Stress Center Peer Support

Ive been through the program once before and am going through it a second time. I feel guilty that im letting myself get so anxious over this. I recently decided that I want to do stand up comedy. Ive wanted to do it for as long as I can remember but have only in the last few months really written material and looked and gone to open mics to check them out.

However now that I really think I have enough material and know when and where I could go to do an open mic the more Im starting to panic!!

Im scared that Ill have an awful first time and never want to do it again but that would devastate me because I really want to do this. I feel like because I care about it so much if anythign ruins it ill feel awful and never want to do it again. Im so scared of those feelings.I feel like I need a little more confidence then I can go on.

YET, I have this issue with time. I always feel like time is running out, Im getting too old (im 22!!!!!!) my oppurtunity will pass and ill regret it forever. Im starting university in 3 months so ive pressured myself that I HAVE to do it before I go there. But im terrified. so I want to do this really bad but im scared of the anxious feelings and all the bad things that can happen to me ut im not giving myself time to gain confidence because i have such a high expectation for myself.

once more thing, when something stressful or bad happens do you get panicky and anxious at first but then calm down and figure it out?> I feel panicky and anxious when somethign bad happens or something stressful happens (like I injured myself at work, didnt have enough money for bills, loans were wrong) but I always calm myslef down yet I feel like if I am really better I should never have those feelings at all.

Please help!!

Hi Jocie,
Maybe you could try your material out on a small, friendly audience before you do the actual open-mike night. I had the same problem when I FINALLY took a creative writing class last year. The first night there, I had to write a short paragraph and then read it out loud. My heart was pounding in my chest and I was sweating, the whole nine yards. But I did it and now I'm on my third class and read out loud all the time. Maybe the anxiety could be part of your act. You know, like if you pretend to purposely act like you're in a panic. I can see your opening line: I'm having a panic attack right now...You fill in the joke. Good luck to you!

Jocie,

Going back through the program is a very good idea because it sounds like you could benefit from a few reminders, like...

Anxiety is a normal part of life and it will never go away completely because it is a part of the body's fight/flight response to stressful situations. Remember, anxiety isn't the problem, the problem is when we worry about the anxiety, convinced it isn't normal and that no one else feels this way. But the TRUTH is everyone feel anxious and I'll bet if you read/watch some interview with successful stand up comics you'll find that they were nervous and anxious too (check out Kathy Griffin's show - she's a pro and is just a nervous as any of us!) What you are feeling is totally normal.

I think going back over sessions two and four would benefit you greatly.

Session Two - Keep practicing the steps to get you through the panic: Accept that you are feeling anxious, give yourself Permission to feel anxious - after all you've never done this before, practice your slow Breathing, Distract yourself, and give it Time (I'm missing a step there...but you get the idea).

Session Four - Keep your expectations realistic. Since you've never done stand up before, it probably isn't realistic that you will have EVERY single person in the venue rolling on the floor and a talent scout offering your a spot on HBO or Comedy Central. Set your expectations lower. For example, it is more reasonable that you will make SOME people laugh with SOME of your jokes. And redefine failure. If people don't laugh at all the jokes, it doesn't mean you aren't funny it just means you'll need to rework your pitch or throw out some jokes completely. It will be a success no matter what because you will learn how to improve your act and make it even better.

And...if you want I'm sure everyone here would love to hear your jokes and give you some feed back

Hope that was helpful.

P.S. I think you are so brave for having gotten this far with your goals. I'm almost 25 and haven't been able to get past just talking about my dreams and actually putting them into action. Good for you!