There is an excellent Ted talk about making failure your friend and why you shouldn’t be afraid of a failure by Aisha Alfa, and it’s absolutely true. Having Aspergers it often feels like there are few areas where I have as much success as I do in stand-up comedy. My friends sometimes seem to drift away from me based on what it is going on in their lives. In addition, I often feel unable to connect with women and I have been feeling extra lonely lately with one of my best friends getting married two weeks ago, one already married and another one getting married next month. Therefore, the success from stand-up comedy can sometimes go to my head. Sometimes as an Aspie I have a hard time being realistic and I live in my imagination thinking something is a lot worse or better than it is in reality. When it does I lose all sense of relativity and get upset when I don’t get put on shows someone is producing or when someone tries to cut my stage time for arriving late. Really, the only reason why a regular to an open mics time should be cut is if he or she is failing to connect with the audience. After doing well in a few shows I think I am a comedy God.
This head space is never a good place to be. No one should think they are a comedy God, NEVER, no exceptions. Thinking you are a comedy god leads you to be lazy when it comes to writing and going up with half formed ideas because you think anything will work. You also lose all sense of humility. So what is the answer to stop success from going to your head? Failure. Failure makes you work harder, respect other comedians as well as the audience as well as the form of itself. Failure is your friend who tells you it tells you “I am glad you are making strides in your improvement, but you still have a long way to go. What do you think you’re Russell Peters. “You’re not ready to headline a comedy club, but you might be one day!” People shouldn’t fear failure they should embrace it because only be failing can you continue to grow. Failure tests how serious you really are about comedy and separates the people who love it from those who will quit at the first sign of struggle. Failure is also one friend who will never leave you or have less time for you just because it got married. Therefore, I say go out and fail and have a ball of it. It is going to happen whether you like it or not, may as well embrace it.
In other news I will be turning this blog over to David Perlmutter and Annette DimWitte as I focus first on my Fringe Festival show in Toronto July 2-12, (tell all your friends and family) and then on my book I hope to have finished before December (cross your fingers).
Mr. asperger 