I have a friend, Wally Bidderman, who moved out to Colorado last summer and joined a comedy commune, and, now, made me an offer to come and live with the "Comedy Tribe" (that's what they call it). I haven't been there yet, but he says they live in tepees and make up jokes. I'm very suspicious of this; how funny can you be while living in a tepee. Tepee living has always struck me as serious business. No disrespect to the American Indian, but I never heard of any of the famous ones billing themselves as comedians. You never heard of "the Comedy Stylings of the Great Cochise," or "Geronimo and his watermelon-chopping- tomahawk, one night only at Fort Collins." No, I'm pretty sure the conditions under which the Native Americans lived didn't exactly lend itself to comedy.
But I have this offer, and it's supposed to be a real compliment, as they don't extend it to too many people. From what I'm told, some of the people there are in touch with people in the comedy industry. I'm required to let them know in the next couple of weeks, or as they put it "When the ice breaks along the shoreline." This could be a golden opportunity to hone my comedic skills (something which I didn't even think I had, but the tribe insists they can spot talent a mile away).
All they need from me are some pens and paper (no electricity in the tepees; apparently, this keeps the comedy pure). They also need some canned goods and money, not a great deal of money, but as much as I can spare. And toilet paper. I assume this is for when they go on comedy raids and TP other commune's tepees.
They are cutting edge and call their brand of entertainment "organic comedy." This sounds like an opportunity, but I don't want to go out there and disappoint the members of the Comedy Tribe with my smart-alec comments which often times are not that funny and, unintentionally, make people mad.
---Here's one of the jokes they sent me:
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Running Water.
Don't bullshit me, there's no running water here. (This may be an insider joke).
---Here's another one:
Who left the glass bottle in the "plastics only" recycling bin?
Answer: some idiot. (I don't really get this one).
---They say this one is a knee-slapper:
How many comedians living in tepees does it take to screw-in a light bulb?
Answer: none, they don't have any electricity.
I think this organic comedy, like so many new trends, takes some time getting used to.
I'm leaning on staying put.
