Hobbies, Heinous & Hold (My Beer)

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Steam Room Etiquette

The first time I did improv in front of a live audience, I blacked out. Not literally, but like… mentally. One second I was standing backstage, running through a few loose ideas in my head. The next, I was mid-scene, screaming something about a naked unicorn in front of a packed house of parents, students & professors on my college’s Parent’s Weekend.

“Hey mom and dad, welcome to parents weekend. Can you hold my beer while I go talk about unclothed mythical creatures on stage in front of hundreds of people? Thanks!”

To my extreme fortune, this show followed a football tailgate, which meant the audience was moderately lit, loose and easily entertained—the dream conditions for a first-time improv performer. Candidly, I had a little liquid confidence myself (we call that method acting), and somehow / someway, it went ok. People laughed. I committed. And from that moment on, I was obsessed with improv.

Then, I moved to NYC. Spent the next seven years grinding, working, making excuses, and not doing improv. Until now.

Because, finally, my friend Vincent and I started our own group. And now, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Steam Room Etiquette, NYC’s newest improv comedy group. Every Thursday night, we rent a rehearsal space in Midtown, and we are gearing up for our first live show in late March. More details coming soon. SNL, watch your back. And @Lorne Michaels… you up?

@nbaontnt

“Keep your damn towel on!” 😂 #nba #charlesbarkley

We need help making a logo so hit me up if you want to help.

But all of this has me thinking about hobbies as an adult—and why they’re so hard to start, keep, and prioritize.

When you’re a kid, you just do hobbies. No questions asked. You pick up a sport, take piano lessons, join a club, and then at some point, adults step in and decide if you’re good enough to continue doing it.

If you’re not a prodigy, the world gently (or aggressively) suggests that you… stop.

By the time you hit adulthood, hobbies get classified into three categories:

1. Things you can monetize. (Photography, writing a newsletter [it’s not as easy as it looks], or selling your pottery.)

2. Things that make you healthier. (Running, Pilates, waking up at 5 AM and ripping a cold plunge)

3. Things that society deems acceptable for adults to enjoy. (Golf, wine tasting, pretending to like jazz.)

Everything else? Hard to justify. Which is a shame, because hobbies aren’t necessarily meant to have a tangible ROI… They can just be… fun. Fun works.

Get a Hobby or Die Faster

I looked into it, and the numbers are undeniable.

• A study from University College London found that adults who engage in hobbies have lower depression levels and better overall mental health.

• Research from the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine found that people with hobbies have lower heart rates, reduced cortisol (stress hormone) levels, and even better immune function.

• A study in The American Journal of Epidemiology linked strong social hobbies to a longer lifespan. Meaning: join a hobby group, and you might literally live longer.

The stats don’t lie. Doing things for fun keeps you alive.

And yet, most adults don’t have real hobbies. Why?

Because we’ve been brainwashed into thinking that if a hobby isn’t profitable or productive, it’s a waste of time.

Look, I’m not saying every adult needs to go start an improv group (although, if you do, please let me know so I can come watch you suffer through your first few scenes). But I am saying that we all need at least one hobby that is purely for enjoyment.

Not for networking. Not for career advancement. Not because it makes you better in some way. Just because it’s fun.

For me, that’s improv. For you, maybe it’s:

• Building model trains like a divorced dad from 1978.

• Becoming a guy who is randomly really good at darts.

• Learning magic and ruining every future social gathering with card tricks.

Whatever it is, go do it. Your stress levels will drop. Your lifespan might increase. And worst case? You’ll have something to talk about at dinner parties that isn’t work.