"I have been playing characters all my life. The wacky murdering neighbor. Crazy people doing crazy improv things. Angry black woman upset about her vagina. Dancing upper-class woman in tight French corset. Cheerleading tap
dancing 8th grader. Lost and troubled misfit tomboy who cries on cue. A singing Shakespearean boy in overalls.

"But until stand-up, I had never played myself.

"I hear a lot of people say, 'Egad! I would never do stand-up in a million years,' because it terrifies people to actually be themselves. With stand-up you can't hide behind, 'well that's just what this character would have said, that's not my opinion.' Oh really - well then what IS your opinion? *sound of terrified person running away and door slamming* That was totally me, until I forced myself to finally start doing stand-up. Best decision I ever made. On stage it's just you, the microphone, and your opinions. You have the floor. It's very much like when you dream about walking into school naked on the first day of class. Completely exposed. Except you're not naked. Or dreaming. Maybe I should try doing standup naked? I will think about it.

"The point is, standup is a place where I can finally use my own voice instead of Andrew Lloyd Webber's. Thank God, that man has said enough. I actually feel more comfortable on stage than anywhere else. Up there I don't have to pretend to like anyone because they might cast me in something, or pretend I'm not nervous at a dance call because my triple pirouette is not exactly my forte. Everything I learned from improv, or doing musicals, I can bring on stage with me. The cadence of a well crafted joke is not unlike Shakespearean verse; a story on stage can have the same ebb and flow of a Jason Robert Brown song. But I get to talk about it all with my voice. Every time I do a set I feel like I take charge of my life a little bit more. Want to hear my opinions? Tough shit if you don't, I have the mic. Whew! I feel good just typing that.

"Since starting this ridiculously addicting new addition to my performance schedule, my writing habits have changed tremendously. Thankfully now I write ALL the time. Everywhere. I'm the annoying girl writing down an idea for a joke while you're talking with me on the train. Sorry about that. I wake up every morning and get excited that someone is going to hear what I have to say, MY opinion on something, and they're going to laugh about it. Oh. They'll laugh. Don't you doubt me on that, America. And I get to choose the material I talk about, everyday. If I want to talk to people about the UAE ports deal or encourage Mark Foley to run for Santa in 2006, because those things are important to me, stand-up is a place that says, 'Do it. Do it tonight. Just be funny about it.'

"Stand-up forces me to think and to have an opinion on things when it would be easier to just to throw the paper away and pretend North Korea is just like Disneyland. Don't get me wrong, I still absolutely love the joy of playing
other people. I just didn't know how interesting and challenging it would be to play myself."

At 2 p.m., Lauren had to run to Staples to check her email and print something out for her gig later that night at Zanies. By 2:30 p.m., Lauren was finally sitting down with her material, at one of the only remaining tables in Borders' bustling café area. She grabbed this half hour of downtime before her third and final stint at 4 p.m. – more candies, and some water bottles, too, for the afternoon downtown crowd leaving their offices for the day.

At 5 p.m. it was time to head to Old Town and grab dinner before the Zanies showcase. Comedian Renee Gauthier met Lauren out at Las Pinatas for some tasty tacos, and then it was up and out to the club next door for the Rising Stars showcase.

She finished the night at the Mix open mic, in a decidedly more natural state with a somewhat-blue set, during which you could finally see her visibly relax. The first day of the week was over.

Photos, from the top:

Film still from the Art of Pain, to be released in 2007.
Lauren and Nate in the rain.
Working out material at Borders.
Closing the night up at the Mix, approximately 11 p.m.

Lauren Bishop will be making her Lincoln Lodge debut tonight, at 8:30 p.m.