I was 17 when I picked up a microphone and told my first joke. And since that very moment of standing on stage and telling my very first joke to an audience, I have been hooked, to me there is no greater sound on earth than laughter. But I knew this long before I started doing stand-up comedy, Ever since I was in grade school, my main mission in life was to make people happy, I found early on the quickest way to bring a smile to anyone and everyone’s face was to crack a joke. A byproduct of my witty humor was attention; I think that’s what really drove me more and more as I got older. It wasn’t so much the happiness of others, but the fact that I garnered so much attention from not only my wise cracks but also my actions. I would do anything for a laugh whether it be wearing a wrestling singlet to the cheerleader practice and doing stretches with them which may or may not of uncovered a little more than absolutely necessary or having one of your school administrators announce to an entire gym of fans that my favorite memory from wrestling in high school was when I beat Mike Hawk (say the name fast) at a wrestling tournament. I’m not proud of that one, but at the time I thought it was the funniest thing.

        I became interested in doing stand-up comedy when I was a sophomore in high school. Yet again I was in class just looking to get laughs as the class was studying for an upcoming test. (I always picked the best times) The class was using the ever popular game of Jeopardy, biology style to help prep for the test. Instead of using this time like the rest of the class I decided to add some excitement and yell random funny answers even when it wasn’t my turn to answer, as the game progressed my answers became more and more flamboyant thus putting the class in another fit of laughter and delaying the time that the students could actually use this time to study. As the class was coming to an end the teacher announces that this will be the final question. This is my chance for my final assault my last chance to use this crowd that is eating up every juvenile comment I make. Before she asks her final question she looks to me, barely holding a grin and shoots me a warning glance daring me to disrupt her class one last time. She asks her question “What was Charles Darwin best known for.” The answer that came from my book distorts history just a bit in that now, Darwin correctly known for his theory of evolution is now known for his skills as a rap artist who had a drug problem that could have killed a small herd elephants. The class erupted even the teacher lost control. I sat waiting for the class to regroup from there immensely satisfying laughter. After a minute the teacher finally caught her breath and asked me “when are you going to start doing standup comedy so I can teach my class?” An idea was born. Now… how in the world was I going to think of something funny to say when it really mattered?

        I spent the next year and a half writing and perfecting a list of jokes. I had so much time to refine my set list because I was too young to perform standup anywhere in Iowa. The summer after my sophomore year of high school my mother got a job in Washington D.C. which also happens to be a major hotspot for standup comedy. Here was my chance. If comedy wasn’t going to come to me, I was going to go to comedy. I opted out of going to school In Washington like my brother and sister because I liked my school in Iowa, but after my junior year I hopped on a plane and went to live in our nation’s capitol for the summer. My mom scoped out a place where a 17 year old could perform comedy that wasn’t in a bar or night club.

        Thankfully she found place called The Comedy Spot in a mall not far from the apartment we were living in. when I got to DC. I went to the club just to see what it was like because I had honestly never been to a live comedy show. After watching the night’s show I knew I had to try, I had watched all the other comics go up and I thought I could be funnier than a few of them. After the show I asked the manager if there was an opening in the next weeks show to see if I could perform. He asked “have you ever performed comedy before.” Was it going to be a problem that I hadn’t? “no” I replied “I haven’t but I would love to give it a shot.” He then looks at me thoughtfully and asks “why do want to do comedy.” Well I really hadn’t considered why I wanted to do it before. I just knew I wanted to. So I thought about his question pleading my brain to come up with the correct answer. After what seemed like an eternity I blurted out “because the only thing I know with absolute certainty is that I can make people laugh.” Wow that sounded depressing, I could have fallen down and died right there. All I could think about was the last year and a half just wasted because I got flustered. The manager still looking at me in that thoughtful expression asks “Do you have jokes or are you going to use jokes you saw on TV.” desperate to redeem myself I answer quickly “ O no the jokes are mine; all original.” He then cracks a small smile maybe noticing my nerves for the first time and says to me “Alright I can only give you three minutes but I’ll see you next week ok?” I was in shock I had managed to get on an actual comedy stage. I was going to be a comedian, as I stood there in silence the manager’s grin got bigger. I was able to stammer what I thought was, “Thanks see ya next week.” But I will never know for sure because I practically ran from the room in excitement. Now that I had a place to perform I just had to have the material to do it.

        So that very next morning I set to work memorizing all my jokes in preparation for the big night. I spent the next week almost living in the bathroom in front of a mirror with comb in hand. Reciting the lines over and over again, making sure not only that I remembered the words to my jokes but also the timing in the joke and the way in which it is delivered. Now at this point in time my ability to write a joke was very limited because all I had to reference were the comedians I saw on TV on Sunday nights. That in and of itself made it so nerve racking, of course I told my family the jokes I planned to tell but I saw their laughter as biased. So I had no real self-reassuring way to see if my jokes would be good enough. Even with that fear in the back of my mind I studied my notes harder than I’d ever studied for a test in school. It was nerve racking not knowing how I was supposed to prepare for this. The last time I had to memorize lines was for a play in eighth grade and it was only two. This time I had to remember three long minutes of jokes that I had written and rewritten. What if remembered the wrong punch line and then the joke wasn’t funny. Whether I was ready or not, that week ended quickly and I suddenly found myself at the night of the show. I have never suffered from butterflies in my stomach worse than this night. All the possibilities of how this could go horribly wrong rushed through my head. What if I wasn’t funny? What if I fell on my face getting on stage? What if I forgot my lines and had nothing to say? After many deep breaths and reading my set list over a few more times it was time to get on stage. 
        The emcee got on stage and started saying my introduction. “Your next comic has a twin sister, a one legged brother, a Harley rider for a father, and an attorney for a mother. Please welcome… all the way from Iowa… Clayton Wilcox.” Now it was here. It was time to finally find out what I was made of. Was I just the class clown or could I become something more? There was only one way to find out so I stepped up to the microphone stand and pulled the mic out and held it to my lips. As I looked out into the crowd all I could think about was how crazy of an idea this was and before I knew it someone had taken over my body and was telling my jokes. “ Before I got up here on stage my sister told me a great way to shake off the nerves was to picture everyone in the crowd naked… but that’s kinda weird when she is sitting right there.” There it was; the sound that for so long I have loved and lived for. Laughter! Real genuine laughter. From a joke I had labored over and written myself. The relief I felt in that moment was so uplifting and warm that the rest of my set went flawlessly.

        After my first laugh, I have been hooked on standup comedy there has nothing I have found more rewarding than doing standup comedy for the last three years. There have been some of the most memorable moments in my life because of my passion for comedy. After being in the comedy mode for so long it now defines me almost more than any other characteristic. I enjoy putting my spin on daily mundane routine things. To find humor in life is so much fun it makes everyday so enriching, you can’t help but have a positive outlook on things. That’s the reason I do standup. To show the world what I see and how I see the world. Perspective is never a bad thing especially when that perspective can make that sound that is like no other… Laughter.

Clayton Wilcox