It never fails: I always wind up being hyper-competitive in something that I do. I blame my self-worth as a child being defined by how much I can win at whatever sport I'm playing in whatever sport-season. Most of the compliments I received when I was younger revolved around winning or competing in something. Don't get me wrong, I know how messed up this is, but it's a tough conditioning to shake.
One of my peers in stand-up has been far more proactive than I have about getting his face out there, and as a result has been invited to do stand-up in New York venues, and has been meeting popular comedians, there. It feels like he is starting to take off, and all I'm doing is pithy shows in Baltimore and DC. I need to step things up, here.
This comic's name is Ben Rosen, and I have performed alongside him twice. Prior to even doing stand-up for the first time, I went and watched all the videos of prior performers at Magoobys, just to see what my competition was like. He was the only one that I was remotely concerned about at the time. After performing next to him twice, and drinking with him once, we established a tacit rivalry. In that we both started cold-turkey and were immediately accepted into the Baltimore scene as rising talent.
I want to be better at stand-up, because it is what I want to do. More than that, though, I want to be better than Ben Rosen. I think I already am, I just have to make more people think that, also.
