Just Be-Cosby

What makes you laugh? I'll bet it's not what makes your mother laugh, or your husband, or your children for that matter. Laughter is such a personal interchange, like a private joke between your brain and your funny bone.

I love trying to figure out what makes people laugh.

I became fascinated after my very first foray into comedy which consisted of an impromptu routine almost sixteen years ago. Without planning what I would say, I got up from my seat, took the microphone, and with zero trepidation told people about my life. Seriously, it was a twenty minute, off the cuff relay of my job, children, husband, and life in general. Stories mostly, with absolutely no structure, no punchline, and no expectations. It went over like free twinkies at a weight watchers meeting. They gobbled it up.

During the past three years I've endeavored to take my comedy to new heights, to be a “professional” if you will. Workshops, books, and conferences all tell of how-to formulas that include punchlines, set-ups, and measurable LPMs (laughs per minute.) I've studied, attended, and digested these materials and advice ad nauseum. I've changed and contorted my style to become the picture of comedic strategy, and you know what it's done? Diluted my comedy, and more importantly, my love of comedy. Trying to fit into the stereotypical formula has drained the joy right out of making people laugh, and that's a pretty sad statement.

Jerry Seinfeld has been quoted as saying “the closer your comedy is to who you are, the more successful you'll be.” How insightful. Look at Bill Cosby. You don't get more beloved as a comedian than Bill Cosby. How does he do it? He sits on a stool, and tells stories about his job, his children, his wife, and life in general. No overwrought formula, no cookie cutter jokes, just Bill and his stories (brilliantly crafted and woven of course) and we gobble it up. I'll bet if you had lunch with Bill Cosby he would be just as funny, and just as real as he is on stage, and that's what makes him worth watching.

Are you squeezing who you are into a formula that robs you of joy and laughter, diluting your love of life and the way God made you? Then go back to simply being you, with your own unique style, and if someone asks you why you keep smiling, say... “just be-Cos-by.”