Behind On Blogs

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• June 20, 2022

Over ten years ago, I vowed to myself I’d write a blog a week. Whether I thought the blog was a funny story, a sad one, a life lesson, silly nonsense, a review, or just me venting… That was a promise I made to myself. And sometimes, I think I’ve written some really interesting or cool things I’ve been proud of. Other times, the blog feels more like a filler. Just an open diary entry I did for the sake of writing. And even though I do it for an audience, one I hope to build, it has always been my form of therapy while simultaneously honing my craft.

I’ve said to many stand-ups or other writers that when they get stuck or on whatever they’re working on to just write other things. The key to unlocking your brain is to work different muscles.

I write jokes for radio everyday. Even though I’m a freelance joke writer for ‘Gutfeld,’ the days I write for them, I write somewhere around 30+ jokes, usually getting somewhere between 7-12 jokes on the show. And sometimes I get to write sketches too. If you talk to any late night writer, they’ll tell you that’s a pretty good average.

‘Joke brain’ is not a term I made up, though I’m unsure its origin. I refer to ‘joke brain’ as when your brain is constantly searching for the punchlines, those sniper jokes that are super clever. I want to beat everyone to the punch. Make you laugh. Make you think. Make you go, “damn, I wish I thought of that.”

I like working multiple days at ‘Gutfeld!’ because then my ‘joke brain’ gets really sharp. And finding those gems of punchlines gets easier and easier. While I love how it feels when writing jokes comes easy to me (keep in mind, I’ve been a stand up over ten years), it does mean your brain is in hyperdrive all the time. This often leads to restlessness. Sometimes late nights texting friends weird ideas who eventually say, “go to sleep, Lori.” But how can I go to sleep when so many stories are beckoning me, knocking at the walls of my brain, trying to escape from thought to paper, where they could be shared and in some way, exist.

People don’t ask to exist, not initially. No baby is like, “damn, finally, I’m born!” No, a baby is more like, “what the hell is going on and what the hell am I?”

While stories have some sort of desire to be heard. That’s the duty of the storyteller to give birth to it, so to speak.

I need to write a couple more blogs in order to catch up to my promise to myself. This, however, doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing. All day for work, I read news stories, edit them, write jokes, fake emails. Then, there’s the days I’m called in for my TV writing gig. Not to mention my screenplays. Or stand up. Or my podcast, Scary Monsters with Nick Griffin.

Furthermore, it’s summer, so I take time away from myself to go to the beach. Because the beach is my happy place. As best I can, I try to see my family, friends, and make up games/adventures for my nephews and niece. It makes me feel like Wendy Darling. Maternal, yet resistant to fully growing up.

The dream is still to sell a screenplay and/or be a full time TV writer. It took a long time to get to this place where it feels possible. The balancing act is the hard part. But I’ve also learned the hard way that life is kind of like a video game in the sense that when you get to the next level, the one you’ve been dreaming of, it’s harder than the last. It doesn’t get easier. At least in show business. I see how much someone like my friend Kat Timpf works. And I know that working full time in TV means less beach days (haha). But I’ll be ready for it. Ready for all the highs and hardships it comes along with.

After all, Wendy dreamed of Never Land her whole life. Only to find it much more challenging, yet also fulfilling, than she ever dreamed.