There Was a Time When I Wanted to Be a Professional Laugher
Thanks to a story in the news about a guy in Ohio who, since 2006, has been a professional corpse on TV and in movies, it got me thinking back to when I wanted to be a professional laugher. I was all ready to move to Los Angeles and give it a try.
First the story about the corpse guy. I recently ran across a story in The Columbus Dispatch about a guy named Chuck Lamb who's getting ready to retire. The interesting part about the story was, since 2006, his job has been that of "Dead Body Guy."
His first role was in 2006 on the TV show "What I Like About You." Since then, he's racked up 11 on-screen deaths and now hopes to go out on a high-note. He says he'd like his last role to be on "The Walking Dead" before retiring to his Florida home.
After reading his story it brought back memories of when I was ready to sell everything, load up my car and head to Los Angeles to become - a professional laugher. And I was serious. For years I'd been told that I have a great laugh - so why not try to make it big.
Think about all the TV shows that tape before "a live studio audience." Especially, all the comedies - someone's got to get the ball (or in this case laugh) going. And I was convinced I was just the guy to do it. Still to this day I often wonder what could've been.
Before you "laugh it off," I should point out there really are professional laughers. In fact, the magazine L-A Weekly a few years back did a story about a guy who was trying to break into the business. I've included a link below if you would like to read his story.
So back to me. Is there still time to follow my dream? Sure, I suppose so. The picking up and moving to Los Angeles is the easy part. The hard part is convincing my wife to buy into what I'm selling and tag along. That may be a bit more difficult.
You know, now that I give it some thought, selling the wife on my idea sounds like it may be more trouble than it's worth. I think instead I'll just sit in my recliner at home, watch "The Big Bang Theory" and think about what could've been. I could've been big!
Source: The Columbus Dispatch, L-A Weekly
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