I love stand-up comedy. Last year I celebrated 10 years of performing and I can’t believe what I have achieved in that time; lots of gigs, lots of jokes, lots of sentences, rooms suddenly relieved of roofs, and many bombs. I’ve performed two solo shows at the Adelaide Fringe, one getting a four-star review, and many line-up shows. I’ve written for TV, I’ve gigged nationally and abroad, and I love it. Stand-up can be beautiful and fill you full of adrenaline. Or cruel, and leave you feeling the urge to peel your skin off like the plastic seal of a lasagne tray. One of the hardest things I will ever have to do is to say goodbye to stand-up.
Stand-up was relegated to second in my life three years ago when my wife and I had a son. In November 2021 my second son was born and now stand-up will be pushed out to a distant third. Becoming a parent has bestowed me great insight to what it is to be a person, being responsible, and simultaneously how strong and fragile we are as a species. Watching these flesh and blood food tunnels become people is inspirational and there is so much to tell you. The trouble is, to perform stand-up comedy is to spend time away from my kids. The more you do stand-up the better you get at it but the more deadbeat dad you become. Because I don’t derive my main income from stand-up it is hard to justify spending hours away at night when the people I love need me at home.
That’s where this blog comes in. I love spending time with my family but hopefully this blog will enable me to keep creating, keep drawing, keep writing jokes and share the bright sparks in life when it all coalesces into a perfect moment. A way for me to spread joy and laughs between the fewer gigs. I can’t have my cake and eat it now but sometimes you only need a biscuit to get you through. I will still gig when I get a chance, but it can’t be with the same hunger because there is a face at home that gives water when daddy leaves for work.
A week before the my first son was born I started journalling in a way to capture the lead up and the birth as a parent, and to document the unceasing development a small human makes in their early years. It turned out to be a great gift because looking back over the 1,000 plus entries shows how far you have come. Photos capture the moment, but words capture feelings.
This is only a soft launch for now, for whatever this is. Things will change as I come to grips with running a site. I would put up construction signs about the place, but no one likes roadworks. I have so much stuff from the last 10 years to share, so as you come back to the site things will look different from time to time.
Thank you for sharing these biscuits with me.
Russ
Russell Hartup 