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Bondi Media

Persistence is the 🥇 Prize

Bloke called Rob Conery writes some thoughtful stuff. One of his recent posts considered how persistence is a great substitute for talent. For an example, Rob looks at comedian Steve Martin and how his approach to comedy was definitively persistent … aka methodical.

Martin had studied philosophy at uni and liked the idea of deconstructing ideas and putting them back together in weird ways. This approach was different to the traditional formulaic comedic approach where you start a joke then add a little build up for tension, then, deliver a punch line breaking the tension before moving on to the next joke. 🤭

Martin looked at what would happen if you drew the tension out to keep the energy going. And so this became Martin's formula — his jokes never seemed to end (or didn't have a punch line). And in order to process this process he relied on a written journal — as a tool to reflect on and improve his craft.

Martin then dropped the jokes that were not great and focussed on the ones getting the best audience response.

The problem with this is that Martin (apart from his pussy 🐈 joke) and Americans in general (Seinfeld, SNL etc.) aren't really that funny.

And how does this relate to persistence? Is methodical the same as less creative? Journaling helps, regardless, so write then review and reflect later!

Aha 😂 aha 🤪 aha 😜 aha 😝 aha 🤣 ha!