Make Them Care

MAKE THEM CARE.

Those three words are written on the wall in my office. I put them in the inside cover of my notebooks and scrawl them on my hand in sharpie when I’m on the road.

Everything I work on starts with those three words.

I’m not naive, I know that people don’t come to my shows to see me. They’re on a date night or a work event, they got a free ticket or just wanted a fun night out. Rarely are they a fan of me, or even a fan of mind reading.

It’s my job to MAKE THEM CARE.

Think about it: those people could literally be anywhere else. They have instant access to millions of videos and movies on YouTube and Netflix, Hamilton is playing downtown, the Chicago zoo has free admission. They could have been anywhere.

So why would I waste their time when they made the choice to spend an hour with me? 

It’s up to me to MAKE THEM CARE.

When I perform I have to shove aside my ego and think about the audience’s experience first and foremost. I don’t want to pander but I also can’t let myself be too didactic. They don’t want a lecture or a history lesson, they just want to be entertained.

Want to know the real secret to making people care?

The trick is to make everything about them. Whatever you do, put other people first. Share wisdom and inspire others. Lead by example and be positive. Demonstrate through your actions that hard work, enthusiasm, and kindness always pay off. Be the kind of person that people want to emulate, not imitate.

I’m on a mission this year to be more positive and encouraging to everyone I meet. I’m looking to make meaningful connections both on and off stage. I’m trying to be more supportive and thoughtful and helpful as much as I possibly can.

It turns out that making other people happy for no reason makes you tremendously happy in return. And when you care about others it makes them care about you. 

Ideas

Your ideas are not safe.

They will be borrowed, twisted, contorted, and stolen. They will be used and abused until you don’t even recognize them yourself. When you put an idea into the world you can be confident that you’re not getting it back. It doesn’t belong to you any more.

Sometimes you’ll have an idea, only to discover that someone beat you to it. When that happens you have to be honest with yourself. You have to abandon your idea because it’s already been done. Congratulate yourself on thinking like another person but don’t hold onto the idea like it will be your last one ever. It’s not your idea. Move on.

Sometimes you’ll have an idea and put in hours to develop it. Then, someone else will come along and steal it. They shamelessly let you put in all the heavy lifting before stepping in at the last second to claim it as their own. Usually, they have really lame excuses for their behavior.

“It’s such an obvious idea. I’m surprised more people aren’t doing it.”

“I didn’t know it was a big deal.”

“I didn’t even know I was doing it.”

Those are direct quotes from people who I have heard discussing the theft of creative ideas. They come directly from message boards, chat rooms, and real life.

The problem, of course, is that an obvious idea takes a lot of hard work. Making something look simple is really fucking hard. When someone else steps in and strips you of your idea they are not only robbing you of your final product, they are cheating you of months of labor and thought. They’re being lazy and you end up getting the shaft.

I experience this all the time. My friends let me know when people are using my jokes or routines without my permission. People have stolen my ad copy word for word, copied my photos, and even tried to take my clients right out from under my nose. It’s the sad truth of the career I’ve chosen.

People want a short cut. They don’t want to spend hours to get where they want to be. They need an easier option or a magic word that will get them there. So they lift a paragraph from someone and borrow a photo from someone else and before you know it, they have a muddled mess, copied and pasted from other creative minds. I don’t know how these people can sleep at night.

I write all of this to say, that I don’t care if you steal my ideas. Sure, it’ll suck and I’ll be sure to tell you I’m not happy. (I’ll say it to your face, believe me.)  But, it’s going to keep happening. It doesn’t make it any easier but I’ve come to terms with it.

The more success you have, the more other people’s ideas start to look just like yours. Just be ready for it and keep creating. The only thing you can do is work your ass off to stay ahead.

Execution

Here we are, one year and fifty-two essays later. Some better than others, but all labors of love.

Since last August, I’ve spent every Friday through Wednesday working on new ideas for this blog. Through ups and downs, early mornings and late nights I’ve kept at it.

Each day I grab a coffee and sit down to brainstorm new ideas. I use an app called Bear on my MacBook. It’s incredibly useful for organizing my thoughts so I can see if they’ll make the cut for any given Thursday.

Since starting “Thursday Thoughts” I’ve also been busier than ever. In the past twelve months I performed over 100 shows in 35 states and 3 countries, made three TV appearances, sold out shows from NYC to San Diego, and went on a two month tour around North America.

I do all of this on my own. No agent, no manager - just my wife and me working tirelessly to make it a reality.

Good things start to happen if you stick with something for at least a year. You get better. You learn more about yourself. And people start to take notice.

I’ve booked some shows from the blog. Some essays led to in-person debates. One essay even led to an unexpected phone conversation.

As a result of “Thursday Thoughts” I’ve made some new friends. Those friends led to new experiences. And one of those led to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

All of this and more because I keep publishing every single week.

I always wanted to be a better writer - I was just waiting to have a platform. But I got tired of waiting…so I created my own. Now I write all the time and I’m slowly getting better each and every day.

The funny thing is, I’m not running out of ideas. The more I write, the more inspired I feel. So I keep writing daily with one goal in mind: to keep posting every Thursday. 

Ideas are easy, it’s the execution that’s hard.  But if you stick with it, it’s always worth it. That’s what these 365 words on day 365 prove.

One year down, many more to go.

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