Today, I am one week into this Sabbatical with the theme “The Comedic Arts for Gospel Truth, Healing, and Joy.” You are reading my second ever blog post. I posted for the first time a week ago, but I promptly forgot how to do it again. So, I had a one-on-one tutorial this morning to help me get started. I commit to at least once a week, but I hope to post more often. I’ll give you a summary of the past week.
I flew into the Newark airport on a red-eye on Tuesday morning, May 10, finding train transportation to my lodging at International House NYC. After I checked in and freshened up, I made my way to Broadway Comedy Club, where I met some nice people and performed five minutes of standup at an open mic. I have now performed at seven open mics. I felt great about some of these. Others? I just decided I would have to do better next time. I met up with a friend to attend Amature night at the Appolo theater. I also attended one Broadway show (American Buffalo with Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell, and Darren Criss) and four comedy shows. I also found a great chain restaurant called Sweet Green.
I am reading Laugh Your Way to Grace by The Rev. Susan Sparks. Sunday morning, I worshiped at Madison Avenue Baptist Church, where she is the pastor. We met and then visited by phone the next day for half an hour, discussing issues of Comedy and Spirituality. I shared my sabbatical plans with her, and she shared some resources with me.