Well hello, everyone. This page may have seemed a little like a ghost-town for a while and don't even get me started on the Live Shows tab... woof! Can you believe I used to post a new article nearly every day and kept that pace up for a couple years? I don't know how I had so much energy!
Covid hit and a lot of things changed for ya boy. Priorities became more about mental health and protecting myself. I think everyone has struggled with quarantining for a year now. I know I've hit my breaking point. Cocooning helped in the beginning but Ive found myself reaching out more to friends (over video chats and emails) and as part of that I'm going to make more of an effort to blog again too. So... let's get in a quick update!
I've been working on a number of larger comics projects the past year. Worked on an original graphic novel with my long-time working partner Katie Fleming, an ever-increasing-in-size comic with artist and first time collaborator Hugh Madden (more on him in a future post), and currently completing the 5th volume of the double Kickstarted webcomic SHIP WRECKED. And that's just the stuff I can tell you about! Things seem to be in a good flow at the moment with writing comics. I've taken the foot off the break in terms of trying to "crack the industry" and "get a foot in the door". I don't think I even care about the door anymore. I'm just trying to enjoy making the damn things with the people I respect and it's been the best decision I could make. Sometimes you have to remind yourself that the writing part is fun, even if the drama surrounding that can be shitty.
Hugh Madden's artwork for our upcoming comic |
As a result of this work, and Covid, and life, my podcasting just kind of stopped. Throughout the years I've recorded over 400 hours of podcasts (frighteningly, that's a conservative estimate based on a quick search) and have really enjoyed playing around in the medium but, man, it got to a point during this when I just didn't feel like I was the person who should be talking. Between quarantining, BLM, MeToo, and everything else, this straight white cis guy from Dublin didn't feel like an important voice. I didn't feel like joking about movies was contributing to anything. I just wanted to spend time with my wife, alone. Will we ever get back to our show? Maybe. But I don't see it happening anytime soon. That feeling hasn't changed yet.
Recording the 2020 Gonzo Quiz Show via Zoom |
Which brings us to the third part in my own personal holy trinity; improv. I did 16 comedy shows in 2018 alone. None since. That's... I'm not gonna lie that's been fucking tough. In 2019 I took a break from both improv and comic conventions, choosing only to do one event which was Dragon Con in Atlanta, USA (which handily combines the two for me). I had done a lot of both in 2018 and got pretty burned out. My improv group Kill The Monster had a member get pregnant and two others had their partners get pregnant so with 2019 being the Year of the Baby for them, we decided to take a group hiatus. All well and good until you try and get back on the horse in 2020 and a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic hits. So I have spent over two years now without stage-time. My confidence has crashed so hard that for the first moment in my life I don't think I could walk on to any stage and nail it. Yes, it was insane for me to have such a strong ego about it before but this is another ill-advised extreme. I can't go from Kanye to Eeyore, neither is healthy! I'm going to have a lot of rust to shake off when this is all over and a very tender self-esteem to build back up again. Wish me luck.
The last Kill The Monster show, at the December 2018 Improvfest Ireland. Note the already heavily pregnant Claire. |
Oh and I decided to stop shaving all the time. Turns out my wife likes facial hair on me. Thankfully she also likes the bit of weight I put on too.
I'll be back soon to talk #WriterJam and some other silliness. <3
Neat update. Hang in there and best of luck with your future projects.
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