Category: Humor

Humor and humorous looks at the creative life and living creatively for writers, musicians, and artists of all genres.

Humor is Creativity

My wife Sarah and I are featured in the April issue of Courageous Creativity! An intro from the editors:

“Have you ever considered that humor is essentially creativity? Check out stories and insights from TED speaker Hannah Brencher, renowned artist Chad Crowe, comedic writer and improv artist Lisa Warsinske, Indian classical vocalist Srivani Jade, multi-entrepreneurial duo Andrew and Sarah Zahn, poet Farah Abdul, and our two young minds, Madhurum Bhuvan and Nadiya Narula! All set to the backdrop of Devasmita Chakraverty’s keen-eyed photography.”

This fantastic ezine is put together by a wonderful group of professionals and we’re honored to have been part of this month’s publication.

Just click on the Courageous Creativity picture below to read the ezine. We’re on pages 18-22. Enjoy!

Day Job Dilemmas: Bathrooms, Sawdust, and Hovering Co-Workers

I was having lunch with my co-workers recently and we ended up talking about how shiny the floors are in our company’s bathrooms.

So right now you’re thinking two things: 1) How did that topic come up and/or 2) I’ve noticed that too and it’s disturbing.

You may even say to yourself (with a posh British accent) “why, on such a high-brow blog about creativity, is the author stooping to publish such low-brow humor?” You may never get an answer to that question.

Thus, we begin with #1…

#1 – Shiny Bathroom Floors

Shiny bathroom floors are upsetting, disturbing and borderline pornographic. If we can pick the finish for our printed photos, we should certainly be able to make a decree that all bathroom floors be standardized matte.

Why? Continue reading “Day Job Dilemmas: Bathrooms, Sawdust, and Hovering Co-Workers”

The Truth About Comedy

I get wildly inspired when I see a brilliant comic perform.

Some of my favorites are Brian Regan, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan and  Ellen Degeneres–they perform observational humor and do so without the spicy language of many of their colleagues and that takes great skill.

When I watch them perform, I think of how brillant the writing is and often start to picture myself writing and performing just like them. The conversation I have with myself goes something like this:

(Andrew, a mid-thirties dad-to-be, sitting in his family room, watching Jim Gaffigan perform his ‘Mr. Universe’ piece on Netflix)

JIM: (on TV): Has your mother ever made anything as good as a McDonald’s fry? Not even close. We lie to ourselves when we eat at McDonald’s fries. Oh, they are so thin, they couldn’t be fattening. You ever eat too many McDonald’s fries? Of course not. There is never enough of them. There’s always that moment when you’re eating McDonald’s fries really. What happened? Where did they go? Then you search, scrunching for the fry crumbs. Oh that’ just a piece of paper from the straw, but it was touching the fry so…

ANDREW: (On couch) I could do that. I live. I think. I write. I perform. That guy makes a ton of money just talking about McDonalds and hot pockets.

(immediately inspired, Andrew picks up his computer and beings writing.) Continue reading “The Truth About Comedy”

10 Brand Spanking New Idioms

As I was driving home from my day job (I’m a PR Manager for a home improvement company) I had an epiphany involving candy and the old idiom “the best things in life aren’t things.” Such sage advice was pouring forth from my muse that I had to do something with my newfound wisdom.

What do we do with new idioms and epiphanies in the digital age? We tweet ’em…

Screenshot_1_4_13_6_46_AM

It’s true. Can’t really argue with that. Perhaps non-candy lovers might argue with it…but I’ll never understand why someone wouldn’t love candy. Never.

It got me to thinking of a few more new idioms that have potential to change the world. And by “change the world” I mean “maybe make you smile.” (Add your own in the comments below and I’ll tweet it out this weekend!)

1. It takes two to tango, but one person can look ridiculous too.

2. Actions speak louder than words, but then nobody gets to hear you yell.

3. Clothes don’t make the man unless she’s a woman dressed up like a man, then they kinda do. (Tweet that)

4. One man’s trash is another man’s Craigslist. Continue reading “10 Brand Spanking New Idioms”

Big Pretentious Words are Big and Pretentious

Confession: I sometimes like to appear smarter than I really am. Rather than using colloquial language, I’ll toss in some three, four, and five syllable words to dazzle. I kinda just did it with the word ‘colloquial.’ Guilty.

Have you ever used “big words” just to impress someone?

Words like these…

  • Pretentious. Even using the word ‘pretentious’ is, in itself, pretentious.
  • Colloquial. See above. I used it a few sentences ago to make myself appear shiningly brilliant.
  • Nebulous. I’ll toss this one into a sentence when describing concepts and ideas that aren’t specific. As in: “I like the direction of this project Fran, it’s just a bit nebulous at present.” Just saying the word ‘nebulous’ raises my IQ. I’m sure of it.
  • Any Medical Terminology Picked Up from WebMD. As in “yeah, it was a post-roital laceration on my dorsal vertex.” Of course, peons who haven’t read WebMD feel their intelligence quotent drop with each and every syllable of our verbiage. Continue reading “Big Pretentious Words are Big and Pretentious”

You’ve Never Said This About the London 2012 Olympics

Although I have several posts in the pipeline, they can wait.

For the present we celebrate the glorious London 2012 Olympics.

My wife and I got a little creative this weekend while watching the Olympics and posted this on our blog A Couple Comments.

We hope it makes you smile as much as we did while we were making it!

7 Home Improvement Project Phrases Guys Say

I’ve tried my hand at fixing things around the house. Whatever the project, it usually works… but with a caveat. If I fix it you usually have to instruct others to…

  • “Jiggle the handle”
  • “Turn it the other way”
  • “Force it down”

I’m not super handy as evidenced by having a mild anxiety attack after opening these instructions on a recent project I did (disclosure: with my Dad. I couldn’t do it alone).

home improvement anxiety attack

Only 26+ steps to a simple installation. So much to go wrong.

It’s also interesting to note that I work for a home improvement company in the sales and marketing departments. Repeat: the sales and marketing departments. This week part of my duties involved production of a commercial for our kitchen division.

Can you guess what era this shot is seeking to represent? Continue reading “7 Home Improvement Project Phrases Guys Say”

No Tie For Daddy: Creative Father’s Day Gifts

A Trooper in the air
Creative Father's Day Gifts

I bought the card.  

I shopped online.

And still I think he’d be happy with a box of Little Debbie Nutty Bars after all is said and done. And yes, one year, that was his gift. And he loved it.

With Father’s Day just around the corner, I realize many of us want something different, something left-field, something beyond cologne, neckties, and renewals to Golf Digest.

Whilst shopping around online, I stumbled across some creative Father’s Day gifts that might help you shave a few minutes off your search.

Or just give you a laugh. Continue reading “No Tie For Daddy: Creative Father’s Day Gifts”