The Funny Thing About Writing Funny

LA is a funny place. It encourages you to chase after something you wouldn’t otherwise pursue. Unlike San Francisco or Portland where it’s equally, if not more important, to realize that life is great and everything is what it is, Los Angeles is a city built on dreams and aspirations.

As much as the red “real American” states like to tell you otherwise, LA is a model American city — a true land of opportunity, and a place where the mantra of “you can achieve anything you want” is breathed-in-and-out on a daily basis.

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I’m a funny guy. I’m fully aware that I’m never going to be an underwear model (nor should I be one) and that my chance of EGOTing is pretty non-existent, but I know I’m a good friend and a fun guy to be around with.

That said, “funny” is also a very subjective thing. Unlike a SAT score or a college GPA, I can’t really explain to you exactly just how funny I am. You either get it or you don’t.

My sense of humor is most prominent on Twitter, mostly because the service allows me to be spontaneous to jot down the many random thoughts that live in my head throughout the day. This blog, on the other hand, is pretty serious. I tend to compose my ideas and opinions from the more cerebral, cathartic side of me.

I was talking to my good friend, Michael Rawley (@mikerawley), a few weeks ago on how to combine my humorous side of Twitter with my serious side of my blog. He mentioned that he always knew that I’m a funny guy and that I just need to let go of my insecurities and just go nuts, because that’s what comedy should be.

I’ve mentioned on this blog that I believe in written words, as it’s the only medium that allows me to place my thoughts directly into a reader’s head. But as powerful as writing can be, it’s surprising difficult to translate my sense of humor into words.

One of the reasons is that I see comedy mainly as an interactive experience. From hosting a talk show to doing stand-up, there’s always an audience who can guide the performer forward. With text everything becomes stale and one-sided. The only reason my tweets are funny is because they’re purposefully short and on-point (though most of the time I’m too stingy to write anything less than 140 characters — there are hungry children in Africa, #amirite?), but it is remarkably more difficult to pull off comedy with actual storytelling.

Obviously, Tina Fey, Louis CK, Stephen Colbert, David Sedaris, and countless others prove otherwise. I’m constantly inspired by their work and always wish I can create something just as solid. Maybe Michael is right; perhaps I just need to stop worrying and start writing.

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Winson Shuen works at IGN but is not an editor. All opinions expressed here are solely his own and do not represent his employer by any means. You can follow him on Twitter @vdot90.

Sh*t I Wanted to Say During Dental Surgery

Thanks to my shitty genes (survival of the fittest does not bode well for me), I just endured a two-hour long bone grafting/Osseous procedure with the periodontist. It wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences, so as a defense mechanism I closed my eyes as soon as the procedure started and entertained myself with nothing but my witty imagination and the noises coming from my mouth, which I assumed to be a horrifying 8-bit cat sacrificial ritual.

Here are some of the things that went through my head:

  • “Man, he’s like spray painting my mouth with sprinkles right now. Ooh, or maybe vodka.”
  • “I wonder if he goes through this much trouble if he dropped a penny underneath his couch.”
  • “Open… open” he kept saying. I guess he’s a big fan of those Mervyn’s door-busters sales.
  • “‘Open wide’ he said. I wonder why dentists don’t ever tell me I’ve opened my mouth wide enough.”
  • “Now I can tell this is a saw, but I would much rather think of it as a live reenactment of Transformers: The Movie. That Megan Fox is mad bleeding right now.”
  • “Is he helping me floss right now? Wait, wait, nope, that floss definitely just went through my gums.”
  • “The periodontist’s belly is touching my head and he’s got at least three fingers in my mouth; this is at least second base by my book.”
  • “Ok, he definitely reiterated ‘Don’t spit, just swallow in the next 24 hours’ one too many times.”
  • “Oh sweet! He just told me that he hooked me up with some human bone implant (instead of cow bone), but is it bad that I want to ask ‘What ethnicity?’”

And as much as I’m unable to talk in the next few hours, I’m really dying to say this:

You got stitches on your arm? That’s cute because I got a stities on my gum, bitch.

(Note: This must be said in the tone of Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad.)

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Winson Shuen works at IGN but is not an editor. All opinions expressed here are solely his own and do not represent his employer by any means. You can follow him on Twitter @vdot90.

Words

The year is 2012, and the word on the Internet superhighway is that the blogosphere is dying. In fact, some say that the Internet itself is being replaced by the new promised land of social media.

The notion is that people have shorter attention span than ever before. People don’t have time to sit and read anymore. They’re barely able to watch a two-hour movie without checking their Facebook on their phones.

So with the change of how people take in information, content is now served in smaller bites and is shared socially than having a dedicated home/website. Instead of a blog post, video and status updates are now the new king of media. Anything more than 140 characters would be considered a long read and a TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) is in order.

The thing is, I believe in writing. I really do.

Never have I been granted a tool that allows me to put my thoughts directly into an audience’s head. Sure, I can take a picture or capture a video to convey my message, but they are but mere eyes in comparison to writing. They just show what I’m seeing, and nothing more.

But with writing, and with words, I can put my audience in the driver seat. If I’m try hard enough, I can even convince the audience that the world is flat and that Britney Spears is the greatest singer in the world. No video can ever accomplish that.

Like many, I have a presence in social media. I am on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Last.fm, and hell, even Path. But as much of an over-sharer as I may be, nothing comes as close and authentic to who I am as this very blog. In my many years of having an online life, I’ve never thought once of starting a photoblog because I can never convey as much of my thoughts, visions, and ideas better than with words.

Anyone can take a picture of a frou-frou meal and masks his/her insecurities behind the Valencia filter on Instagram. But only I can be at my most expressive and direct when I’m writing. Some people hide behind their words, and well, I suppose I’m a man who stands by mine.

I don’t want to show you my life; I want you in my life.

<3 wins


Winson Shuen works at IGN but is not an editor. All opinions expressed here are solely his own and do not represent his employer by any means. You can follow him on Twitter @vdot90.