Through the crack

Angela came home Monday, splayed out on my bed across from me at my desk and said, "Your blog was sad."

I can't dispute that. It was sad. It was sad to write. It was sad to think about. The last few weeks have been incredibly sad. And so, my writing has been sad. (Side note: I'm writing a new half-hour pilot. A comedy. Work's been great lately, thanks for asking.)

So when my friend Krista asked if I wanted to go to a comedy show with her last night, I immediately said yes. Yes to getting out in the world. Yes to hopefully laughing. Yes to the funny.

And funny it was. We ended up at Largo at the Coronet, a theater 10 minutes from here I know well, at something called "Come to Papa Live! with Tom Papa & Friends". In the vein of an old-time radio show, it was 90 minutes of funny. Some moments funnier than others but overall, a very good 90 minutes.

The best? When Matt Damon came on stage and did his impression of Matthew McConaughey. There was a moment during the sketch, at the beginning, when I was like, um, yeah, this isn't going to work. And then? HE SOLD IT. It was hilarious. And I wish I could remember the woman's name who stood next to him and did an impression of Owen Wilson with a perfectly scrunched up face. She was gold.

We got a short set by Zach Galifianakis which was funny, and slightly uncomfortable, which really is the best that Zach Galifianakis is. There were sets by several other stand ups who I wasn't familiar with and don't really need to experience again, but hey, a laugh's a laugh. And then there was the middle set by comedian Nate Bargatze. I hadn't heard of him before last night but seriously? From second one, he had me and the entire audience rolling with laughter. Every single joke landed. Every story was perfect. At one point I was that sitcom cliche where I had to take off my glasses to wipe away the tears. I am not lying. I'll be watching for him to do something else soon.

There were little commercials and a few other famous guests (Nick Kroll was great) and then the evening was over. Perfectly perfect was the ending where they brought out a birthday cake and sang to the host, Tom Papa, with Matt Damon grabbing a mike and swearing to god that the singing gorilla they had ordered hadn't showed up. A great laugh to cap a great night.

So, all in all, a little laughter into my life turned out to be a good thing. A little light shining through the crack that has emerged despite all the sadness and disappointment of the last three months.  Here's hoping there's more of that to come.