{"id":1920,"date":"2020-11-06T07:01:27","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T15:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scot.fun\/damentals\/?p=1920"},"modified":"2020-11-06T07:42:12","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T15:42:12","slug":"hack-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scot.fun\/damentals\/hack-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Be a Hack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I love the blue-collar approach to showing up and making. It’s honorable and wonderful because it’s so hard to do. One way to take a step back and look at our stuff plainly is to be a hack<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hack steals what works and leaves the rest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Part of the vitriol people feel for hack comedians, I think, is an envy of someone getting all the good stuff without the work. Hacks steal from other hard working creators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We shouldn’t do that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead we can hack our own stuff, so we get the good stuff from ourselves. We take the best parts of what we create and leave the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It sucks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This technique crushed me when I was a street performer. Marcus Raymond told me to record my show and transcribe every single word I say and every single action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to record when I rocked on my feet, grabbed the wrong prop, and said “uh” 30,000 times. It was excruciating. I think I made it ten minutes in, then stopped. I couldn’t handle typing. I couldn’t handle watching. I couldn’t handle the idea that I had been giving this to audiences for months when I thought I was a hero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next weekend, Marcus said, “so, did you do it?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“no”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you want to make more money out here, that’s the next step.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did the weekend of shows with all my “uh”s and all my gusto. Then, Monday, I went back to the video and the typing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, I went on to serving audiences better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole process is as follows…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. do the show<\/strong><\/li>
  2. record video <\/strong>of the show<\/li>
  3. transcribe<\/strong> the show exactly (don’t improve it, don’t get someone else to transcribe it for you)<\/li>
  4. feel the pain<\/strong> the pain in this part is important. pain breeds change.<\/li>
  5. edit the script<\/strong><\/li>
  6. have a new show<\/strong> with the good stuff. a show that’s less painful to watch<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    This can apply to any entertainment creation – not just live shows<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. make the thing<\/strong><\/li>
    2. transcribe the thing<\/strong> into a boring, dispassionate, version for clear viewing<\/li>
    3. feel the pain<\/strong><\/li>
    4. edit <\/strong>the boring version the way we want it to be<\/li>
    5. remake<\/strong> the thing<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      The Editing Process is Decluttering<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      When I’m decluttering the house, I do the same thing I needed to do with my show. If I’m going to be a hack and steal all my own best stuff, I gotta know what that stuff is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Sort<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      In the decluttering process, I make three piles immediately. A. Definite keep, B. Maybe keep, C. Definite trash (recycle\/sell\/donate)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      With the script, definite trash is any non-functional “uh” or any movement, or accident that doesn’t serve a purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


      “Maybe keep” stuff might be a bit that kind of works, or a long story that seems like it helps the flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Trash run<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Get rid of the trash. That’s easy and rewarding. That is the part I wanted to do when I was typing the whole thing out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Un-Maybe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      All the “maybe”s are on the chopping block until we commit to them. We either commit to keep or trash each one. Nothing stays a “maybe”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Fix<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      We’re not going to live with a broken thingy in our house. Now is the time to fix anything that’s been sitting around broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Hack it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Take all the good parts. Celebrate them. Maybe build on them? Frame everything around them to amplify them more. Nobody to envy but ourselves!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Make More<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      In the decluttering analogy, I might need to buy a new rug to replace the one I threw out. It’s creation time! We probably hafta make some new stuff to replace all the nonsense we threw out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Oh, man! It’s so nice to buy a new thing that goes in a freshly decluttered home. Same here. What a clean, positive place to make a new bit of entertainment among all the pieces that spark joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      I love the blue-collar approach to showing up and making. It’s honorable and wonderful because it’s so hard to do. One way to take a step back and look at our stuff plainly is to be a hack. A hack steals what works and leaves the rest Part of the vitriol people feel for hack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158666434799935_26707174888":"","twitter_aToyMjM4MTQzMDs=_22381430":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc33gc-uY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2820,"url":"https:\/\/www.scot.fun\/damentals\/a-personal-brand-hack\/","url_meta":{"origin":1920,"position":0},"title":"A Personal Brand Hack","author":"scot","date":"August 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It's hard to see what our audience \/ clients see as our value. 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