Day 1

     As a comedian, you can't get accepted into every festival that you apply to perform in. Well, I guess if you are really good then you can, but I'm just pretty good; therefore, I have to deal with rejection from time to time.
     Today I am driving down to Portland for the Bridgetown Comedy Festival. It's next door to Seattle in the beautiful city of Portland. It's in it's 7th year, and this was the 3rd year that I have submitted for it. This is also the 3rd year that I didn't get accepted. The first year I was disappointed. My best friend was accepted, so I thought it would have been fun to go together and take part in it. Last year, I was furious. I broke a lamp. I bought that lamp at Walmart, so some of that may have just been because of the shame I experienced from shopping at Wally World. Mostly, I was having a hard time separating the accomplishments of other people from the rejections that I received. I definitely spent too much time looking at the lineup and thinking "he got in but I didn't? There's no way she's funnier than me! What are they thinking?!".
     STAHP! Don't say it. I know I was a bad person. I've been working on it.
     Here we are. One year later. I didn't get accepted again. This time, though, rather than breaking a lamp that did nothing to deserve it, I submitted to volunteer after I received my rejection letter. You see, what I failed to realize last year was that most of those people that I was wasting time comparing myself to are my friends. My very funny friends. Instead of sitting at home and sulking I realized that I could celebrate with them. Now, there's no fucking way that I'm going to pay to do that, but by volunteering to stage manage a few shows I get the opportunity to go down, have fun, and experience this festival with comedians that I know, love, and respect. FOR FREE!
     I'll try to take some pictures. I'll try to share some stories with you from the festival. Mostly, I'm going to have fun. That's why I'm doing comedy. Not to win anything. Not to compare my successes and failures to those of my peers. This thing makes life fun for me, so I'm going to go have fun.