JAMES CROAL JACKSON _______________________ Talking Stand-Up Comedy in Pittsburgh It’s Kat’s birthday and the room laughs at sad Neil Young songs opposite this vibrant party. I meet Meeti who says she has good jokes, bad presence. She has grander aspirations. I tell her I never planned to be in this city, either. She needs a New York or LA. I came from both & couldn’t hang. Birthday spirit drifts in this room around us, everyone having an amicable time. We are, too, except we can only dream of spotlights, butterflies, our names in neon because we’d rather smoke quietly in the dark corners of social gatherings.
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