Street Comedy… amiright?
San Diego comics keep finding hacks to continue performing stand up comedy; from drive-in’s, to socially distant clubs, and now to street performing.
The American Comedy Company in downtown San Diego has been looking under any corner to find ways to keep the club open, even if it’s to just let comics tell jokes, people listen to jokes, and to loose money by not serving anything in return.
I gotta say, I’m fortunate enough to be here for it. Like, I’m here for it. The comedy, the perseverance of something crucially important to people, the American rebel spirit, jokes, and this moment in history. It’s weird but life is weird and that’s how I’m processing and dealing with a global pandemic during the end of the world.
As a photographer, I can easily validate being here every night because this is history. Every week people are adjusting to new rules and guidelines and I want to keep photographing how my people, comics, are dealing with it.
And as a comic, I’m not going to turn down the stage time if I’m already there. Easy validations from a relatively young and healthy person who’s family is on the other side of the country.
On a grander scale, who is better to turn to for relief than the most tragic people in our society, comics? Comics always have baggage, that’s what their act is; showing you how stupid their baggage is. It’s having cathartic moments with strangers.
To paraphrase a great song, ‘If you want to stay in, stay in, and if you want to go out, go out. 'Cause there's a million ways to be, you know that there are.’
Here are some highlights from the open mics outside the American Comedy Co:
