Welcome to Chicago, Mr. Brownbear

Greetings-

This is the first in what will begin to be regular posts on my blog. Why the long stretch since my last post? I was wasting all of my prose on Missed Connections on Craig's List and an ill-conceived novel about this night I accidently took mushrooms and spent all day at Steve's Tattoo. Apparently, there is already a book about that called "The Illustrated Man" by Ray Bradbury and his text isn't just pages with the word "Funyuns" written ad nauseam interspersed with pictures that are just pen circles where the ink eventually tears through the paper.


So much wasted time.

I recently moved to Chicago after spending far too long in Madison. But my purpose in moving here wasn't simply for a change of scenery or fantastic live music venues. It was to do something incredibly silly that I throughly love: making people smile.

I've wanted to train at Second City since I was but a wee brave. I remember turning on my television long after my bedtime on Saturday, making sure to turn the volume down, so I could watch SNL. It was my comedy catechism: I would spend hours in front of my mirror recreating Dieter's awkward facial expressions; being a fat kid in middle school, I related with the mix of humor and pathos Chris Farley imbued in his characters; and I still find Wayne Campbell's sly, uncouth intelligence utterly brilliant.


You captivate my mind.

I thought this humor just happened, but further inquiry led me to the Second City style of comedy. Almost all modern sketch and comedy finds its way back to this institution. After trying my hand at sketch comedy in Madison with a modicum of success (The Onion AV Club said we "may very well be the most consistently funny comedy act in Madison"), I was encouraged enough to relocate and hone my craft of poop jokes and old-timey puns.


Delightfully vulgar

I'm young, I have no dependents (that I know of), and have medical and pecuniary support (Pina gigi, Great Red Father). Also The American Indian Center of Chicago is interested in hiring me in a position that I best see fit. The AIC is an intertribal community space that offers a variety of services and events as well as educational support for young Natives. I'm really excited to have the opportunity to be a community organizer in an urban setting, its going to be a lot different than the work I've done in the past with the Ho-Chunk Nation and Wunk Sheek at UW-Madison.

But most of all, my hope is that this training will take my gross-out doody jokes and turn them into subtle scatological humor. One can dream.

-CB

PS: I assure you this will be the last serious blog for quite some time.