My best weeks are ones packed with great hangs — usually a mix of shows with my favorite comic pals, events with friends, family, and sprinkles of adventure.

This past week was exactly all that, thankfully wrapping out the weekend celebrating the first Father’s Day without dad with all my family and a few friends in Wisconsin.

There’s nothing better than celebrating dad doing the exact things he would have wanted to be doing with all of us. Namely, eating fried cheese.

We are nothing if not Wisconsin.

It’s funny how when you’re playing a comedy club, and comics you haven’t seen in awhile come up to you in the green room asking “How ya been? What have you been up to??”

What they’re generally really asking is “Where are you performing? What are you working on? What’s the status of your existence in the comedy world as it stands?”

I always try to skirt the answer by saying, “Ahh ya know, just life’n.”

I mean, as much as accomplishments are cool and all, I think life in general is much more of an interesting ride than projects and blips of notoriety.

I’d much rather be living a fun life with cool people in it. All the careers stuff is just a bonus.

“Hey Tash, anything fun you’re working on lately?”

“Just… things… and other stuff. Now let’s have a fun show.”

The Hustle

I’d like to think I life pretty hard.

I’m always getting into micro-adventures anywhere I can, making time for people during busy schedules, saying yes to the random Tuesday hang even when I'm running on four hours of sleep and 17 black coffees.

Back when I started sketch comedy at Second City, I had a cutout of the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World in my apartment.

Tacky, yes. I was 21. I also had swords and a giant stuffed penguin in my place. And nary a matching glass.

I always thought living a fun life was actually what would make comedy fun... Be one of those guys who’s wrestled alligators, dated triplets, wears velvet and smokes cigars at lunch on a Monday after taking a private jet to Cuba.

Give me a life full of plot, not a resume full of accolades. Give me "remember that time the car broke down and we just abandoned it on the side of the road to hitchhike to a wedding in Minneapolis" (true story) energy over "did you see my latest credit??”

I want to be the person who has stories about living amongst the wild of real people — not someone who name drops every celebrity or comedian they’ve ever worked with.

Career stuff is great. I love my career. But it's the seasoning, not the meal.

The meal is the actual living. The hangs. The dumb inside jokes. The mountain of tales I have from my 20s that keep me getting invited to perform on The Blackout Diaries, each set a new wildly unimaginable story.

The Most Interesting Man in the World never had a five-year plan. He just had really good stories and a willingness to ride a sturgeon.

I've been taking notes.

The Chill

I know I'm doing something right when life starts to feel fun again instead of like a never-ending to-do list.

Hence why I actively removed yet another bunch of shit off my plate this week. If it doesn’t move the needle, byeeee.

There's a specific kind of lightness that shows up when the calendar stops feeling like a backpack full of bricks. When you're not just surviving the gaps between obligations, but actually living in them.

I always have THE BEST shows when I’m fueled by a lot of lifin’.

I know a future version of me is imminent — the one buried in tour dates, hopping cities, living out of a busted roller suitcase courtesy of American Airlines’ mishandlings for weeks at a stretch.

So when she shows up, current me has done the work to make sure she always leaves room for the unexpected hang, the spontaneous drive, the random adventure that wasn't on anybody's itinerary.

The grind will always be there, ready to expand into every available hour if you let it. Like giving a goldfish too big of a tank.

Nobody on their deathbed brags about how much money they made or how good they were at their job.

Trust me. After spending time with dad in his final days, it’s all about your people and the memories. Nothing else.

This isn't about avoidance or lack of ambition. I’ve always wanted the big career. I love a packed tour calendar (with time to enjoy the cities I’m in, of course). 

But I want it built on a foundation that still has room for fried cheese and friends, for road trips and last-minute Mother’s Day surprises, and jet-skiing with Dolphins pre-show in Florida.

A full life isn't the same as a full schedule. One of those actually feels good.

So if you ask me what's next, the truthful answer involves a healthy amount of intentional blank space.

Which, I've learned, is where all the good stories actually start.

Upcoming Shows

Laugh Factory Chicago TONIGHT at 7:30pm

Iowa City with Jim Norton Thursday June 25th

The Den Theater Chicago with Jim Norton Friday - Saturday June 26th-27th

Love you all and cheers to the hustle + chill. We say yes to that midday cigar…

xx NPH