HGH free.

Last night I was in Boston at the Comedy Connection filming a show called “Comedy All Stars” which will air on NESN (New England Sports Network) in July. It was once again a reminder of why being a comic for a job would be awesome.

First, I got paid $500 for 8 minutes of comedy. It is not quite the $260/minute rate of The Late Late show, but it is still pretty good. If only I could figure out a way to get 40 hrs a week at that rate.

Second, I got a gift bag, which contained a NESN t-shirt and a Red Sox championship hat and DVD, also known as a cleaning rag and coaster.

Third, there were dozens of Dunkin’ Donuts in the green room. Dunkin’ Donuts is to Boston what New York Sports Club, Starbucks and the subway are to New York. Combined. At one point I saw a Dunkin’ Donuts directly across the street from another Dunkin’ Donuts. It was not a highway where the customers would be exclusive to one side. They were 60 feet and a walk signal apart from each other. That is the type of commitment to donuts that I can appreciate. If I look big on screen for the show it is because the camera adds 10 lbs and the 5 donuts I ate before the show added another 4.

J-L comedy hero and all around good guy Gary Gulman was hosting the show so that was a perk. I can now say I have worked with Gary Gulman (a free show atop a bar, although comedy, does not count as work I guess).

So after 8 hours on trains in one day for only 8 minutes of comedic New England cable TV glory I can say that comedy is the best. In the last week I have performed in the basement of a taco restaurant, the basement of a comedy club and a major comedy club. They were all awesome. Comedy is the ultimate ego boost. Jokes you have created and thought of and worked on getting laughs is nothing short of validation. Because they are often so personal and have not always received laughs, doing well, wherever it is, feels like someone saying you are good. People much more often say – “you were awesome” or “you were funny” than “your jokes are funny.”

Coming back on the 950 pm train from Boston to NYC I sat in the cafe car the whole time so I could read and write. The man operating the cafe car started out happy and chipper, but as the trip wore on I could see him getting a sort of depressed look that I felt only the lottery or a fiery John Edwards rally could cure. And it was something more than fatigue. He was on the 950 train from Boston and was going to work in the cafe car until Newport News, Virginia (I think it is a 9 hour trip). He tried to be chipper, but I think the long trip set in and made him miserable.

So many people have to do that, regardless of what the job pays and I think very few people can say that they enjoy their work for what it is. But not everyone has to do that. And if you have the opportunity to avoid that trap that life can set for you, you should avoid it. I hope to one of these days. If only I wasn’t so darn passionate about the law.