Apparently I suck at blogging. This should be obvious since the last time I posted was more than a month ago. Becky says that I should be updating my blog at the very least, a couple times a week. I wholeheartedly admit, that this is almost impossible for me to do. I could go into the many excuses why, but I will not bore you with my sorry details.
However, I have recently discovered something I am good at... STAND UP COMEDY! Yes folks, I survived my first performance. I'd even say that I more than survived, that I persevered! I surprised my friends, boyfriend, co-workers, and family by making an entire room full of people laugh for almost 30 minutes. I'm still going over the night in my head, shocked that the silly ideas that run through my brain were seemingly hilarious to people.
Do you want to know a secret? The truth is, I was pretty sure that I could do stand up successfully. I didn't know I would receive as many compliments as I did, but I was confident I could complete the task at hand. The fact is, I am a machine under pressure. This is exactly why I suck at this blogging business. There are no time limits, no threat of a deadline, no stomach dropping feeling of people depending on me to entertain and succeed. Blogging isn't painful, and therefore sorta boring for Mandy. I have come to learn after almost 30 years of living, that I am most comfortable in intense situations. I am addicted to "rising to the occasion" and to pushing myself through the most challenging moments.
I'm not sure how I became this way, but I am thankful that I am. It would be intriguing, though, if I could pin point the exact moment this personality trait came to be. Or maybe, it developed over along period of time, gradually morphing out of my many life experiences. I know that for one, the performer in me as been there right from the beginning. It's as if straight out of the womb, I demanded a room's attention.
This fact couldn't have been more obvious last night, when I spent the evening watching old videos of me as a kid. I borrowed the tapes from my brother Dan a while ago, and during a mini writing vacation I've taken for myself this weekend, I finally got a chance to sit down and watch them. As a "grown up," I thought I'd see a girl on the tv screen, so unlike the woman I am today. But instead, I watched the child version of me singing and dancing, pushing my brother out of the way when he wanted to join in, and whining when my father wasn't giving me his undivided attention. There were even moments of comedy. Although, instead of making fun of my miniature sets of limbs, or the way men and women communicate with each other, I thought hitting myself and my brother would make a crowd roar with laughter.
Thank heavens my material as evolved since then.
If anyone is interested, I have been asked to do more stand up - a show on Wednesday, April 28th at the Mohegan Manor in B'ville, and Friday, April 30th at Quaker Steak and Lube in Liverpool. Life has sorta threw me a curve ball with this whole comedy thing. I always knew I belonged on a stage, but I've never envisioned myself walking down this particular path.
