It all started back in......

It seems like yesterday when my life took a turn for the best. Flip cell phones were still a hot item. I had the first video phone with chirp so of course you couldn't tell me nothing. I was a fresh college graduate, newly single, and in my mind one of the sharpest know it all (s) out alive.

Earlier in my Senior year I watched a Jamie Foxx comedy special called "I Might Need Security". This DVD brought meaning to my existence. After all I've loved stand up comedy ever since my older brother snuck a Richard Pryor cassette tape into the house when I was a child. The famous joke that I remember most is when Richard's Heart was talking to him. Oh my god; I didn't know anything about a heart attack, cocaine, or the ills of pork. I did know funny. That joke had me in tears I was laughing so hard. Then my big brother who was inevitably (my comedy pusher) brought in Eddie Murphy's Raw VHS tape. I know by now I'm sort of telling how old I could possibly be with all of the obsolete technology. At any rate Eddie Murphy Raw was an amazing event. I'd never seen anything like it. It intrigued me.

I was a very shy person but I was a very silly person. If I got comfortable around you I'd surely open up and have you in stitches. I loved to make people laugh especially the grown ups. Once I got an adult to laugh at me I could almost get away with anything. I once made my mother laugh right before a whoopin was about to take place. In my mind all I had to do was get her to laugh and the near death experience would pass by. Did she laugh yes did I get whooped yes! The fact that I made her laugh kept the whoopin short. Because the reason for me getting this whoopin made for at least a hour beat down.

Teachers, co-workers, and friends always said that I should be a comedian. I would always shuck it off because A: I was super self conscious B: I didn't believe I could be anyone of that magnitude and C: People wouldn't like me. This is what I thought for a long time. Something happened around the time I watched the Jamie Foxx "I Might Need Security" special.

I was fresh off of a internship which was a good introduction to the cold world of Corporate America. The CFO cursed me out one day for something I had no control over. It really got under my skin because this same guy wouldn't have said anything to me in public, passing by on the streets. I saw then that either I was going to have to take this crap for the rest of my life or make some changes. At my intern I met a guy who had a lawn care business on the side. I asked him how could I do something to sort of keep me from relying on Corporate America for everything. He told me "Find something you love and that you're good at then make it a business". It didn't hit home until the Jamie Foxx comedy special. I knew then what direction I needed and wanted to go into.

At first I got into comedy for the fame and money! Oh how soon I was broke from that ideology! My 1st show was at a Labor day event back in 2004. I loved that day and it will always be dear to me. I look forward to doing it again just to prove to the youth that anything is possible. The 1st time on a comedy club stage I thought I had made it. The funny thing is so did my friends and family. That was until they saw my set. If you want to call it a set. My brother told me last year that he didn't want to tell me early on but he didn't think I was funny. He went on to say that now he knows that I am hilarious. Which made me proud.

As it's now 2011, and I've met many people. I've burned many bridges and I've maintained many more bridges. I've performed all over the country and abroad. I know and understand that I still have a long way to go. I'm still a student and will always look forward to progression. The headaches, lonely nights, and broken hearts I've received from comedy have been well worth it. I can't say the same for the corporate side of my life. I've made more money in Corporate America and I'd trade all that money in to live, breathe, and eat my passion 24/7. It will happen for me. It may not be today, tomorrow or next year! But before I leave this EARTH it will happen!