In sports we have a word for when an athlete gets into their head and loses confidence in themselves: The Yips. In comedy, this happens too. That killer joke starts to lose steam. Your voice begins crackling at points it never did before. The act becomes dated and you start hating yourself and/or the crowd for not getting and giving the desired response. It happens to everyone, even the best of pros. Why? Because we are complex human beings whose lives are changing every moment.
From the schedule we lead to the food we consume to the money we make - all create the person we are and how we feel about ourselves. Too often we live in the false reality that whatever is will always be - when that clearly isn't the case. All that is today is just for now, and as you change, your comedy will ebb and flow. So when you find yourself in a slump, you can either push through, pause and reset, or quit. But regardless of your choice, just know the circus continues on whether you do or do not. What Defines the Comedy Yips aka Slump? For everyone it is a bit different. For some it has to deal with the amount of bookings they're getting. For others it is the amount of writing they are churning out. And for others its the amount of laughter they're getting while on stage. Depending on how long you've been doing stand up, the yips will feel differently for each individual, but it's important to know that these slumps are normal and they happen to everyone. So keep that in mind when reading the rest of this article. Why Do the Yips Invade Our Psyche? As you evolve as a comic or performer, your performance and bag of tricks will change as well. Sometimes the yips aren't because you are getting worse at stand up, but because you are outgrowing your old self. Yes, you might be in a slump because you've outgrown the rooms and jokes you relied on earlier in your career that no longer fit your stage presence. This is an easy fix, as you want to start reaching out to venues with better stages and longer sets. In a weird way, the comedy gods are telling you it's time to separate yourself from those who aren't on the same path. This is normal. Do not feel bad about having to move on, as the longer you stay doing the same places and same types of jokes you won't grow. In fact, sometimes the jokes worked before because you brought a nervous energy to the joke. But as you became better on stage, the joke that exposed your rookie mentality doesn't work the same anymore. But what if you're playing the right venues but just feeling "off?" When this happens, there are usually other factors involved. Sometimes it's about the relationships in your life. Maybe you are going through a breakup or you've met someone who makes you feel better about yourself. Maybe you've lost a loved one. After I lost my cousin, it took me months to feel good to be on stage again. And when I was dating a girl that made me second guess everything, it crept into my comedy. When we broke up, I was able to make jokes about the relationship, and got myself back on track. Sometimes it's your health. When I was really fat (280 pounds) I was able to do jokes about my weight and dating life that had a great "sitcom" feeling to it. After my heart condition I lost over 80 pounds, so I had to change my jokes around. My jokes about sweating and being a Bakersfield 9 just didn't work anymore. I found that my jokes about dating women out of my league did really well, as people connected to the idea I lost weight and started dating new people. As my health changed, my art changed. Just like when comics have kids, get married, switch jobs, or move, they'll find new points of view to pontificate on. Sometimes it's just your physical health or environment that has changed how your material or crowd work translates on stage. What About the Idea of Luck? Here's where my belief in the cosmos and the metaphysical come in. Sometimes we are just in a slump. In sports winning begets winning and losing begets losing. That happens in life too. Sometimes you're just like Job in a story where the world is against you for no specific reason, except it just is. After I was let go last year, I've had my car stolen, teeth issues, gigs canceled, women dump and ghost me, and I've even had my new car need bumper repair. When it rains, it pours. That also goes with success. You get one big gig, and suddenly you get all the big gigs. So many of my actor friends tell me this how their career goes. Homeless one day, in a Super Bowl commercial the next. Western world mindset doesn't allow for luck, but from Biblical times to today in eastern cultures, luck is very much a cause and effect variable. We like to think hard work trumps "bad luck," but that simply isn't true. Plenty of hard workers get into slumps. Plenty of song writers have one hit wonders. Plenty of salesmen have devasting slow years. It's the stuff of literature, film, and true crime stories. Go watch a few Dark Side of the Ring episodes on Hulu about the rise and fall of pro wrestlers and you'll see that you can be the top guy one day and end up in jail later in life. Sometimes its choices made and sometimes its injuries and bad management. Either way, luck does play a part in the rise and in the fall. One of my favorite books "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss deals with this very idea. Here's a part of the colorful poem we usually forget. Oh, The Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss (excerpt) Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest. Except when you don't. Because, sometimes, you won't. I'm sorry to say so but, sadly, it's true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you. You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You'll be left in a Lurch. You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you'll be in a Slump. And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done. You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win? And IF you go in, should you turn left or right... or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind. You can get so confused that you'll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles cross weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. The Waiting Place... ...for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or the waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for the wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting. Final Thoughts When you do go through a slump, the trick is keep pushing through. Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" deals with that concept with the lines: And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ There is no one size fits all way to get out of a slump, but if you can fight through and give yourself grace, I know you can find a way back to where you were. So often, comics quit after a string of bad sets or experiences. I'm not going to judge, as we all come from a different place. But when Joan Rivers was asked if any of her friends "didn't make it," she responded with "Everyone made it who stuck with it." And that's the trick. First, always remember the yips will happen and second, if you don't quit, you'll come out stronger on the other side. You might have to pivot. You might have to move. You might have to say goodbye to some people. But if you want it, and its meant to be, then keep going until the slump is no longer holding you back.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Paul Douglas Moomjean Blog's About What's on His MindBlogging allows for me to rant when there is no stage in the moment to talk about what's important and/or funny to me. Archives
February 2025
Categories |