Without A Net
Last night I went to see my friend Lee Rogers practice his comedy routine at open-mic night at Ortliebs, a local club that features all kinds of entertainment. We’re both newer employees at our organization, have had nice chats about our shared interest in music and arts and thought heading out to see him do his thing could be fun. It turned out to be not only fun but surprisingly inspiring.
First off, my friend was quite entertaining — and very brave! While I’m a fan of well known comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David and Jim Gaffigan, seeing my colleague along with his fellow comedians was nothing like seeing those polished acts. Each aspiring comic was given a tight 4 minutes to get a laugh or two from the audience, half of which were their fellow comedians so, kind of a tough crowd. After watching a few of the comedians, I started to understand the drill: Each came up to the mic with a few “bits” (I know from Seinfeld, a bit is showbiz talk for the stories and jokes that make up the act). These bits had been scrawled on tablets, notebooks and in many cases, entered into their phones.
They were essentially workshopping several of these bits to see if they worked as potential longer routines. Once on stage, they’d look down at their source (the notebook or phone), tell their story or joke and see what kind of laughs they’d get…or not. Then they’d look down again, make a seemingly random choice, and again, gauge for the resulting laughs or silence.
In multiple cases, the jokes didn’t land. They just weren’t funny. Or, two jokes that seemed like they’d make an interesting coupling, simply didn’t connect. These completely unselfconscious comedians would often stop midstream and say somewhat self-deprecating things like: Well, this clearly isn’t working. Or, wow, this is bombing. And other similarly themed acknowledgements that the attempt was not bearing fruit. Side note: my work colleague was different; he followed a traceable stream of consciousness yet managed to make it appear seamless and sporadic. Color me impressed!
Anyway, I loved this adventurous spirit! This absolute fearlessness and willingness to fail. While I know these comedians had practiced their bits, what they were attempting to do was still bold. The mere act of showing up was bold! They were willing to test, try and live with the result. Laughs. No laughs. Utter silence. Sure, these weren’t life and death circumstances. But let’s face it, no comedian is looking to play to a room that’s getting quieter.
As someone who has played music to live audiences, given speeches from work settings to Toastmasters, I know that anytime I’m stepping in front of an audience, spoken or not, I know what I’m looking for: A positive response. A return of energy. Acknowledgement that I’ve informed, inspired action or in the case of music, maybe just made the audience tap their feet or smile. These folks had no guarantee of any kind of response — positive or negative.
As I’ve been writing this — and since seeing my friend at this show — the term Without A Net kept coming to mind. I’m not sure why; however, now that I’ve done a bit of quick research, it’s clear. As per Google, it’s an Idiom used to indicate you are doing something without a back-up plan of help or escape in case it goes wrong. And for the history buffs, the term originated when the American poet Robert Frost once said that writing “free verse” — poetry without a formal structure, like a rhyme scheme — was like “playing tennis without a net.” Ok — I’ll take it. I was kinf of thinking it connected with a bigger sense of daring, danger and mystery. Like jumping off an airplane or the like. Anyway…
Over the past week, I had also been thinking about the idea of doing stuff you love without concern for being great, perfect — or even that good. I’m proud to say that at the age of 59, I’ve revisited my fantasy of being a hockey player — or at least playing the game at some level of respectability. Every Monday evening for the past two months, I’ve driven to a local arena, put on who knows how many pounds of hockey equipment, and skated around with a bunch of nice folks that are probably half my age. I love, love, love it!
But what I’ve really been eager to do to is get back to playing the position I used to as a kid. This was when I, like so many of my neighbors, put on their Philadelphia Flyers jerseys and played Street Hockey. We pretended we were like our heroes, the Broad Street Bullies and Stanley Cup Champions of 1974 and 1975. Back then, I always played Goaltender. I had a jersey that said Bernie Parent on it and my mom couldn’t wash it quick enough for me to wear it pretty much every day. All I dreamed of was playing goalie like my hero.
Last Monday, the day before my experience at the comedy club, while waiting to get on the ice, I happened to be standing next to one of the guys that plays goalie. I asked him how long he’s been playing and how he got started. He shared that he’d been playing goaltender for just a year. Last year, he saw some used equipment for sale, came to the next practice and announced that he’d be playing goaltender this time. He just showed up. He added that those first few times he was terrible. But he emphasized that this was exactly the environment for it.
The program I go to is called Foundry Adult Hockey and it’s for everyone — literally everyone — who wants to play whether they’re 19 or 59! It’s why I’ve truly enjoyed being on the ice everytime I go no matter what happens. Folks are supportive, encouraging and not invested in an outcome, just the sheer joy of participating in this amazing sport.
So, it was in this spirit of excitement and adventure that I started shopping for my own used goaltender equipment. I have no idea if 1) I’ll have any talent or capability as a goalie like I did 50 years ago or 2) if I’ll enjoy it as much. And by the way, we’re talking about a very hard rubber puck as opposed to a plastic hockey ball (so that might sting a bit). The point is that I’m going for it simply because I want to.
Unlike what I might do if trying to cultivate a new skill in the professional world, I’m excited to try this without doing a workshop and/or many workshops, hiring a coach or reading the every how-to manual one can get on amazon. Simply for the joy of doing it. Much like my friend, the comedian.
I’ve often written posts where I’ll provide helpful tips. I usually do something like ‘the top 3 things to do when you’re…” or “5 things to avoid if you’re trying to…”.
Not this time. The only thing I’m going to recommend or suggest is that if there’s something you’ve been dying to do, Do It. Figure it out. Do that thing. Forget the rules. Or write some new ones. Just do it and Without A Net!
