Did I tell you I shaved off my beard?

When I was starting out in comedy as a teenager (yes, two of these reminiscences in one week), my mother made me leave the house by 10 PM, so she'd know I'd made it into Manhattan safely (from Brooklyn) by the time she went to bed. Unfortunately, my spots were generally close to 4 AM, so I had a lot of time to kill before a show.

I didn't have any money (sound familiar?), so I couldn't really go anywhere. I had to simply hang out at the club where I was (maybe) performing until it was time to go on or go home. There were other comics around, so it generally wasn't boring, but I remember one guy started calling me the "King of Ubiquity", which really stung, and I couldn't adequately explain why it wasn't my fault.

It was hardest if, for some reason, I had to go into the city during the day because, often, it didn't make sense to go home and then leave again by 10. On those days, I would basically hang out at the club, talking to the bartender and whoever else was around, from some point in the afternoon until early the next morning.

What I learned from this was how to wait; how to endure lengthy periods of time when nothing was happening.

I got good at it. And I'm good at it still.

Which is a problem because I've got things to do but I've put my learned skillfulness at waiting to the worst possible use -- if anything is wrong with a set of circumstances or if I'm simply afraid to do what needs to be done I'll wait -- as long as it takes to get it done properly.

Without fear.

Without compromise.

So, there are always things I'm waiting to attempt but the circumstances aren't right.


I guess . . .

. . . Somehow.


But I did manage to shave off my beard

Because I didn't want to look like ragged shit when I went to visit my father.

I'd wanted to do it for a while but it took the fear of a negative reaction from my father to combat the waiting I learned to do to meet the needs of my mother.


Hmm.

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25 January, 2007 @ 19:05 GMT
http://blogs.chortle.co.uk/andrewjlederer



(special note -- i'm reprising my edinburgh fringe show from 2004, 'bridge-burner", for one performance, sunday afternoon in new york. showtime is 4:45 pm, 1/28. location is jimmy's no. 43, downstairs at 43 e. 7 st, west of second av. in the east village.

hope you can make it,
andrew)

review of show
sound of young america endorsement