Stuff that has made me into me, Part 1 - Ghostbusters

I am a child of the 80's and 90's. I grew up with Teenage Mutate Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, The A Team, Hulk, Mighty Morphing Power Rangers and many more. These shows hold a place in my memories, my heart and my outlook on life. But there is one that has stood the test of time, One franchise that I continue to love even to this day, One that always brings a smile to my face, a sense of nostalgia to my mind and a memory of simpler times. In case you did not get it from the title, I am talking about the film/cartoon show of The Ghostbusters. 

Ghostbusters came out on the year that I was born, 1984, so I was not caught up in the hype and excitement of the first film. I grew up with the cartoon, The Real Ghostbusters, and was old enough for the 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters 2. I LOVED the cartoon series. Each of the characters was so different that my little child brain was able to tell their characteristics apart. Peter was funny, Ray was childlike and innocent, Egon was the science guy and Winston was black. 

The ending of the last paragraph may put people off but you have to understand something. I grew up in N Ireland during the late 80's/early 90's. I never knew of black people till I was 8 and I never met a black person till I was 15! The only black person I knew was Winston Zeddemore from The Real Ghostbusters and my friends and I gave him the name "The Chocolate Guy". It was not my fault, it is just the place and time that I grew up in.

Anyway, back to topic. The cartoon was exciting, memorable and full some amazing ghosts and demons that I can remember. The boogie man scared the crap out of me:

As did several others but that was the joy of the show. The guys would find the ghost and "bust" it. There was drama and cliff-hangers but the guys always won through and I loved the show. I cannot praise it enough. 

Like I said at the beginning, I was around for Ghostbusters 2. I didn't even know there was a Ghostbusters 1 let alone a Ghostbusters 2. My parents rented a copy of Ghostbusters on VHS for me and I began to watch. The first 5 minutes kept me hooked. The opening with the librarian was so scary and cool. The Library Ghost made me laugh and jump at the same time.

After that, my young mind did wander off. There was a lot of talking that I was too young to appreciate or understand. After the guys suited up for their first "Bust" I was so excited and it paid off. The first time Ecto-1 pulls out from the fire-house and we see the guys in their suits and Proton Packs, I cheered so hard. I mean look:

How could these scenes not make you happy? I will tell you how. I have never told anyone this so I trust you to keep this a secret. When the guys captured Slimer in the movie, I cried. In the cartoon Slimer was a good guy and in the movie he is not. I did not understand this and I thought they killed him, thus leading to the crying. Not my proudest moment but one that I will keep with me.

All in all, the movie was good to my young eyes. Peter was still funny, Ray was still childlike, Egon was still science-y and Winston was still... black. Part 2 came out and when I saw it, WOW!

Everything was new and exciting. The ghosts where bigger, there was more happening on screen, everything was more and less at the same time. At the time there was more going on, and my child head loved it, but this led to less being said by the characters, leading to less jokes. I didn't care, this was new and exciting. The courtroom attack was brilliant to see the guys in action again, the river of slime was sick and Winston had a slightly bigger role this time round (but was still black so there was a sense of normality in that). All in all, I still like it. Having seen the first movie, I was not totally blind going into this. I knew what to expect and I still like it. Not the best sequel in the world, but one of my favourites.  After all, seeing Slimer driving a bus make me laugh out loud (Even though he has no legs and thus could not work the foot peddles). 

In conclusion, I have seen these movies a lot of times and, thanks to maturity and age, I have come to respect them as amazing comedy movies and not just childhood memories. The characters are rich and different, the dialogue is witty and truly funny, the actors are on top of their game and I still love them. After all, I now own a Proton Pack, Ghost Trap, PKE Meter and Overalls. So, who you gonna call? Me; that's who!

Could I talk about what I find interesting and make it funny? Discuss

I have discovered, in the past couple of months, that I have focused on my comedy and I keep coming up with ideas that are, to put it bluntly, crappy. That is because I think it’s funny but I have no interest in it. They are just throw away lines.

The one thing that I have been taught about doing comedy is that you need to be interested in what you are talking about and have passion about it. If you don't care about what you are saying, why would the audience? But I do have interests that not everyone follows. People’s tastes on books, TV and film differs with each person, so I have to find a way of getting them interested in what I am saying. A common thread or emotion that the audience can relate to.

So, I have chosen to look at what I find interesting and to develop it into my comedy in some where shape or form. This is where the blog comes in...

For the next couple of weeks, I will be uploading topics that interest me, I will comment on the pros and cons of this topic and why I love/hate this topic. It allows me to get some focus on what I want to talk about, you get to see and comment on what I talk about and you get to add your two cents about my comedy. All comments are welcome (but I should state that all negative comments will make me cry).

To give you a taste on what I will be talking about, my next blog will be about one of my all-time favourite movies. I won't give the movie's title away but, to give you a clue, I will end this blog with a question...

If there is something strange in your neighbourhood, WHO YOU GONNA CALL?

How I stopped worrying and started worrying about worrying...!

I have woken up, had some breakfast and I have stated my day worrying about how I am going to survive the world, what I'm going to do with my time and what this will do to me and my body. This is something that has affected me for a long time and trying to chance my P.O.V is proving difficult and thus leads me to worry again.

I worry about silly things that I have no ability to chance or time to alter. I think of all the things that I could do to improve myself but do not have the time to do so. I want to do these things to make myself fell better but money, time and, most importantly for me, the fun factor does not always agree with me and it makes me a little sad. Maybe that is why I do stand up comedy. In my comedy, I can talk about things that interest me, things that I remember about my childhood and things that I have seen in the world. It gives me a chance to ask the audience:

"Here is how I see the world. Do you agree or disagree with my opinion? If you agree, please laugh in my general direction."

Maybe that is just me but its the little things that keep me going. After all, I have so much other crap to worry about.

First Blog, What will I talk about?

Hi there. Today makes a big day for me. Today makes my first blog.

From what I know about blogs (after all, I waste me days reading them) you have to selfish, self-opinionated, needy and wanting acceptance from the world. And, trust me, this blog page will be no different. I have opinions on the world and here is where I will share them. But first, an introduction...

If you have heard of me, you have either seen me on BBC NI's "find me the funny", you have seen me do my comedy in Ireland or Edinburgh or you have met me on the streets and have choose to Google my name to see what you could find. Fair play to you for doing so. So, let's get to know each other.

I am Irish (and proud of it), 26 (A good year in my opinion) and a budding actor. After training, many auditions and other situations, I have chosen to keep a blog all that will happen in my life, ranging from the very small to the day that I get to pilot the TARDIS (and it will happen). I also vent my ideas onto the world in the form of stand up comedy. if you enjoy jokes about Doctor Who, 80's TV shows, the Internet and other nostalgic material, bookmark my site and enjoy my take on the world.

Anyhoo, I think this is enough for a first blog. If you like what you have read, please continue to read my future comments and maybe, one day, we will cross paths and see what happens.

Now from what I remember from American History X (other that the violence, the kerb biting scene and the fact that is an amazing movie) is that you have end an essay, or in this case a blog, with a quote. So, here goes...

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. i will hoping that this letter finds you and finds you well."

Thanks again and I hope to see you in the future.

Your Friend In Time

Des

P.S. Extra brownie points if you know where the quote is from.