The cover of this month’s CONSCIOUS CHOICE, a magazine I pick up at the yoga studio, has this headline:

WE PITY THE FUEL

I’ve probably told this story on this blog before, but the great thing about blogs is that, unlike people, they can’t stop you when you say “Stop me if you’ve heard this before.” Besides, no one ever does. Stop anyone. So, when I was at Stanford, I thought it was a very important thing for me to be proficient in all forms of writing, including comedy writing, at which I have never had any particular skill.

I decided to audition to be a comedy writer for the Stanford Band’s halftime shows. I wrote a script which was mostly composed of rhyming and punning jokes, and won one of the three slots. I got into the writers’ room only to discover that my two co-writers actually knew about the other elements of comedy…timing, plot, delivery…and all I could do was puns.

I didn’t write a word of the remaining scripts in the season. I participated in the process, and helped be that person you bounce ideas off of, but except for a few occasions when a pun was needed, I was S.O.L.

Still one of the best times I’ve ever had, and made me appreciate the work of comedy writing so much more.

Once again (oh come on, you know you like it):

WE PITY THE FUEL