Took my first IRL standup comedy class in SF yesterday and homework naturally includes watching comedy. 👀

But not ANY comedy - or rather, it can be any topic / anyone, as long as it is LIVE. IRL. A live show with humans.

Why?

Because the amazing specials that we get to watch on Netflix / TV are edited.

Bits that got fewer laughs are cut or boosted with artificial laughters.

Nothing wrong with that. Social media largely works the same way.

Makes for amazing ratings, entertainment and cinema.

But what I am learning is how comedians (/people) PERFORM.

And that has to be live to understand:

How they hold the space. Interact with the audience.

How they sit in the discomfort of not getting a laugh.

How they iterate, adapt and grow.

TV and screens are great.

But learning that isn't purely intellectual is immersive, it's in person, it's LIVE.