Last Friday, I saw Steven Wright perform at the Florida Theatre. I normally dislike stand-up comedy but I’ve been a fan of Steven Wright ever since I first heard him several years ago. His act consists of dozens of one-liner jokes, long tangents on strange subjects, clever wordplay, goofy songs, and random silliness delivered in an extremely dry manner. I loved the show and laughed hard at a few jokes and songs that really resonated with me.
Sometime afterward, I started thinking about what happened during that show: everyone in the theatre spent nearly two hours watching a guy walk around and occasionally sit down while saying strange things intended to make us laugh. And this wasn’t a street performer who just started doing his act and happened to attract a crowd; the theatre was booked and tickets started being sold long before that night, and everyone who went to the show knew they were going to see a surreal performance. If this had been a random experience at a park, sidewalk, or workplace, most people would probably have gotten freaked out and left as soon as they could. So it’s less about the material or the type of performance and more about the time, place, and expectations of the people who watch it.
I think this goes beyond performing arts. I’ve thought before about how some things are so commonplace that hardly anyone notices them and other things are so out of the ordinary (without necessarily being dangerous or harmful) that they provoke feelings of fear and uncertainty in passersby. While there are some advantages to generally knowing what to expect in certain places, such consistency and routine activity can also become boring in short order. I enjoy being silly and not taking most things seriously when I can. Some of my favorite customers to talk to at my job are the ones with whom I can be more casual, joke around, or just be real with instead of putting up a false front of “professionalism” and denying major aspects of myself, including my goofy side. I think we’d all benefit from relaxing and stepping outside of the cultural norms that have been around since long before any of us were ever born. Who knows? Maybe life would be a little easier to handle if we all shared more of our true selves with each other and maintained a spirit of playfulness. It’s worth a shot.