Week Of Weird
It's been a while since my last post here and it's been a strange week, so I will try to recap it all.
Last Sunday, I'd been invited to a card and catch up day with a friend, which clashed with my monthly volunteer work at a local soup kitchen. Normally friends come first but theu window they'd set for the event was only a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. By the time I got up to his place and back, I'd have to cut things short.
Then I get a text message with an offer of a full-time work out at Littlehampton, about 2 hours away from where I live meaning I would need either midweek accomodation or to move out there.
It''s farm work that includes things like mending fences, weed slashing, chemical spraying, and animal husbandry. It's definitely out of my comfort zone, and what farmer's do on the weekends is their business, but I'm not ready to jump species just yet. Although at AU$30 an hour I might be persuaded.
(That was a joke.)
The job offer set off a few anxieties, the need for things to be perfect before making a phone call, etc. I'd been listening to a TikTokker and Youtuber by the name of clusterbmilkshake.
"Cluster B" is a reference to a grouping of personality disorders: narcissitic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder and psychopathy being the main three.
The milkshake reference is because she has a blend of the three at once.
I was watching her videos to help with recovery from the experience with the "BPD flavoured" woman I dealt with last year.
She insisted that I focus on healing my own complex traumas from childhood rather than wasting my time on rescuing others. This matches the advice from other friends too. (You know who you are; thank you!).
During a live YouTube video, I asked her who was the best resource was for developing self worth.
She directed me to a Youtuber by the name of Tim Fletcher who has a series on complex trauma, the origins and the healing from it.
I eventually rang the farm about the job. They didn't answer.
I left an awkward voice message explaining who I was, left my number for them to call me back. That was Wednesday. No call back. This left me unimpressed and now I don't know what to say to my friend. He put his reputation on the line and I don't want to come across as ungrateful for him looking out for both me and his farm friends.
Friday night I went to the Rhino Room to support some comedian friends. It was good to see the progression that time on stage generates. One comedian took some of my advice and it went over really well, which was good to see.
I have discoverd a few comedians stealing parts of my jokes, but I won't say anything just yet. What's weird in comedy is that if you’re famous, there's a tendency for bookers to turn a blind eye to this sort of thing. It's not tolerated at lower levels though.
Saturday I went the to Legend's Bar for their open mic afternoon. I was too late to get on stage, but I was told I could have done a 10 minute set if I'd had the material.
I need to discard my older jokes and create new material.
Earlier in the day there was the National Pharmacy's Christmas Pageant. It's an annual event with different sponsors, essentially where Christmas themed floats go down King William street, with the ultimate final float being the arrival of Santa Claus (known locally as Father Christmas). There are clowns and other costumed people there all with the aim of entertaining children.
What happened next was a massive rain storm. The roads were flooded too. I managed to catch some footage and even made a suggestive joke for TikTok.
Here's some YouTube footage of the rain:
It was enough to put an end to the pageant, which I missed as I was on Pultney street.
As is often the case with Adelaide weather, the rain didn't last long and pretty soon the clouds had parted.
There was a choice of two gigs that night, seeing friends support Akmal Saleh near Gawler, or going to a gig within my own suburb 5 minutes drive away.
We decided to go with the latter option and support Matt Moss at his gym, complete with boxing ring. The proceeds were to support a teenager he'd sponsored and trained up as a fighter to compete overseas.
The night was a good one and I think a better option as I got to speak to Matt after the gig and get a clearer focus on my comedy future. This also lead to more potential jokes.
Comedians will tell you that the secret is to be yourself, to be authentic. Comedians will also create characters with outlandish costumes and oversized wigs, use props and hide behind puppets, etc. There's an irony there that would make a joke with a little thought.
The Supanova convention was also on during both Saturday and Sunday, so I chose to go on Sunday. I saw several celebrities, some far taller than you'd imagine and others shorter. I didn't bother with a personalised photo or getting an item autographed.
I did catch up with some friends who were selling stuff, magazines, and others cosplaying as Doctor Who complete with life size Dalek replicas, and even a to scale replica of the 5th Doctor's TARDIS.
I saw a vendor named Manatees that was pressing shirts and hoodies with logos to order. As I am a big fan of the British Scifi show, the words "Smeg Head" stood out on my mind and so I had to have one made for myself in my size.
It turns out that the the storm had knocked out the power for an hour an a half and some people had even quickly made funny T-shirts made referencing it.
This meant that The Goody hotel was closed and the Glenelg Tram wasn't running when I wanted to go home.
When I bought the ticket to Supanova they put a band around my wrist.
On the back it said "Void if removed" and I mused that being a science fiction weekend that breaking the seal would open up interdimensional portal that was suck me in so I left it on overnight.
The next day, after the event, I removed the band and all of a sudden I felt a deep emptiness.
I felt like the universe was "giving me the finger".
Just kidding. I hope this gave you a laugh.
Thank you for reading. May your weekends be as weird as this one was.
Shaidon
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