Last night, I did a comedy bit for the very funny Up Late With Adam Fisher show, which is a brilliant undertaking from the minds of Kyle Benham, Danny Ricker, and Adam Fisher. The show has a bench of writers composing all of the things you’d see in a late night talk show- monologue jokes, desk piece content, promos for next week and more. The host and guests improvise the rest of the content. I’m proud of these fellas, as the show has improved vastly since its inception. 

I did a desk piece- The idea was that I was a legendary jingle composer, and that I had written jingles for every product imaginable. Because the show is improvised, I’d be making them up. I came out with an acoustic guitar and did a short interview with Adam, before launching into a series of short songs- the writers wrote me a first line on a series of index cards, and I was supposed to complete the jingle. A simple premise, to be sure. Just start a made-up song with a line I’ve never seen before, and complete the jingle with my own improvisation.

That’s not what happened. AT ALL. I have thousands of improv shows under my belt. I’m a pretty good guitar player. I perform improvised music often. Somehow, these three skills were mutually exclusive last night, as I was unable to meld even two of them, let alone all three. I literally read the product on the card, sang the first line written for me, and repeated the product name.

At first, I was terrified. I could feel the skill sets disagreeing and the desk piece going in the toilet…

…But the audience loved it. The first jingle was a mistake. No denying it. I blanked and just tried to gracefully end that one, knowing that there were more first lines coming and I could correct the dive-bomb. But the second card came, and I had the same sensation come over me. Couldn’t get my hands and mouth and brain to cooperate. I just sang what was on the card and nothing else.

It didn’t matter. There’s a jazz maxim that says you should play the wrong note twice. Play that note again, and it’ll seem intentional. I played my wrong note over and over and over again last night.

I guess I’m writing this as a reminder of that sensation- I made what I perceived as an error, only to remain focused, present, and committed to the reality of the moment, rather than attempting to reclaim the intended reality. To hear the audience response and to continue on with the sudden new direction of what we had originally set out to do.

Mistakes in improv shows are the best. Mostly because they aren’t mistakes at all. They’re the reason people come and watch live comedy shows- The delight of the unexpected.

I could have made up jingles all night.