Why Comedy Will Always Be on My Calendar

If there is one thing I will happily spend money, time, and travel miles on, it's comedy.

I love comedy shows.

I love listening to comedians on road trips. I love watching stand-up specials on Netflix. I love going to local comedy clubs. I love making a whole weekend adventure out of seeing a big-name comedian a few hours away.

Honestly, if someone handed me a schedule of comedy shows and said, "Here's your social calendar for the next six months," I'd probably be thrilled.

My love affair with comedy started years ago. I grew up watching Stand-Up Spotlight on VH1 and tuning in to Saturday Night Live back when I thought it was at its absolute funniest. Comedy was always there, and somehow it has remained one of the few things that can instantly improve my mood no matter what's happening in life.

My dad (pictured with my daughter in this blog many years ago) loved to laugh and could find humor almost anywhere. I definitely think I inherited that trait. In fact, based on the amount of stand-up comedy I consume annually, it's probably one of the strongest genes in my entire DNA profile.

One of my favorite comedy memories happened when my daughter was younger. We literally ran into Adam Sandler in a store one day.

I was completely starstruck.

My daughter, who was much younger at the time, knew him from Bedtime Stories. So there we were, both ridiculously excited for completely different reasons.

And for anyone wondering, yes, he was incredibly nice.

Some celebrity encounters leave you disappointed.

That wasn't one of them.

Last year, we went to see Nate Bargatze, and I laughed so hard that tears were streaming down my face. His comedy is clean, relatable, and delivered with that wonderfully dry style that sneaks up on you. You think you're fine, and then suddenly you're bent over laughing at a story that sounds suspiciously like something that happened in your own family.

The best part is that when a comedian like Nate comes to town, we don't just attend the show.

Oh no.

We make an event out of it.

We'll drive to another city, grab dinner, go to the show, spend the night, and explore the area the next day. It's part comedy show, part road trip, part mini-vacation.

This past weekend, it was Daniel Tosh.

Now if you've ever watched Tosh.0, you already know that Daniel Tosh and Nate Bargatze occupy completely different corners of the comedy universe.

Nate is the guy you'd want sitting next to you at a church potluck.

Daniel is the guy who would make jokes about the potluck, the church, the casserole, and probably all the people attending.

And somehow I find both hilarious.

My daughter had never really heard of him before the show, but she walked away pleasantly surprised. Daniel Tosh is what I like to call an equal-opportunity offender. Nobody is safe. Everyone gets a turn. The result is that people spend the evening laughing at themselves as much as everyone else.

Recently, I watched Fortune Feimster on Netflix, and she had me absolutely in stitches. Then in December, one of my dear friends and I are double-dating with our guys to see Leanne Morgan, whose Southern storytelling and country drawl never disappoint.

Clearly, my comedy tastes are all over the map.

Dry humor.

Southern humor.

Edgy humor.

Storytelling humor.

Clean comedy.

A little bit of everything.

If it makes me laugh until my face hurts, I'm interested.

The thing I love most about comedy, though, isn't any particular comedian.

It's the audience.

Walk into a comedy show and you'll see people of every age, every background, every profession, and every political persuasion. For a couple of hours, nobody cares who voted for whom, where you came from, or what your day job is.

Everyone is there for the same reason.

To laugh.

To forget their stress.

To put life on pause for a little while.

To leave feeling lighter than when they arrived.

In a world that seems determined to remind us of our differences, comedy reminds us how much we have in common.

Because no matter who we are, there's something wonderfully human about sitting in a crowded room, laughing so hard you can't catch your breath, wiping tears from your eyes, and looking around to see everyone else doing the exact same thing.

And honestly?

That's one of the best feelings in the world.