Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
14
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2012 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
I used to do a lot of stand-up comedy. I was at open mics at least once a week, I polished my material, I was always coming up with bits.
The impetus: I went to comedy shows and open mics, and saw people doing terribly, and thought, I could do better than that! and did.
But it turns out that seeing good comedy -- cerebral comedy, social justice comedy, mindbendingly absurd comedy -- sates me. I was making what I wanted to exist, and when I see comedians like Hari Kondabolu, I laugh and sit back and feel as though the need is filled. I'm like Sepia Mutiny in that way.
Embedded: a video in which Kondabolu jokes about the state of having about 14 prominent Indian-Americans. An embarrassment of riches!
If you want, next time you chat with me, ask me to compare and contrast how I got into (and out of) stand-up, and how I approach management.
