Chris Gethard on Going For It

Comedian Chris Gethard and his team of writers were asked by Comedy Central to submit a pilot of their beloved cable access talk show, The Chris Gethard Show, for Comedy Central’s prospective lineup. The team is going for it, and Chris wrote a post on the show’s blog, called “Why We’re Doing This (And Why We’re Not),” about what motivates him/most of us to take creative risks.

It’s a heartwarmer:

So here’s some things that are not the reasons we’re doing this…

Well it’s NOT money. Money freaks me out. I’m so indescribably bad at math, and money is a math related thing where when you mess up it can ruin your life. I need money to live but otherwise it kind of intimidates the hell out of me. I wouldn’t mind living more comfortably but it doesn’t motivate my creative decisions.

…

I’m doing this because I want to work as hard on something as my dad worked on everything.

I’m doing this because when I was a kid my mom threw me a birthday party where she filled our backyard with carnival games. She found them in the garbage at a local pre-school and asked if she could take them home. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I’m doing this because years later, when I found out the games were picked from the garbage, it didn’t change the fact that it was one of the happiest days of my life.

I’m doing this because I don’t know what else to do.

I’m doing this because even though I don’t think anyone is thinking too hard about me, there are a subset of kids who grow up in New Jersey and kind of feel like white trash and in their guts think they shouldn’t bother having dreams. I want to break that pattern in case any of them are watching.

I’m doing this because if the world explodes tomorrow I don’t want to be sitting behind a desk.

I’m doing this because I spent a lot of time as a kid feeling bad about myself and I think this show is something that would have helped me back then, and maybe some kids can use it now.

I’m doing this because it really bums me out to see people who focus on making money and hope they find time to do the things they love. I want to do the things I love and hope I find some money.

Photo: by the amazing Flickr username emilydickinsonridesaBMX

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