A David Prince
My roommate David is the kind of guy who becomes Tumblr famous. Not because he tries to do anything awesome, fancy, flashy or even relevant. He’s just cool, and he makes cool art without trying. He has a sense of humor that he inherited from his mom — it’s super dry, slow moving, and full of puns. These are the kinds of jokes that I love the most.
David is a high school art teacher. He is tall and thin, with a coarse red beard that doesn’t match his blonde hair. He’s usually wearing black-framed glasses and a poker face. David is in charge of the ceramics and 3D printing studios at his school in Pasadena. We had not seen each other all week because the end of the semester was coming up, and he’d been getting up extra early for work. I was staying up later and sleeping in later than usual. But on this particular morning, our schedules collided; we talked while sipping coffee that David made. It was weak. I like mine strong. I wondered why he always made weak coffee. Why not just skip the coffee all together? I keep trying to quit coffee anyway, but I guess I still like it too much.
David and I lounged in the kitchen, chatting about nothing. When we hang out in the kitchen like this, we’re mostly just improvising. Sometimes improvising feels like flirting but with the goal of making the other person look good, and they are trying to make you look better, and in these moments of helping each other and vibing off energies, humor naturally springs forth. I’ve taken two classes of improv at ImprovOlympic in Chicago, and the main phrase I remember is the classic: “Yes, and?” You never say no to your improve partner. You always take what’s there and continue to build on it, because you two are in it together.
Read the full story at CraveOnline: http://www.craveonline.com/site/articles/882515-tumblr-tales-dry-wit-butter-stick
