For the late bloomers
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
― Anais Nin
It was never just about puns.
Was it the first comedic art form I pursued? Yes.
Because it was a way to show people at scale that I was smart and funny.
That’s what we girls who are late bloomers want to be.
Despite the fact that at 5’10”, I towered over even some of the teachers on my way to my middle school locker, I took awhile to feel like I could truly take up that space. I still felt very small inside.
As late bloomers, we can’t expect to be called pretty when our petals are still tucked inside the bud.
We accept our role as ‘bud’ to the boys with bowl-cuts that we wish like liked us.
Some of us get into STEM for obvious reasons :)
A late bloomer is a person whose talents, beauty or capabilities are not visible to others until later than what might be typical.
Notable late bloomers include Thomas Edison, who overcame speech difficulties from a young age, Meryl Streep who got her degree from Yale School of Drama at the age of 27, and musician Leonard Cohen whose first album dropped in his mid-thirties.*
There are benefits to allowing potential to percolate.
New skills are honed to compensate for less developed areas.
A certain patience is cultivated, whether welcomed or not.
In fact, neuroscientist Steven Pinker claims that a certain type of language delay for some may be linked to exceptional analytical prowess.*
When I set out to create Punspoken, it was always about connecting people to whatever it is within them that makes them and others feel good and share the hell out of it.
We started on Zoom during the pandemic, and in the years since have experimented with all kinds of events–Opun Mics, a pun game show, and both human and AI “robot” pun competitions. We’ve had a ton of different talented artists on our stages–from comedians, poets, musicians, improv performers, beat boxers, and even puppets (shoutout to Fragile Rock).
Finally, I am ready to invite you to the next iteration of our evolution with WordplayFest–a festival that brings these different events and experiences together with performers and facilitators that are here to support us in our creative growth.
On Saturday, November 15th, join us for a full day of laughter, storytelling, inspired conversations, jaw-dropping hip hop performances, and more.
This is for the late bloomers. Open up, bud—the world is waiting.
