Sitting Under A Tree with Aidan Jones

I booked a beautiful retreat in the Glass House Mountains an hour or so out of The Sunshine Coast, and turned my phone off. I thought it'd be a nice way to unwind and reconnect with myself, whatever the fuck that means. I was wrong.

I've had a pretty tough week, if I'm honest. It is funny to me that the act of admitting that, and in doing so, implicitly asking the people around you for help, is also a sign that really, you're going to be okay. Someone who is truly having a rough time would never admit that they were because they wouldn't want to make the people around them feel bad or worry about them. So I want you to know t...

I've been thinking a lot about sex, so against all of my instinctive shame and squeamishness, I talked about that this week. About why I have sex, the reasons I've had in the past, and the reasons I'd like to have in the future. Felt very inappropriate really, which is in itself, VERY INTERESTING!!

My girlfriend and I broke up last week, I'm very sad about it. I talk about breaking up with someone on Christmas day, and recount the times in the last few weeks that I've had a cry. Pretty good stuff, I reckon.

I had so much fun on stage last night! Fun!! Remember?! That's what it was supposed to be about!! I read about Clarice Beckett in this book on the artistic history of Melbourne, she died unknown and broke at 48, but she left behind so much work. Some of them she painted on the cardboard from cereal boxes, because she was too poor to afford art supplies. That's the point isn't it - she was doing it...

I had a moment of panic at the start of this episode because I thought I'd forgotten to go to my therapist appointment. Saturday night I did a couple open mics, got an insane letter from a homeless person, and saw a fight. I talked about all of that here, and now I'm going to go to my therapist appointment and tell him not to bother, I'm all fixed up!

Smith Street in Collingwood was named the Coolest Street In The World by a bunch of white people who work for TimeOut. I went through the list, and turns out I'm actually cooler than all of them. Who knew?! Crazy! Also I bought three jackets today.

Last Wednesday in one of the more desperate moments of my adult life, I changed my name on Google to 'Aidan Jones - Professional Google Reviewer'. I posted around 10 reviews of places I've been to recently with pictures of people taking pictures, all in the vain hope that this might entice people to watch my stand up, or engage with my other online content. You win again, Lockdown.

The worst thing about lockdown is that the anxiety of it all compels me to read the news and engage with politics. I hate politics, it's a soap opera, and learning about it never makes me feel happy. I resent that the information I need so that I can predict whether I'm going to be able to go outside next week is in the same place as stories about rich people suing each other. I resent that, becau...

Last week I had a day completely to myself. I didn't catch up with anyone, I didn't get drawn in to any plans, I just woke up in the morning, and allowed myself time to do all the things that I felt I'd been putting off. It was the best thing I've done for myself in a long time, and I'm going to do it every week now.

I'm trying to get better at prioritising the time I need to work on comedy stuff and my business at the same level as the time I spend at my removal job. It's easy to tell people I'm busy when I'm rostered on at a place and I have to be there, but I should be just as serious about the time I need to spend working on my own shit - more serious even! If I don't go to work, I just get fired, but if I...

I recorded this in the hire car as the sun set just outside of Orange, NSW. Had to run to the gig straight afterwards so only putting it up now at midnight, but god damn what a glorious day of driving through the country.

The last few weeks I've been trying to swear less and offering money for any listeners who catch me out, but this week I went and saw the Mortal Kombat movie in 4DX. It was easily the worst movie I have ever seen in my life, and still, against all odds, it taught me something. Swearing can be a shortcut that robs us of the opportunity to find new, creative language to express ourselves, but the pr...

Had a bit of a moment with a bartender on Saturday night. An angry moment. I hate him, which is hard to do on a podcast when you're trying to not swear. I did an okay job at it I reckon, but man did I want to unleash some of this big gun swear words! Also Oporto rocks.

The Comedy Festival is done, and the morning after the closing party my girlfriend and I went out to a farm in the country and saw a bunch of animals - it was a lovely day. Then we had lunch in Newport, and while we were walking back to the car with ice creams, my girlfriend laughed so hard that she coughed up her mouthful of sorbet onto the sidewalk. That's what I'm posing with in the picture thi...

Probably the best episode I've done in a while I reckon, I started talking about the story I did on Comedy Up Late last night, and how that story's meaning to me has changed over the two years I've been telling it. Then towards the end of the pod I read a story out of The Australian Yarn, and after sitting for a moment in the discomfort of not being able to extract any meaning from the story, I fo...

I'm having a fantastic run in the Melbourne Comedy Festival, although both of my (admittedly fantastic) reviews have mentioned the frequency with which I swear on stage. I'd like to swear less, so if any of you guys catch me swearing in this podcast and I don't notice it myself, message me with the time I do, and if you're the first one, I'll send you $5.

I've been seeing a new therapist, and it's been great! We're talking about how I experience a lot of anxiety in moments of conflict, or where I feel like I need to challenge someone on something they've said to me. Melbourne Comedy Fest Shows have been going great, come along this week if you're in town, I'm finding so much in the show that I'm excited to work on.

Sometimes I think about whether I should give up on comedy as a full-time career, and go for something more stable while I still can. Friday night I did stand up at a music open mic in an empty office in Collingwood. One of the other performers was introduced as someone who was a musician for 10 years, before making a career change, and I've been thinking about that guy ever since.

Yesterday me and my indoor team won the grand final of the Div. 2 Monday league and it was honestly one of the happiest moments I can remember. The podcast this week is not really about that at all though, it's about why I've been so god damn itchy.

Turns out 'warrenous' isn't a word. Well you know what? I LIKE IT! That's what the book shop in Kyneton was like - warrenous. The book shop where I bought the book 'The Australian Yarn', from which I read a story out of at the end of the pod this week. Warrenous. What other word would do?!

Very frustrated with comedy at the moment, feeling unfulfilled and scared about the fact that more of my happiness in life seems to be coming from other places. Does that mean I shouldn't do comedy? Too much pressure on one aspect of my life? That's what I'm talking about today.

Got back from Sydney on Friday night, worked all day Sat, did a gig in the country Sat night, went camping, did camping shit on Sunday, then had a roast with housemate and neighbours, then worked Monday and Tuesday. Pretty tired now.

Drove out to West Head an hour or so North of Sydney in a hire car and recorded a pod in the car because there was nowhere else private for me to do it at my hostel. Got lost after recording this while coming back to Sydney after my phone died, what a nightmare. Something in me wants to hate Sydney, evidently, but I don't. Not really.

I'm grateful for the opportunities that I get, and at the same time somehow resentful of the fact that I'm expected to be grateful. There's something interesting in this, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. Also hey there's an ad for the first time! Fun!