you can always quit

last night i saw a comedian quit at an open mic. two jokes in and then he told the room, "i can't do this anymore. this just isn't me." he gave the mic back to the host and made his exit. he was chased by a couple of fellow comics but he never returned. it was the most honest statement i've ever heard at a comedy open mic. it's something i won't soon forget. i didn't know him before that night and now he'll be burned into my memory as if he was someone i was always familiar with.

you sit through enough open mics and sometimes you stop hearing words. you just see people on microphones and what they're trying to sell you. making people laugh, that's the big sell. and there's nothing faker than a salesman. this is no slight on the craft of stand up comedy. but even at its realest, stand up comedy is no more than caricatures of the people behind the words. what this comic did last night was obliterate the mold and give a room full of comics the realest bit they'll ever hear. sure, he had to quit to make it possible, but it's nice to know total and absolute honesty is still possible.

why even attempt convincing him to come back? what would be the point after that performance? a man that in touch with who he is should only come back on his own volition. i don't hope he stays away from comedy. i hope he gets closer to who he is. it was a fresh reminder that there's nothing more important than being true to yourself. that gets lost in the punchline sometimes. the laughs feel a little too good and can cause those who are less in tune with themselves to stray from what really matters.

it was also nice to be reminded that we don't have to do this. we can walk out the door anytime we like and never look back and lose nothing for doing so. this isn't about trapping yourself within a habit that's been sucked of all joy. don't be a comic because you think you have to or because you trapped yourself into the classification. be a comic because that's what you want to be. and know that at any moment, you can stop being a comic, especially if it prohibits you from being yourself.

because comics need to be themselves more. i've watched and listened as i've seen several comics drag their characters offstage and force it into all other aspects of their lives. you can take the mask off as soon as you step off the stage. you can be you. you should be you. anything else besides that is fake. don't be an impostor. that's not why we're here, right? if so, maybe you should consider walking out the door.

maybe the comic who quit last night saw what was coming down the comedic path and he knew better because he knew what it took for him to stay true to himself. he was a stranger to me before last night and now i'll never forget him quitting and the lesson that he inadvertently taught me.