even after 9-11 (please stop reading for 2 minutes of solemn, reflective silence… Go ahead, I’ll wait.)…
Even after 9-11, perhaps on that same day, I was prepared with some jokes. I can’t help it. “What, too soon?” (Quick tangent: For Halloween in 2001, I wanted to be the twin towers, with little mobile planes crashing into them.) Don’t get me wrong. It was a horrible tragedy, and all that blah blah blah that I’m saying just so you don’t send me hate mail. But I just have a personal belief that nothing is sacred, and humor can be found in every situation. As Woody Allen says, comedy = tragedy + time. Well, in my world, black comedy = tragedy + warped sense of humor.
So I’ve been thinking… will having a little boy or girl skew my perspective? When my friends make child molesting jokes (and I have every expectation they will)… will I get offended? Will I suddenly find compassion and realize that yes, there are certain things that are off-limits to comedy?
Side bar: My wife is the opposite of me, so even if I don’t change, there is hope for our unborn child. You know how people take photos or send cards out saying, “It’s a girl!” Well, my dream is to have a photo with me looking dejected, holding a sign that is opposite of whatever gender our baby is. So if it’s a boy, I want a photo of me holding the baby in one arm, with a sign lowered in the other arm that says, “It’s a girl!” and looking very dejected. HILARITY! My wife has vetoed thing idea, and says it would be mean if the child found it later in life. My postulate is that, “No, if it’s my child, I will have scarred it early on in life with too many jokes and my warped sense of humor… so there’s no way my child could be offended, because they will have had a lifetime of knowing my comedy.”
Posted by Manchild 