I ordered my sides split!

Hey!
 So last night I went to see some student comedy on campus and I must say that I was surprised by the quality of some of the performances. The sketch comedy, though amusing in parts, was veiled in the mandatory level of awkwardness but  some of the stand up was genuinely impressive.
I have the utmost admiration for everybody who was involved, personally I cannot think of anything more petrifying than overtly taking on responsibility for the amusement of a large group of silently seated strangers. Its one thing to be funny in conversation where you can slip in and out of humorous context at will, but to be on a stage imprisoned in that genre regardless of how it is received seems like it has the potential to be endlessly burdensome.
I like to make people laugh, its fun and quite gratifying but I find that a whole lot harder to do when people expect amusement. once you take comedy out of the comfortable setting of conversation it becomes a sort of service and an audience has a sense of entitlement to see that service delivered effectively to them with little to no effort on their part. Those with the ability to deliver this service may well have a long and successful career lapping the comedy circuit but what should be remembered is that this is an ability entirely separate from that of being funny. Not all funny people make good comedians. This doesn't make them any less funny, the ability to effectively play off the contributions of others and knowledge of their interests and mannerisms is a skill in itself and one worthy of appreciation. It is just unfortunate that it tends not to be a skill with any direct moneymaking potential.
On a tenuously related note, as we think about undervalued humour I think we should take a few moments out of our day to ponder something. In this hectic modern world which we inhabit technologies  are moving quicker than ever from state of the art to woefully outdated. An issue that I feel is rarely given enough attention is that, as we say goodbye to these devices of bygone times, we also say goodbye to the humour that they inspired. As one generation hands the comedic baton to the next, jokes about VHS and cassette tapes will undoubtedly be put to rest in the same way that so many other once topical observations have been. They will take their place in the graveyard of the generationally irrelevant alongside witticisms about Walkmans, snaps about steam trains, quips about quills and puns about penny-farthings and and I for one hope that their loss will be duly mourned.
In light of this let us all look with a new found respect at the humble knock knock joke which has, against all the odds, survived the invention of the doorbell and lives on to inspire strained chuckles across the globe.
Have a nice day :)
L.
xxx