ON MEASURING UP

I am not always the world's most secure individual. It's entirely possible that I "sell myself short" on good qualities, preferring to seem humble in the face of praise. When I do brag, it's often good-natured joking around, such as clamoring for a promotional video for my new improv group featuring only my personal highlights - obviously, I'm kidding.

Deep down, I worry about our improv group. I have seen my fair share of improv, and I've often come away impressed with the savvy-ness of both the players and the audience in places like Chicago and New York. Newport audiences are completely different, so I think I've always subconsciously assumed that our group can't compare to what I casually dubbed "big city" improv.

Well, last Friday, five of us headed up to Improv Boston to see a show featuring two teams. And, well, it turns out that the groups weren't necessarily as savvy or as, um, funny as I remember. I hate to trash other groups, so I won't go into too much detail, but they made some basic mistakes that a performing group really shouldn't - not that our group is perfect, but still...I expected a lot more and didn't get it. So it looks like we DO measure up to big city improv - at least in Boston.

I was thinking about job interviews recently, and I think I FINALLY came up with an answer to the question about what my weaknesses are - rather than saying something stupid like "I work too hard" (how is that a weakness for a company? they WANT you to work hard!), I think I'm going to talk about how I measure myself against my role models in the field and always find myself lacking in some area or another. The answer shows that I aspire to be better, but that I am also aware of my own shortcomings (ignored in this answer!) and am very "meta," in that I think about thinking.

Those of you who are also interviewing, feel free to use that answer, unless, of course, we are interviewing for the same job. If that is the case, please say that your weaknesses are massive office supply theft and chronic contagious gastrointestinal disorders.