I think back on my 15 or 17 years of doing standup comedy and I am so glad I left when I did.
It was fun doing it for so many years but I was starting to lose my passion for it and if I had stayed in it any longer I probably would have ended up despising the brutal craft.
Comedy, especially standup, can be very tough to do and if your heart’s not into it you can end up suffering a lot in front of the unforgiving audiences. I had some great times doing air conditioned dive bars here overseas and I think I left at just the right time, switching to playing music in front of a nice fireplace and a more calm and forgiving audience. I like playing drums and singing in a band because it isn’t as lonely as going up on your own in front of a crowd waiting to be entertained. The local contractor in town here said she tried comedy once and has no clue how I did it for so long. I don’t either, but I gave it my best shot and I left with a lot of good memories from the craft. Now, I work for the homeowner solutions company in town and play music a few times a week in the band and am really happy I got into music when I did. I think I still have a lot of good years left in me to do this craft and hone my skills so I can make a lot more cool memories.