Committing to the bit
This is about photography, I swear.
When I was in my mid twenties I was about halfway through a significant transformation as a person. Growing up in a small bubble, entering college was my first real exposure to (the start) a variety of other people and their experiences. At least in my experience, this is usually a time when people decide to embrace this variety, choose to go out to see more, or they quietly reject it, preferring to stay “closer to home”. (The same folks who see guacamole as exotic.)
Being curious was just in my DNA, not really fanned much in my younger life but once I was on my own it was something I couldn’t ignore.
I’m obviously going to skip over a lot since the details of this part of my life were for my chain smoking therapist (may he rest in peace) and fast forward to 2008. I was 25, living alone in Greenpoint Brooklyn surrounded by Polish bakeries, newly opened dive bars with Edison bulbs and was a bit more unsure of myself than I wanted to be. Despite what you may think, I’m actually quite introverted, and when I was younger, even more so.
How I decided to start doing stand up comedy was beyond me. I do remember telling myself that if I could do just a few stand up sets, even for a tiny audience, I could basically survive any social situation.
Wait - I was twenty five…. SIXTEEN YEARS AGO
(sound of whisky bottle opening)
Trying not to completely crash and burn, I found the People’s Improv Theater, signing up for a stand up class. Unlike the other folks there, I didn't have dreams of going into stand up comedy. I just wanted to test myself. Survive some extreme social pressure, and maybe make a diamond out of coal. Somewhere in that class (before I started doing open mics) I learned two phrases.
Follow your fear & Commit to the bit
Actually, I had forgotten about the “Follow your fear” line until I was forced to remember this time of my life, and now I think I can probably write a whole other article about that mantra (and how I still apply it) in the future. Going to pocket that one for later!
But “Committing to the bit” was equally important and yes, it has to do with photography, I am getting there. At least with comedy, you need to stay focused on the joke you’re trying to get across. If you’re going to make jokes about how crappy your tiny car is, you need to hammer away at it. You can’t just give one zinger and move on. Focus on it, be detailed, don’t let your mind wander off to another joke until you’ve fully finished the bit.
“My 1992 Civic is too small. It doesn’t even have seat belts, it came with suspenders”
- Rich Dachtera 2008
Now you know why I don’t do comedy anymore. I wasn’t funny.
Whenever you do any art, you need to commit to it wholeheartedly. The most successful art is about communication (at least to me). I see it as taking something in your heart that is almost too abstract (but personal) to explain, and using art as a conduit to put it into someone else’s heart. And if you're even partially successful, they at least feel something rather than nothing.
Once I decided….erg…. realized, my photography body of work was actually about my grief, I had to throw the blinders up and stay committed to it. After all, that was the “bit” for this project.
Just like in stand-up, the strength of a photo project often comes from staying with it. Shooting around the same block, the same loss, the same obsession—not looking for the quick punchline, but letting the resonance build.
You need to trust your vision, even if no one else gets it right away. You don’t pivot to a trend or a style that’s getting more likes. You stay with your strange, specific way of seeing until it becomes undeniably yours.
This attempt at a blog is another bit. I’m going to push through the uncomfortable parts of starting this thing to eventually make something that is really me. I have a lot of other interests and rabbit holes I could go down, but committing means letting go of some of those temporarily. Knowing confidently that this will at least be something worthwhile after I keep putting energy into it.
Whether it's telling jokes to strangers or showing strangers art I made while grieving, committing to the bit means staying with something long enough for it to become real.
In other words “Committing to the bit” is just another way of saying “Stay Confident and Focused”. Two things I struggle with every, single, day.
You don’t struggle with this?
Well screw you “I’m emotionally secure and resilient!” person!
Love this! How cool that you tried stand up. That’s so brave of you, and also such a great lesson. I’m going to add “commit to the bit” to my artistic mantra, along with Jesse’s “play the cards you’re dealt”.