Lots of parents raise their kids with the hope, and maybe even expectation, that they'll be the future leaders of our nation. I guess I can see where they're coming from - we need politicians and captains of industry to keep this big ol' machine a humming. These parents use examples like Bill Gates and Barack Obama to illustrate to their kids that it doesn't matter where you come from, you can make a difference in the world.
These are fine examples to look up to - even if you're an Apple fanboy or a raging teabagger - who wouldn't want their kid to be the richest man in the world or the PUSA? Well, us for one. We tend to idolize a different sort in our house. We look up to John Stewart, Louis Black and George Carlin. Yes we need future leaders of America but we also need future smartasses to make fun of those future leaders.
Harper and Ainslee both are already world class ball-breakers and to tell you the truth, I couldn't be more proud. So when I saw the local comedy club, Comedy Works, offering a weeklong comedy camp for kids I couldn't register Harper fast enough.
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, Harper studied his butt off learning how to write jokes and put a decent three-minute set together. Then on Saturday afternoon the kids performed their acts in front of a packed house of parents, friends and creepy adults who just seemed to want to watch little kids on stage.
The comedian in charge of the camp was a guy named Phil Palisoul, which you can watch here on "The Tonight Show", http://youtu.be/BSsyxxUs-48. He told us repeatedly what a great writer Harper was, but seemed worried about him "finding his voice." He kept telling us to watch comedians like Steven Wright and Mitch Hedberg. "See, they're also quiet but somehow managed to stand on stage and say stuff for a few minutes," he said.
Amanda and I were way more nervous than Harper and in the end he in fact did manage to stand on stage and say stuff for a few minutes. So here's the result of all the comedic hand-wringing. Enjoy!
Love it, Harper! I definitely think I need a pit stop crew for the next race I run...great idea.
ReplyDeleteGooooo Harper! I fully expect a concert at Prodigal Son when you're back this way!
ReplyDeleteThis is Jamie btw, didn't realize it'd use my google "sign"
ReplyDeleteAwesome. I esp love that you can hear Kurt and Amanda laughing. Miss you guys. - Cora (who for some reason cannot post using her Google account)
ReplyDeleteI couldn't really understand what he was saying but his presentation seemed very good and I loved hearing his parent's laughter in the background.
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