The four of us took a lot of shit from the comedians, mostly for being American, but also for being happy, which was sort of confusing at a comedy club. For a moment, I was thinking, "Are we laughing too loud? Should we be laughing less? Do people not laugh at comedy clubs here?" Turns out, people laugh at comedy clubs in Scotland too. So, I got over it.
(Three of my friends standing on a comedy club stage. We showed up VERY early, and they didn't mind us hanging around and taking pictures like the tourists we are. By the way, yes, the mural is of a cowboy child holding a gun to his head in front of an audience.)
I watched a *lot* of stand-up comedy in high school. My Carlin-inspired attitude was that there is no topic that is off-limits to the comedian, and when dealing with a touchy subject, the difference between horribly offensive and hilarious is how well the joke is constructed. I don't feel that way anymore, and it may be the reason I watch less stand-up than I used to. When comedians comment on culture, they often try to pretend that they're not part of the culture because they're the lowly starving artists who are too poor or off-beat to have an agenda. But that stereotype is also part of the culture, as are all the stereotypes they base their jokes on. There are always comedians who will question stereotypes and find a funny way to throw them back at the audience, and I love that. But so many comedians fall back on the same old jokes. Three unique punchlines, then we're back to "men are assholes and women are confusing and why do Muslims have so many phlegm-inducing sounds in their names, am I right?" I can't watch that anymore. It's been done. Even the so-called rebels, the counter-culture comedians, the Kinisons and Pryors and Carlins of the world, they all do it too, albeit less often.
Where I'm going with this is that I really enjoyed the comedy show in Scotland. They did relatively little of that, and when it did pop up, I let slide. In retrospect, I came to the show determined to laugh, and that made me unable to get annoyed at the material I would have perhaps otherwise disapproved of. We got made fun of, but it was mostly in the context of "you Americans did XYZ" and I understood that they were talking on a societal level, not that I was personally responsible for ruining everything. I particularly got a lot of flak for wearing one of my human rights shirts. My favorite part was when one comedian was being self-referential when making fun of me. She was basically saying, "Damn you American kids and your optimism and hope and caring about the world. Don't you know you're supposed to be miserable like us?" Most of the audience went "hah hah, yeah, we're such pessimists, that's pretty funny," except for the guy at the table next to us, who came to be known as "the scary man." His attitude seemed to be, "Yeah! Damn hippies!" which I've certainly heard before, but it was funnier coming from a gruff Glaswegian. He later got made fun of too, and everyone was laughing, even if for different reasons.
One lesson I learned that evening is that I need to get used to being a Peace Studies student in a public sphere. I anticipate the "damn hippie!" reaction, or even worse, the "great, the world needs people like you!" reaction, and I change my response accordingly. I downplay my own aspirations. When people ask me what I want to do with my life, I say, "Eh, change the world. Help people. You know." Or I say that I'm just in it to learn stuff, and may end up in an IT job in the end. Those are all accurate, but are also kind of wishy-washy. When the comedian asked me that very question during the show (looking for comedy fodder, of course), I said "Improve people's well-being." I'm a bit ashamed to admit to the world (or at least my friends who read this blog) that I gave that answer. It's not *false*, it's just *meaningless*. I was wearing the United Workers shirt. It was the perfect opportunity to say, "Secure a living wage for everyone," or "Improve schools" or even "Steal from the rich and give to the poor." All those would have been better answers. And of course, the comedian picked up on the lameness of my answer. She said, "doesn't that sound like it should be in inverted commas and said in a sarcastic tone?" And it does. In retrospect, the funniest answer I could have given would have been to say "Stand-up comedy." But I didn't think of it in time.
They say that specificity is key in comedy. Most of the time, "He hit the other guy with something silly" would be funnier if it was "He hit the other guy with a large fish," and even funnier if it was "He smacked the other guy upside the head with an eight-pound speckled sea bass." Well, specificity is also key in my self-description. I know what I want to see in the world, and I just need to get comfortable saying it. I guess I'm afraid that I'd be pidgeonholing myself if I said I wanted to stay in Baltimore and do United Workers stuff forever (which I don't). But if I say that, and I later do other things, who cares? That's my goal right now. Goals can change, and I needn't be afraid of it.
One more light-hearted moment: Out of the folks in the audience who got made fun of, the four of us got the most attention from the comedians, and I definitely got more than everyone else. One of them was mock-flirting me throughout her act (did I need to specify that it was mock-flirting? Probably not). And of course, there was the exchange I already mentioned. By the end, I was pretty popular with the crowd, and I actually felt like I added something to the success of the show. I was certainly expecting to be entertained, but I wasn't expecting to leave the show feeling that I had somehow contributed. Before the last comedian, there was a raffle, and the audience voted by applause for which previously heckled audience member should draw the ticket. There was the scary man, the Americans, and two couples (one had been married for years, the other were on their second date; the expected jokes were made about "this is your future," etc.). The four of us Americans were more or less the only people to cheer for the scary guy, which cracked me up. I won by a landslide, got to draw the ticket, get made fun of a bit more, then present the prize. I was also instructed to give the winner a kiss, which I did (with her permission, 'cause that's the kind of guy I am). Life throws unexpected twists. I certainly couldn't have told you a few weeks ago that I'd be adding "back row of a Glasgow comedy club" to the list of places I've gotten to kiss a pretty girl. Not that I have such a list. Well, it's certainly not on my computer. And the file is definitely not called "elismooches.doc"
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For today's Random Pictures Unrelated to the Post, here's some from when we climbed a mountain/hill near Loch Katrine.
(On the way up. The peak on the left was our peak)
(The view from just below the summit, facing Eastish)
(Me on the true peak. There was a small, flat summit, but this rock was the one that jutted up the highest. Also, I look like I'm either meditating, or asking for a hug)
(The view facing... Westish? Maybe Northwestish?)
(View facing Southish)
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