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In a discussion with Paul Herzich (a fellow Friar; co-owner and co-founder of the first comedy club in New York City, Comedy U; and all-around cool guy and fascinating conversationalist) about comedy, we spoke about the difference between passion and obsession.  I believe that a comic cannot merely be passionate about comedy - he* must be obsessed with it.  This seems like an extreme position, so here are my thoughts on the matter:

Let’s use a particular woman in the place of comedy for the moment.  (This is an apt substitution, as there are a lot of parallels between comedy and relationships.  In fact, as I’ve told others, when I’m with a woman, I sometimes feel like I’m cheating on comedy.  But I digress.)  A woman’s husband is passionate about this woman.  A woman’s stalker is obsessed with this woman.  The healthier relationship is clearly between the woman and the man who is passionate rather than obsessive.  However, who knows more about the woman?  If I needed specific information about the woman, who would be more likely to have it?  In this instance, the stalker.  He probably knows her exact schedule, where she’s been, what her daily routine is, etc.  Because he’s obsessed, he’s more cognizant of these smaller details and more likely to forgo things pertaining to himself in pursuit of things pertaining to the woman.  In comedy, knowing more about the little things and being willing to sacrifice in order to obtain that kind of information is not only valuable - it’s necessary.

Comedy is too hard both commercially and artistically for the full-time comedian to be anything less than obsessed with it.  Let me break that down as well.  On the commercial side, comedy is an art form that can be difficult to make a living from - you have to sacrifice a lot to make comedy work as a career.  On the artistic side, comedy is a very demanding and difficult art form.  Comedy involves so many constantly changing variables that it requires a mammoth effort to perfect.  Only the obsessed are willing to sacrifice important things to do comedy and only the obsessed can devote the energy and time required to become a truly great comedian.

The interesting caveat here though is that the raw material of stand-up comedy is life.  If you are so obsessed with comedy that your life becomes entirely about stand-up comedy, you risk losing access to the raw materials out of which stand-up comedy is made.  As a result, the comedian must approach obsession without crossing the line into pathology.  That is where the real struggle lies.  The question is not the passionate comic’s - whether a sacrifice needs to be made - but the question of the obsessed comic - how much sacrifice will be made.

* Obviously, a comic can be female, but for the sake of clarity, I will use only the male pronoun (using “he/she” or “he or she” each time would clog up my sentences).