Around the time of my last post, I had started to realize that my amateur comedy journey was going to be a longer than I had expected. My extreme naivete is constantly being further exposed to me with every passing gig. I shock even myself. I thought I would start getting paid within a few months, but aside from some free drinks and $50 I won a few months ago in a competition, I haven't been able to make a living off the stand up. In fact, I have to spend at least $20 anytime I perform anywhere (gas and food expenses).
In June it had started to become apparent to me that I needed to make more than I was making cleaning rooms at the hotel. So I went crawling back to law. I have withdrawn from the licensing process and I still have no desire to be a lawyer, but I have re-evaluated my initial approach to a day job. When I was starting out in February, I thought a cleaning job would be great because it was a job I could leave at the end of the day and not take home with me. Law on the other hand, demands a lot of time and the pressure to do a good job doesn't stay at the office. While I was able to go in to the hotel, clean and leave and go home to day dream about comedy - the job also left me physically exhausted at the end of the day (shut up, cleaning is tough!) I wasn't going home and writing as I had anticipated. I was going home and taking Epsom salt baths and 4 hour naps.
So around the time of my last post, a firm I had interviewed with a few months before giving up law to pursue comedy (genius move still, I haven't once regretted my decision), contacted me and offered me a summer research position. Since June I have been working as a legal research assistant to two of the partners who are writing a book. I actually love the job. After working in the hotel, it has been great to be back in an office job using my education. I never thought I'd feel this way. My brief hiatus from law was good for me. It made me realize that while I don't want to do this forever, I want to do this now as my day job. I thought comedy and law had to be mutually exclusive alternatives in my life. The first month at the office was hectic for me and I felt like I was shaking cob webs from my brain. Now I am comfortable again with the language of statutes and cases and I am much more efficient in my research. I am paid for 40-hour work weeks, but I was putting in 60-70 hours per week to compensate for my seemingly leisurely pace I was taking to research tasks. I didn't want my bosses to think they had hired an idiot so I would leave the office and work all night at home to meet deadlines I had set for myself according to what I thought seemed reasonable for a competent employee. This left no time for comedy. But I knew I needed to put comedy on hold and get my life in order so I can eventually balance a day job and comedy. In the last couple of weeks, I feel like I have achieved that balance.
My job with the firm is a summer contract which is up at the end of June. The partners have mentioned the possibility of keeping me on and offering me a permanent position. I would love to work here full-time. The office is great and everyone who works there are friendly, patient and enjoyable. The research is interesting and I don't mind all of the reading. I lost my hearing my second year in University and I got through my undergraduate mostly by myself and reading everything I could get my hands on to make up for "missing" lectures (I attended every class, but I was mostly just filling the seat and staring politely at the professor). When I started law school, I began to work with sign language interpreters which was a huge help... by Christmastime anyway, at which point I had learned sign language and could understand what they were saying haha. I still had to read twice as much as my peers to keep up with lectures (it's not just being deaf - I've never been a wonderful student and I have always had to work hard to do well).
My point is, I am used to reading a lot - more than most law students even - and this had really prepared me to do well in a research position. I like the job and I really want to keep it. This is my main goal at the moment. To have this job would give me the security I need to keep on the comedy path. Also, my parents are being affectionate towards me again!
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