Why do I find

certain things funny?

I have a good

sense of humor (or so I'm told) but it can also be very sick and dark

at times. I might laugh at "Dharma and Greg" one night and then

thoroughly enjoy "The Best of Tom Green" the next night or listening

to a Wesley Willis CD.

Most of you

have never heard of Wesley Willis, so let me fill you in. He was a street

person with mental problems in Chicago. He wrote hundreds of songs on

a Casio keyboard to the very same tune and eventually he built up a cult

following. Some members of the following could play instruments and now

he has a band and tours around the country. The lyrics are very basic

and repetitive, but it is hysterical. If you have Napster, download "Northwest

Airlines."

I'm not laughing

at him, I'm laughing at the simplicity of his songs. If anything he is

laughing at the people who fork down money for a CD or a concert ticket.

In a way I think I am inspired by his triumph. I've walked past a bunch

of homeless people and I would never guess that one of them could achieve

their rock and roll dream. In fact, in some ways I can envy Wesley Willis

because he is doing what he wants to do. He'll never win a Grammy, but

people know his name.

So, what is

funny? Repetition? Gross-Out humor? Good jokes? Does anybody have one

true answer? The answer is different for different people. Some people

find a man slipping on a banana to be funny and other people think it

would be funny if a banana slipped on a man. Some people love Mad TV while

others love Saturday Night Live. Personally, I'm an SNL fan, but I think

it is very inconsistent. I also think that they used to take more chances

in the past. The early days of SNL were very edgy and different, but the

shows now use the same characters over and over again and the sketches

are very long. I would rather see shorter sketches and more of them.

I think that

comedy should take chances. Too many times, comedians go for the time-tested

laughs or the easy jokes and though it may get laughs, it feels cheap.

Eventually, all the jokes run together and then you can't remember where

exactly you saw it. Sure, you laughed but it didn't leave a distinct impression

on you. There is no reason that comedy shouldn't touch you the same way

that music might. Comedy should be thought-provoking, it should tell a

story and it should be funny.

My dream is

to one day write for Saturday Night Live and I still think I will make

it there one day. I have studied the greatest sketch comedy groups of

all time and think that my work, though heavily influenced by all of the

groups, is purely original and consistently getting better. When I get

there, I vow to return the quality of sketches to the old days. By that

I mean the days of Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner

as well as the days of Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler and David

Spade.

Until I make

it to SNL, I will be here, writing more sketch comedy shows for Creatures

of Habit. Keep your eyes peeled. We will be performing more shows soon

and we just keep getting better.

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