From the Facebook status update of Costaki Economopoulos:

I’m about 9 sets in to understanding comedy in Scotland, and I did the Late N Live show tonight (1:20-3:00 AM) It’s a big deal here. Been “vetting” jokes for several shows to get ready. This joke flies here, this one doesn’t, etc. I put together the set- and I didn’t “kill,” but as far as MY part of it goes- I fucking rocked! Feels good to embrace a nutty comedy exercise and come out on top. Yay me!

Yay, indeed.

This particular “essay,” short though it may be, speaks volumes. We absolutely love this sentiment.

Regardless of how long you have been in the business, it’s a good thing– a very good thing– to take on a task that you’re not 100 per cent sure you can master, or that will even turn out good. An observer (a non-comedy observer) might think that merely going up at a comedy club, with a healthy crowd, on a weekend evening might be a challenge (and he would be right), but choosing an exercise that is far outside one’s comfort zone, while it may be fraught with “danger,” has benefits that are huge– it rearranges the brain, makes you think differently; it often bolsters confidence in areas where there might still be insecurity.

Failing at such an endeavor can make you work harder. Or… it can help you accept limitations– which might have the positive effect of enabling you to focus on your strengths. In the long run, it’s nearly always a win-win, even if, at the time, it feels like a trainwreck.

We’ve enjoyed similar benefits in the not too distant past. A year or three ago, we got the opportunity to perform in country clubs. Now, it may not seem like a big deal or much of a stretch to do country clubs– as opposed to comedy clubs, casinos or nightclubs- but, initially at least, the differences were stark– we were forced to work clean, we were required to dress differently, we had to appeal to a significantly older and more affluent crowd. And the adjustments necessarily had to take place all at the same time and immediately. After an initial period of adaptation, it can be said that we mastered it. Now, these gigs are some of our more enjoyable engagements. And– bonus– what we learned while acclimating to the country club or private party dates has positively affected our presentation across other venues and situations. Initially, however, they were stressful. Very stressful. There were times (when we were onstage) when we glanced at our watch and wondered if doing our allotted time would be possible– without resorting to our edgier, forbidden, R-rated material.

But, we persevered. And we did so because we were convinced that there was some sort of vague, possibly far-off benefit to be had.

We’ve got all of August off. Instead of taking it easy, we decided to take advantage of the downtime to hit some open mikes or talk our way onto various weekend stages and do some five-minutes sets.

During the Last Comic Standing audition and showcase gauntlet, The Female Half realized that her five-minute set muscles had atrophied. She felt wholly unprepared for the initial audition and subsequent showcase set. Relying on years of experience, however, the sets went well… but her feeling of unpreparedness nagged at her. And she fully admits that, had she advanced to Hollywood, she could have been in deep trouble. Her act had become a 30- to 45-minute, club act. One might think that adapting those skills to doing a set that only lasts five minutes would merely be a matter of getting off early! But “doing five” is an entirely different beast, requiring a whole different set of skills and nerve and mindset. But it’s important to be able to do both.

Thus, our August offensive.

The Male Half, on the other hand, had been practicing “the five” (or, to be precise, 4:30, the ideal length, the industry standard for a late-night spot) for eighteen months prior to the LCS auditions. So, he was greased up for the brief set. He hasn’t mastered it, but he’s farther along than he was at the outset of his experiment. (And far better off than, say, four years ago, when he was absolutely paralyzed at the prospect of assembling the 4:30, remembering the set list, and delivering it without any deviation.)

We find ourselves working on multiple, simultaneous tracks. The Female Half, in addition to working the “sprint muscles,” is also focusing on the story-telling approach to delivering and writing material– a devilishly difficult endeavor, as it entails adopting a radically different pace, different punchline-density, etc. She may well find that she does not excel at such an approach. However, failure, like we said, may have benefits.

The Male Half, with an eye toward corporate and cruise work, is desperately trying to marshal the various scraps of material, ideas, premises and bits that have gathered over the years and categorize them in an effort to determine what’s clean and what’s not. The hope is that he’ll be able to compartmentalize and call up whichever material is needed for whichever situation he finds himself in. (For some acts, this has been Priority Number One since Day One. We say, “God bless them.”)

How do we find ourselves in this place? We don’t like the word “lazy.” Instead, we’ll say that we’ve been “complacent.” The opposite of complacent is “anxious.” Which is exactly what we’ve felt on more than one occasion over the past few months/years when confronted with certain challenges. So, our efforts are meant to eliminate– or at least minimize– the anxiety. Anxiety can get you places. It can be a great motivator. But, at some point, being prepared– having confidence, which is the exact opposite of being anxious– is a saner, happier route. We may be mistaken, but we think that the vast majority of comics swing from anxiety to complacency– with varying frequency and amplitude. And that most comics, most good ones, are aware of when they’re operating from uncertainty and when they’re operating from contentment. And that they bring on the challenges with the knowledge (or the vague intuition) that doing so will undoubtedly redound to their advantage.

Costaki Economopoulos is a tremendous comic. And he’ll no doubt master the art of “playing Scotland.” And it doesn’t matter if he ever performs in Scotland again. But we have no doubt that he’ll be an even better standup comic for having risen to the challenge.