We recently connected with Max Kerwien and have shared our conversation below.
Max, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
It’s important to consume as much art as you create. I’ve found that when I spend too much time making my own stuff I get caught in my head and become a terrible impression. It’s like I turn into my own wax figure and my art just isn’t quite right or satisfying for me to create.
This applies for writer’s block too. If I’m in a standup comedy rut, it means I need to go out to shows and watch other comics and be inspired by them. Same goes for when I write poetry – if I haven’t read poetry in a while and I try and write it’s just terrible. Then I have to stop writing and go out and read great poetry. There’s also something to be said for just taking breaks from writing. Don’t buy the whole “always be grinding” mentality. Take breaks and refresh yourself.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a standup comic and poet. I have that disease where I need to be funny. Fortunately it’s not contagious. I also have some real diseases which are fun too. Much of my standup actually covers my experience with Crohn’s Disease, which is a cathartic and cheap way to work out some of my issues.
As a poet I’ve been writing since college and found that there are times when I don’t want to be funny. Poetry is another artistic outlet for me to express feelings that aren’t so fun, like grief, my love/hate relationship with food, feeling like you aren’t grown up yet, and other sensitive sad boy topics.
Artistic expression, whether its comedy or poetry, has been so essential for my emotional growth. I was not surrounded by artists growing up, so when I first met real life poets and comedians and began writing it was like a door opened inside my brain and allowed me to feel my feelings. I imagine it’s similar for musicians, sculptors, anyone who dabbles in creativity.
My goal with being an artist is to replicate the experiences I’ve had consuming art. Laughing at my favorite TV shows, crying in the movie theater at a great scene, reading a poem that resonates with a specific feeling I’ve never been able to put into words – I’d like to do that for others. In a way there’s a slice of narcissism there, but I think that’s innate to being an artist and believing that what you create should be received by an audience.
Another, more childish motivation for me is to just have fun. I have had more fun doing standup and writing than studying or working on anything else in my life. It brings me personal joy so I do it. It’s feeding my inner child. So if you ever see me do standup, just know that the 29 year old man telling jokes is just a balding child.
Everyone should do something creative! When people get stuck on “oh I’m bad at it so I don’t do it”, that’s not an obstacle. Being good at something shouldn’t be why we do things, and creative endeavors aren’t sports. There is no score. It’s what you put in and what you get out of it. I had a classmate in a poetry class in college who, when asked about her writing style, she said “I don’t think about it. I just write poems for myself”. I’m so jealous of her. She has no audience to please and gets all her fulfillment out of the act of writing. I aspire to be her. Okay, that’s my soap box rant.
For some shameful self-promotion: I have a book of poetry on Amazon (sorry) call “Poems to Ruin Dinner with” and my website maxkerwien.com has more of my comedy and poetry (again, sorry).
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) Good mentors. I got lucky with my mentors but you do have to search out the people you respect and admire in your work and follow them. I’ve also found, anecdotally, that these people tend to be women, who are more receptive to passing along their knowledge. 2) Embracing failure. You are going to fail. You are going to fail. You are going to fail. Put it on the fridge. Don’t let it stop you. You fail, you learn, you try again. You can give up, too. Give up on something for a while, then think about it again. Spend some time away then return.
3) Don’t have goals, Hot take! I believe we need to reword the idea of “goals”. Instead of goals, I tell myself, “it would be cool if I XYZ”. It would be cool if…. I wrote an episode that aired on TV. It would be cool if…. I ran a marathon. Things like that. Yes, I want to run a marathon, but I’m also recognizing that I may not be able to do that. I’m going to try nonetheless, and if I fail, then I can look back and see what I accomplished. Maybe I didn’t run a marathon but I got into better shape and ran an 8 minute mile. Similar to the saying ‘shoot for the stars and you’ll land on the moon”.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
YES! Where are my disabled artists at? I have been coming to terms with my disability for the past five years and would love to collaborate with other disabled artists about the spectrum of disability. Also, what are good representations of disability in art? The Sound of Metal is a great movie about hearing impairment. My email is [email protected]. I look forward to putting my email here coming back to bite me.
Contact Info:
- Website: maxkerwien.com
- Instagram: @kerwien
Image Credits
Ian Zandi Andrew Max Levy James Rios Greg Feiner
