originality: an origin story (advice for someone who asked for it and also for anyone else who wants it!)

part of the answer is to continually question

dear friends, readers, beings living as part of this universe,

i’m grateful that you’re here.
thank you for reading! you are nice!
usually i use this space to share short jokes, poems, and other quick funs.
sometimes, i use it to share longer pieces i’ve written, like this one that i wrote in response to a younger comedian friend who asked me a question about BEING ORIGINAL¹. i hope you find it some combination of enjoyable and meaningful!

THE QUESTION:

I’m always a little concerned that people will think I’m trying to be another comedian or steal their style. I think everyone has influences and the shape how you grow as an artist, but how did you get over that concern, if you ever had it, when you were finding your voice initially? (I assume it’s a constant journey to find one’s voice because people change.)

MY RESPONSE:

this is a good question. thanks for asking!

first, i would say that there are two related, but separate issues at hand here. one is your concern about what people will think. another is what YOU think, what you ARE doing. and these two concepts interact with one another, for sure. like, we write jokes and might think "this is good!" and we go onstage and tell an audience and they might disagree. we have to, at times, NOT care what anyone thinks, and at times, YES care very much what someone thinks.

or to put it a different way, we can't care AND RESPOND to what EVERYONE thinks. but we CAN care and respond to what certain someones think. the first someone to care about is yourself. the first person to respond to is yourself. with this particular issue, do YOU believe that you are trying to "be another comedian" or "steal their style"? are you concerned that your influences are having *too* great an impact on you?