So, the problem with having a neglected blog, is that when you do get back to it, you have some catching up to do.
In the last two months, I've become a veteran of two roast battles, (both of which I did quite well on), held my own at Comedy Monday Night, (a highly respected Calgary open mic), and decided to quit my improv/sketch troupe Bull Skit Comedy.
*record scratch*
What?
I know. For those of you who have been reading this regularly, Bull Skit was a huge part of my life. and that's actually the problem. It was becoming too huge. This past season, I was a "casual" player. That should have meant that I was not around as much. I still wanted to be a big part of what we were doing though, so I was almost as busy as any other season. The problem was that I couldn't put stand up on the back burner any longer. I wanted to chase that as well. This caused me to be stretched thin and my family suffered for it. Some months I was away almost half of the time. It was too much.
So my plan for this season was to take the "casual" role to heart and to be less available to the company. The company wanted to go the other direction though. No more casual players, just a smaller, more focused crew. Which is great, but not a fit for me anymore.
My loving wife supported me with some trepidation when I joined. She feared how much I'd be gone. I tried to pacify her, but four years later, I can't say she was wrong. Anywhere from 8 to 12 days each month were Bull Skit nights. Rehearsals, workshops, performances. It added up. Friends and family take a step back as you either don't have the time or the energy to maintain those relationships properly. Of course, as stand up pulled me in, things got even worse. This last year, things came to a head. I was doing 2-4 stand up sets a month, and was involved in over half of Bull Skits programming. I was barely home, and things were getting harder to juggle. I wasn't there for my wife and kids, and I wasn't developing in stand up as quickly as I could, nor was Bull Skit getting my full attention anymore.
So I had to make a choice.
Bull Skit has been a great experience. Working with them has changed who I am and taught me I'm capable of so much more than I ever thought. The people are all awesome from the director to the volunteers. I appreciate everything, but I'm excited about the next chapter.
I've already had a good summer with the fam. I hit a point where I was so used to being away that being home was uncomfortable. That is going away. Turns out we like hanging out with each other!
The next chapter also involves a ton of stand up. The room I book in Penhold fires back up in September, and I'm going to be much more active in Alberta's scene. Edmonton and Calgary are just over an hour away, so it's easy to hit either town to increase my visibility in important rooms. I also have hopes for what the Red Deer area scene can become, and I want to do my part in building that. I'm not too goal-oriented right now, I mainly just want to get better, braver, have more visibility and enjoy the process.
And even with my big plans, I should still be about half as busy as I was. Which sounds amazing.
Here's to the next thing,
B
