Weekly Post-Ed #6

Down with a Sickness

            I caught a cold this past weekend, which I don’t prefer, but there are also benefits to being sick that I’ve found. For an overthinker (such as Muah), having a head cold is a kind of performance enhancing drug. There’s less indecision because of the desperation to get something done and get to more rest.

[There are no survivors between being irritably sick and the pillow at the end of the day.]

            Sports can be easier to play. For example, I play goalie in ice hockey and there’s a constant mental battle of not thinking versus “reading the play” (or recognizing patterns during play to make the best decision for being in position to make a save). When sober (not sick), sometimes the internal debate leads to pucks going in the net because you were too busy figuring out what you should be doing. When sick, all that thinking goes away because your thoughts follow this specific inner monologue: “I’m sick and this sucks. I’m sick and this sucks. I’m sick and…”

            And there’s less thinking about what to do. In my experience, I play better like this.

            However, if it’s somebody’s birthday weekend (such as Muah) and there were plans to leave town and celebrate, there’s no real benefit to being sick. I had to cancel plans and stay home to rest. Luckily, on this particular weekend, there were other things to celebrate.

Like this:

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Monster Hunter Rise Launch:

            I can’t express how great it feels to play this game. Everything in this game feels so good: the gameplay, the world, the little nuanced charm and humor. To be more specific, this game feels like what a video game ought to feel like. You want to keep playing, the world is vibrant and engrossing, and there’s something to find on every quest. It’s a delight that’s made with such care and love.

            I don’t write reviews of games. I just want people to play good stuff. I modeled my website after this game for a reason and that’s because I knew it was going to be special.

            Great stuff Capcom.

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Mike Birbiglia’s Worldwide Pizza Party

            I attended a virtual comedy show on Saturday night. It was hosted by Mike Birbiglia, one of my favorite comics, and featured guest appearances by Aisling Bea and Nish Kumar. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the format was so charming and cozy that I wondered why comedy wasn’t delivered this way before. Being on a Zoom call, the show lacked the energy of a live performance (the sound of a mic and sound system, the collective mood and energy of the audience), but it was funny and fulfilling in a way that was both different and needed during a pandemic.

            The show was called “The Worldwide Comedy Pizza Party”, and Mike’s entire act was devoted to bits about pizza. Truly. And it still played well! Mike began the show with some banter with the audience, which consisted of couples and singles perched on a couch or computer chair facing a webcam. He introduced his guest comedian host, Aisling Bea, who attempted to make a homemade pizza while the show went on. It was very much a “Late Night Talk Show” type of bit, but it was charming and funny all the same.

            Mike’s style of delivering jokes through a virtual show is by flipping through notecards at a large corkboard. He recites the bit, which is still a work in progress, and depending on the levels laughter through the Zoom audience’s reduced mic volume, he moves on to the next joke.

            Mike brought up that he’d like to perhaps film a comedy special as a virtual show. I think it works for how he was delivering his jokes; some worked, some did not, but he would always show the camera the title of the joke he just performed on his many notecards, which always made the crowd laugh from recognition. Obviously, you can’t show a large crowd at a club a handwritten notecard for a laugh, but it worked on a webcam setup.

            Which, to me, was interesting because it showed how standup comedy can evolve depending on the medium.

            The show was roughly an hour and half and worth the price of admission ($25). Perhaps the most cathartic part was the preshow and reading the Zoom chat. Everyone was happy to be there, happy to share where they were watching from (Sweden, Argentina, Toronto, Maryland, California, Michigan, etc) and what local pizza they had bought for the pizza party.

            For me, who was sick and couldn’t watch this show with a friend, it was further proof that there are better things in this world if you look for them.

            Plus, Mike Birbiglia is one of the big reasons this website exists at all. Mike writes about why he makes the things he does on his website:

“You’re doing it for the people who might feel better about something in their lives because of something you’re willing to admit about yours.”

            After reading that, it was time to share.

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Wishing everyone as well as they can. You’re not alone out there,