Writing and Bombing and Battery Sex Chips

writing tips I learned from seasoned comedians

I’m currently writing a parenting memoir about all of the interesting, difficult, and uncomfortable conversations or scenarios we’ve faced together as a family. It includes topics like death, faith, racism, and mental health, among others. For a little while, I’m using this newsletter to help me focus on finishing the first draft. You can read other posts about writing my book HERE, or subscribe to stay updated:

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Hi, it’s me.

This weekend Bryan and I watched a YouTube podcast with comedians Mike Birbiglia and Pete Holmes called Working It Out,¹ and I was inspired by their conversation on writing, bombing, and the practice of honing their craft.

(Someone in the comment section said, “Really loving this conversation between two golden retrievers.” 😂)

One of their side tangents that struck me was a brief mention of young comics today who don’t do enough “reps” or repetitions of their jokes in order to hone their material. They don’t perform enough, because in today’s instant feedback loop, they can record a joke, send it out on TikTok, and get millions of views.

Battery Sex Chips.² But sometimes, Pete says, you need to perform a joke more times, to the point where you get bored with the joke and try to find ways to entertain yourself with it by inserting a new line or a new angle into it, and then you find a way to really punch it up. Watch the video in the second footnote below for how he got to the battery sex chips punchline.

Bombing. Pete also mentions how he practices jokes over and over again to see what lands and what doesn’t, and if he performs a dud he’ll say to the audience, You guys just cut that joke from my next comedy special. Thank you!

I’m inspired by both of these examples and how they can be translated to my Substack, where I’m practicing my memoir material on you. Originally I didn’t want to share any of the stories from my memoir with you, because I wanted to save them for the book. Instead, I thought I would fill this space with book-adjacent content so you would at least get a feel for my writing voice and capabilities.

Thankfully, I changed direction and plan to share more with you. I had a hunch, and this conversation confirms it, that sharing draft material from my book here will only make me a better writer and help me deliver a better book.

The notebooks where my writing gets worked out privately. I keep a small one with me at all times to capture ideas as they come to me.

I appreciate that you’re here and that you comment so generously when I ask for your feedback. This weekend I worked on a chapter about my faith, growing up in the church, and raising our kids in the church. This is a tough chapter that I’ve attempted to write many times, and it just feels too big. Like, it could be its own book big. My book isn’t a Christian-focused story about raising kids to be Christians (far from it LOL), but I have to figure out how to show you what parenting was like looking through a faith lens, so to speak.

For this reason, I decided to come back to the faith chapter much later, after I’ve written more material on other topics so I can better see how my faith story sets up everything that comes after it. Despite some initial frustration at something not working, I feel better about being patient and letting the story surface in its own time.

Anyway, that’s my update from writing this week. Thanks for holding me accountable.

Until next time,

Jen

p.s. Bryan and I also watched Mike Birbiglia’s movie, Sleepwalk With Me. I highly recommend it on its own merit, but also as a view into a comedian’s early years of relentless practicing and bombing as a way to perfect his craft. For some reason, I need a constant reminder that good writers don’t just appear out of thin air. They practice, work hard, and fail a lot before becoming something I pay money for.

1. Here’s a link to that specific point in the conversation, at the 12 minute mark:

2. Battery sex chips explained (at the 12:48 mark):