#sketkh

The TOP 5 Reasons to see The Pulp Variety Streamcast this Monday! 

Show is Dec 16th - at 7pm - $10 tix - @ 94 St. Marks Place, NYC  

Featuring -Castle Monsterstein Followed by DB Cooper in the 38th and 1/3rd Century.

So for those who don't know, I'm a pretty fortunate guy. I say that with out over confidence, I say that having just regained my confidence. 

Jen(my GF) is an amazing gal, she's funnier, smarter and looks better than me, especially in dresses and she loves surprises and giving great thoughtful gifts.

For the past 3 months, she'd been telling me, don't work take any work on Apr. 7th? Now I could've looked it up, and correlated between my interests and the events that could be going on in NYC. But I chose to wait and see. Needless to say, I was overjoyed to see that Jen had surprised me with tickets to see Chris Hardwick (Nerdist, Talking Dead, Web Soup) headline his standup show at Caroline's in NYC.

Now for a Flashback: in 2010, I was stuck in Long Island, had just gotten out of a relationship and was generally lost in life. I had no control over the career I wanted and I crippled spiritually. I had lost faith in myself. only one year out of College, 3 waivers for SAG, my health and all the possibilites ahead of me, and too damned in my head over all that I didn't had to do anything good for me. 

I don't remember why, probably because I was tired of all the music I had on my ipod, but I started listening to podcasts. I was never a Carolla fan, and I liked Kevin Smith, but I can only take two guys talking about dicks and weed for only so long. I think I typed in "Nerd" or "Nerdy" in the search bar, and the first hit was something called Nerdist. 

The show only had 3 episodes up, but all the guests, even then were people I liked. Tom Lennon, Joel Mchale, Rob Huebel. 

I never watched Shipmates or Chelsea Lately, but I started to like Chris Hardwick (platonically/brotonically).

Here's a guy by all rights, talented, funny, insightful without the pretention of people who use the word insightful, he's had "success" but it was driven by outside forces. All he wanted was to take control of his path and do the things he wanted to do with people he wants to work with, ala his personified SuperEgo: Jonah Ray and his Id: Matt Mira

It's been 3 years since then, I've seen one podcast, turn into an small media empire, spawning a book, multiple podcasts, an official YouTube Channel, a TV special. I've seen him live to a sold out theatre and a tiny comedy club.

A lot of my aspirations to take control of my career, tell the stories I've wanted to, work with the people I like and play the parts I don't have to wait for someone else to give, were because of one tiny (Seriously I felt like a giant and I'm only 5'11"...Oh, that's not average? NM) fella too unwilling to wait, and instead took possession of his desire to be his greater self. 

Needless to say when Jen pushed her friend at Carolines to get Chris to talk to us, my heart dropped. I tried to keep my composure, but it was hard(wick...had to do it.) I got to shake his hand, tell him my name, tell him what I did, even gave him my card(ok Jen gave it to him because I was too afraid to.) I told him about a small pilot I wrote and created with my Best Friend, Ben. About a talking Pillow, and he said he'd watch it. 

That alone, the idea he might see it, that I got to tell him about what he inspired me to do and make it, was enough of a gift, one I'll always be grateful to Jen for. 

She pushed me to not be afraid to ask for what I want, just like Chris was tired of not asking for what he wanted (even from himself). So I got home, posted the pilot, and I sent Chris a tweet with a Link. 

Here's what happened next

(PS, slight spoiler alert for the first ep of Bill Lowe):

I won't lie to you. My heart shit a panda bear made out of brillo-pads. 

He actually saw it.

Now, I know at face value this whole post is very heavy handed and perhaps a bit overblown. One small comment about a 2 min pilot on a channel with one upload by one lonesome fella. 

To that I say.

Yeah.

To me. It means so much, and the thanks and appreciation of my friends for finally getting to see something I've spent so much work on have only escalated how proud I am of myself. (I'm usually cripplingly self deprecating  so to say "proud of myself" and you to read or hear it is like seeing a black squirrel riding a white elk into battle.)

I owe a lot to Jen, my Mother, Ben Dems, Chris Durham, Jill Awbrey, Sib Law, Keisha Zollar and so many of you that have been with me this last year as I finally get off my ass and do even more.

This is the one piece of advice I've given so many that I've had a hard time adhering to myself. If you have something, anything you've ever wanted to do, but you overthink it, or worry about the timing of it or how to make it better and wait for certain things like stars and planets to call you into alignment, well here's a story my mom told me once...

"A man, living on his own, in a one story house saw on the news that a terrible hurricane was coming and that he and his whole town had to evacuate. He, being a man of faith, told himself "I'll be fine, I pray, go to church, I give to my community. God will take care of me." His neighbors, having room in their car, offered him a ride out of town. He told them, "I have faith that God will take care of me, but thank you." Soon the water was up to his knees, a strange man in a row boat came up to his porch, offering his a way out. With his mud boots on he said the same thing. "No, no. I'll be alright, God will take care of me." Later that night, his house submerged, sitting on his roof top, he saw a helicopter come by offering to drop him a ladder and get him to safety. He shouted. "IT'S ALRIGHT! I BELIEVE GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF ME!" Later that night. He Dies. Goes to Heaven. St. Peter rushes him to the head of the line and when he meets God. God looks him in the eye and says "What the Hell are you doing here? I sent you a news report, a car, a boat and a helicopter?"

Cliff notes: Don't wait for it, just do it. 

Do it.

That's all my next year will be.

Year 27 was a great, it had ups and downs, but if this is how it ends, I cant tell you how awesome year 28 is gonna be. Prepare yourselves, my next goal is gonna be even more epic.

Chookas,

-SW.