Ben Bo's Comedy Journey - Tallinn, Estonia (Part 2)

Jun 16
6 min read

After a disappointing show in Riga, I did what I always do; a lot of self-reflection. What went wrong and how could we change it? One of the changes I decided to make was to begin opening the shows. Being the strongest comic it made sense for me to close, but it wasn’t the best thing for the show. Boss hated opening (and hosting) and it didn’t make sense with his comedy style.

Burt didn’t mind opening but he is very laid back and when he was in his own head or high (which is most sets) he struggled in the position. I figured I could host and do time in between sets or open and then we could go shotgun style, one comic introducing the next before we all go on stage together at the end of the show.

As a comic, it hurt me because I feel like when you go first no one respects you and you have to put up with all the late comers, people grabbing drinks and thinking you’re the least funny of the three comics. But that was the ego talking. Once I was able to remove myself from that I realized I could set the tone of the show and ensure the audience had a good time. Going first also allowed me to set the bar for the rest of the comics, so it became a new challenge.

Back in Tallinn we had a few days in-between shows so we did mics to stay sharp, but twenty four hours in a day is a long time. It’s even longer when 6 a.m. becomes your new bedtime. In these hours between mics and sleep is when I really got to meet my travel squad. Although I had met Burt three years ago and spent a few weeks with him and we got along, I did not really know him all that well. I had just met Boss when the trip started and we vibed and got along great but I did not know him at all either. This time in Tallinn really allowed me to get to know my travel companions.

Although they have some similarities, they are very different in a lot of ways. Burt dresses like a Cyberpunk 77 character, always wearing bright colors and baggy clothes that stand out no matter the space. Boss is always in a suit and tie. No matter the day, time, weather, or occasion, Boss is in a suit and usually a tie. They both like to laugh and are always up to keep a riff going although they do it in opposite ways. Burt being logical and explaining in his way while Boss is wildly into the absurd at all times. They have two things in common: the relentless pursuit of comedy and women.

I have always considered myself adequate with the fairer sex, at times even good, but it goes in waves depending on my mood and how I’m feeling about life at that moment. I could not say the same for my traveling companions. In the soccer video game FIFA all of the players have ratings for offensive and defensive skills. When the AI is controlling those players they perform according to the level of skill they are rated in different categories. One of the most important is called offensive work rate. When your team has the ball, players with a higher offensive work rate will move more and are more prone to be open to shoot the ball. When it comes to shooting your shoot with women I don’t think I’ve ever met two people with a higher offensive work rate.

Burt has a 99 offensive work rate when it comes to shooting your shot with women online. He is consistently on his phone, on multiple apps (Hinge, Feeld, Tinder) reaching out to women. Every city we go to he already has date plans with multiple women by the time we arrive. Boss has no phone and no apps, but if a woman even blinks in his general direction, that's his cue to approach.

I’ve met a lot of guys who fancied themselves shooters. Most are able to meet a girl for a date and end up sleeping with her. Less so, but still plenty of guys are able to meet a girl out at a bar, get her number, take her on a date another day and seal the deal. Fewer, but still plenty of men have the ability to meet a girl in one night and take her back to their place that same night. Fewer men still are able to meet a girl at a bar and convince her for a tryst in the bathroom at the bar that same night. But I have never met a guy who was able to meet a girl in the middle of the afternoon, while he was sober, spend zero dollars on her and get her to have a tryst in an alley before the sun went down. That is Boss. I have never seen a higher offensive work rate for shooting his shot in person especially with his efficiency numbers in the quantity and quality of the shot. It's akin to Shaq in the 2000 NBA finals or the first three seasons of Game of Thrones. It is undeniable.

This reckless shooting of shots was foreign to me. Conceptually I had said it, understood the idea, but in practice I had never witnessed it to this extent. It never even occurred to me that one could shoot their shot so recklessly at all times and even hit a majority of the time. It made me question why it had never occurred to me and why I did not think it was possible for me to do so. Everything I had believed about my frame and confidence was put into question. I realized I was not as confident or reckless as I believed I was. I could not let go and be as free as I thought I was. In America this level of letting go and shooting your shot is rarely seen, but around these two Europeans from Africa, I witnessed something I had not seen for many years: two people who really did not give a fuck. Not just in words but in action and the way they chose to live their lives. Turns out there are levels to this shit and I was not on the level I thought I was.

The shows we did in Tallinn that week were some of the best we had done on the tour so far. They were packed out, we had the whole room full of white people chanting, “Black Power, Black Power” and even yelling, “Nigga”. There's something unique about comedy in the Baltics because the people here are very stone faced and serious (unless they get drunk). Most Estonians don’t believe I am here for comedy because they didn’t think it was possible for Estonians to laugh out loud.

With me hosting the shows they took on a different energy to begin with. I take pride in being able to go up in front of a cold Estonian audience and get them to laugh and open up for the rest of the show. It's not the glamorous spot that closes the show, but I still found I was memorable to a lot of audience members as they would come up to me after the show and remind me of a joke I told that they loved. It showed me where you go on the lineup doesn’t matter. You can still be memorable and great from the bullet. That gave me confidence to believe I had made the right decision.

We spent the next week in Tallinn doing our shows, hitting the bar spots after and staying out until 6 a.m. Drinks, weed, and women fueled our nights. Comedy in Estonia is still fresh, so people are intrigued enough to want to hang out with you after the show and show you their country. Ironically enough, just like in the states, they always thought they were gonna be a part of your next set. I guess no matter where you are in the world some things do not change.

We took full advantage of this time in Tallinn, meeting contacts and even scheduling more shows after our quick trip to Finland. I don’t know when it happened but I began to feel like an Estonian at some point, and the rhythm of life in this city began to take a familiar pace that I enjoyed. Finland is only a two-hour ferry ride away so I decided we should go there. The rest of the squad was a little apprehensive having been before but I was adamant so they decided to come. They might have been right about Finland but some things you just have to learn on your own. And that's exactly what I did.

- Ben Bo