One That Died

I was going to say something about the joke I had in that local news sketch show, but I never got to it. Here it is. For the fourth week in five, a joke of mine was picked to be part of the Weekend Update-style portion of this sketch show. I invited a friend to come see it, which I shouldn't have done. It's one joke that takes ten seconds to say out of a one hour show, so it can't help but disappoint even if it's a hit, and this wasn't.

I hadn't thought it was my best joke, but I wrote it and submitted it, so I stand behind it. I shouldn't have submitted it if I didn't want it in there. The joke concerned the fire up by Yosemite. It went like this: "The Yosemite wildfire has threatened the drinking water supply of San Francisco. Thankfully for residents, the bong water supply remains secure". You see how I made humorous reference to the free-spirited, drug-abusing reputation of the city?

Relating that joke to friends, I've gotten a fair response, and that was enough to bring me in off the ledge, but the joke is not a personal favorite. It wasn't helped any by the performer who read it stumbling over the words, not that I fault her one bit. She's exceptionally good. I just love her gift for playing the lines straight, which is not as easy as it sounds. It's just that human beings stumble over words. It was bad luck that it was one of my jokes.

The joke got a minimal reaction. I waited to write about the matter until I had a chance to watch the video, which confirmed my perception when I was seeing it live. It just didn't get much. It didn't deserve more than it got. Going out to that audience was more than it had coming. I was sorry that a friend was there. It would have been easier to take if I was there alone. Really, the whole thing was not so bad, but I've had better nights in comedy.