That's my time!

Happy Anniversary to me!  Cue the inspirational Chariots of Fire music.  Today marks the day I took my first fearful steps onto a dark stage in Indianapolis for my very first stand-up comedy show.  It was an open mic competition at the city's longest standing comedy club and I was delighted to have 5 of my friends there to witness.  As I hit the spot and took the mic, flooded by the spotlight, my eyes went blind and my mind nearly blacked out as well.  For three minutes I talked through the jokes I had memorized, as if I hadn't.  In those moments, the laughter soothed my tensions as I began to realize this may be the thing I've been looking for.   I'd like to go on like this was some epic event, but it was just last year.  ...and the music stops. 
Sitting in the Finals, for my second show ever, I sat off stage with another new comic with whom I struck up a conversation.  It was only his third time doing stand-up, but he hesitated when I originally asked "How long have you been doing this?"  He had done it a long time ago and didn't feel that it went very well, so he gave up and didn't come back for years.  How crushing, I thought.  What a dangerous line of work (or hobby, as it were) that you could be so devastated that you would give up after one experience.
Lucky for me I have a group of faithful friends whom I secretly credit with my "success." They came to that first show, and almost every show since.  Rowdy and obnoxious when they need to be, they make me look hilarious on stage, popular off stage, and keep me humble everywhere else.  The crowd feels so much more approving, so better entertained when these guys and girls are in it.  It is what keeps me coming back.  Now the 5 have grown to a massive fan base of maybe 6 or 7 and my popularity as a local comedian couldn't be more solid than it is now.  Well...maybe getting paid for shows would solidify my success as a comic.  Or traveling.  Traveling to do shows for people who have heard of me.  That would make me feel really successful.  But anyway, they've been a huge part of my miniscule career, hobby really, and that means a lot to me.
Today I sit on the beach in St. Petersburg, Fl as part of the 4 day Clean Comedy Challenge.  At least 3 sets, 4 if I become a finalist.  So basically 3 sets.  I am here without my aforementioned fan base, performing in front of professionals and mostly strangers.  I am so thrilled to have my family here, experiencing the stand-up comedian Steve Jerk for the first time.  But, they have not been trained to laugh obnoxiously on cue.  In fact, they might be expecting punch lines and funny jokes, which worries me a bit.  Nonetheless, it is sentimentally significant for them to be here as I celebrate my first year of comedy.  Nevermind the lost hopes and dreams of their son being a well educated working professional.  They left their jobs, their responsibilities at home, and dropped several k to be here.  And for that, I am deeply indebted.  Seriously, I think I'm in over my head. 
Alas, what a year it has been!  I've placed in several competitions since that first fateful night.  I don't call myself an open micer, since I've had a paid gig.  I've headlined, believe it or not, for a crowd of educated folk.  That was also a paid gig, so I will double brag about that one.  I was cast in a television pilot and later this year I will make my big screen debut in an indie film shot in Chicago.  Did I mention business cards yet?  Yeah., I have business cards now, so that officially makes me somebody.  Not bad for a guy who has only existed for a year!  For now the monstrous task remains of finding out exactly who and what is Steve Jerk.  I am certain that the journey will, for most of us, be a very entertaining one.  And if it isn't, fake it.  Please, for heaven's sake, fake it.