WEIGHT LOSS COMPETITION MEMORIES

“The Biggest Loser” is such a success, that many corporations have their own weight loss competitions every year.  I even entered such a competition on 2 separate occasions at an old day job.  Now, I was told that anyone could enter and I had my reservations at first.  I didn’t really need to lose weight.  I am by no means obese and I’ve always fluctuated around my high school weight.  Then they mentioned there would be a cash prize – hundreds of dollars would be at stake.  That sealed the deal for me and I entered the competition.

The one advantage I had over the rest of the field was that I used to box and wrestle as a teenager which means  I know how to cut weight.  The 1st time I entered, I lost 23 pounds over the course of 8 weeks.  It wasn’t that hard once the initial discomfort set in.  I ended up winning a couple hundred dollars and simultaneously ruffling a few feathers amongst coworkers.  They felt I really didn’t need to lose the weight and took advantage of the competition.  It probably didn’t help that I sent a company wide email thanking everyone for the money with a picture of me holding the prize money and my victory meal.

The company held another competition the following year and I decided to enter again.  Lots of people dropped out at the start but there was still several hundred dollars at stake.  I ended up losing 17 lbs this time and yes, I did send another company wide email thanking them for the money.  Probably not the classiest thing to do. But these photos still make me smile every time when I think of those days.

Tags: weight loss money classy

STANDUP STORIES: ENTRY 1

I was recently on the Sal & Angelo podcast in SF and fellow comedian Sal Calanni brought up an incident that happened to me early on in my stand up career.  It involved poorly written piss/shit jokes and two very irate professional football players.  Have a listen to the interview here.

I haven’t told that story in years, let alone stopped to think about it.  However, telling the story made me think of the material I used to write and how I have changed (or haven’t).  I’ve heard the debates regarding clean and blue comedy and ultimately if the joke is funny, that’s all that matters.  Duh.  I’ve gone through periods where I’ve tried to write only clean jokes but there are times where the only jokes I could think about involved defecation and various orifices.  I am not above a good dirty joke – let’s make that clear.   But for the people out there who try to elevate their dick jokes to something higher and more pure let me say, STOP.  I love the debates I’ve heard where comedians deconstruct their dick jokes and analyze them explaining how artistic it is.

“I’m not just telling a dick joke.  The dick is just a vehicle for my message.  The dick is not even what’s funny when you think about it.  I mean I could do the same joke about balls and it would be just as funny.”

I don’t think so.  What’s funny is funny.  If you’ve got a great shit/piss/dick joke, be proud and own it for what it is.  End of story.