I feel like I’ve been relatively on hiatus from my ‘normal’ life, as I get settled into some writing work and the rhythms of the more-or-less regularly employed.

And so far it’s been pretty decent. I ride my bike most days through the park to the office, eat lunch with my
colleagues, and cultivate my appreciation for fine spirits. It sounds not too bad, and it isn’t at all.

I’ve been writing and editing away. Including putting together the latest issue of the Alexander & James magazine and writing this particular article.

And all in all, immersing myself in the world of digital marketing, HTML, content management, editing, and online retail and getting to decide on content and style for a professional website is a pretty sweet gig. And when I’m not working I try and have meetings with other freelance friends, work on projects and go swimming. Yes, I dig it.

But I’ve been so deep into it, I’ve not been paying attention to all of the other stuff i enjoy doing, and then POW, this week I’ve got three exciting events happening.

1. Tonight I’ll be leading a workshop for storytellers called “Learn How to be Funny“. Now if I were making and marketing a workshop this isn’t what I would call it, but the good people at Impact Storytelling polled their members and the overwhelming consensus was a workshop specifically on this topic.

So they asked me to do it, because I use the tools of funny in my work, and like to quip. And I’ve designed a pretty nice workshop that balances fun and freedom and confidence with some specific tools that contribute to (or move in the direction of) ‘funny’ without encouraging hokey or lame jokes in presentations.

I’m actually quite excited about this. And who knows, perhaps there will be another one down the line, as the more I’ve been thinking about it, the more I’ve become convinced that humour can’t really be taught, and it definitely can’t be taught in one short course.

2. On Thursday I’ll be doing some character comedy as part of the Amsterdam Free Fringe’s Comedy Night. I didn’t specifically plan to do this, but now I am, and as I don’t usually do character comedy, the chance to bring out and debut some favourite characters I’ve developed and been sitting on is quite exciting. It’ll be pretty loosey-goosey on my part, and seems like a quite diverse line-up, so it will in all likelihood be an enjoyable night.

Yes, there will be tango.

3. On Friday I will be hosting My True Story at Mezrab. This is generally one of my favourite events, and I’ve been away for the past couple so unable to attend, tell stories or host, so I’m quite excited to get back at it. And this one is special as we will be celebrating 10 years Mezrab. A phenomenal achievement for any arts organisation, and an even bigger on for one run so singularly on dedication and community-building. I’m hoping for a big turnout, and we’ve got some great storytellers lined up.

So yeah, it’ll be a busy week, busier than I would actually set up on purpose, but, after a run of working corporate style, I’m looking well forward to enrichment and empowerment, raw silliness, and authentic engagement. All in one week.