Kate Horan
kahoran@ursinus.edu
Features
“After three attempted robberies, I became more aware of my surroundings wherever I went. I'm curious to see how else I've changed,” said the 2020 graduate. says Ursinus alumnus Tommy Armstrong. Armstrong was named a Watson Fellow during his senior year at Ursinus. The Ursinus website states that the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship is “a one-year grant for purposeful, independent exploration outside the United States, awarded to graduates nominated by one of 41 partner institutions.” “will be done.”
Armstrong graduated with a major in English and minors in film and creative writing. He said he was one class away from performing arts with a minor in theater, and “If I had had a creative writing major when I was there, I definitely would have been one of those guys.'' I would have,” he said.
Armstrong began his around-the-world journey in April 2023 after his travels were delayed due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Mr. Armstrong's travels included trips to cities in nine countries, including Barcelona, Spain. Vienna, Austria; Istanbul, Turkey; Cape Town, South Africa; Liverpool, England. Berlin, Germany; Tokyo, Japan; Auckland, New Zealand. and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
was announced on grizzly bear In April 2020, an article written by Kevin Leung '20 was published following the announcement that Mr. Armstrong had been awarded the Watson Fellowship. In the article, Armstrong describes his project, saying, “It explores the intersection of comedy and hardship, and explores where comedic impulses come from around the world and how they are shaped by cultural norms and events. He is quoted as saying that he intends to “know whether he will be affected.” Additionally, Armstrong reportedly said, “I want to explore comedy as a coping mechanism for depression and depression.” [see] If that's a global trend…[by] It captures the shadows of improv troupes and comedy groups around the world. ”
Although Armstrong appreciated improvisational theater, he fell in love with stand-up comedy while traveling. Everywhere he went, Armstrong took photos of every comedian attending a comedy show and later shared them. Armstrong says: “When we were growing up, my mom would always take pictures of all the athletes when we played sports and share them with everyone. My mom let me do it because I thought it was a great way to do it.'' using her SmugMug account. ”
After seeing so many stand-ups, Armstrong decided to start doing stand-up himself and fell in love with it. He performed his first two performances on April 24, 2023, and has performed over 150 times since then. By recording each set, Armstrong began to see amazing changes in his performance. “I recently read a book that says it takes 10,000 hours of practice to reach your potential in your field,” Armstrong said. , you can imagine how much room there is.'' It's growth for almost every comedian. He added, “I know that being a comedian is a part of who I am. No matter where I am in life, I'm going to find a way to get on stage.”
During his independent expedition, Armstrong interviewed approximately 50 comedians from around the world for 30 to 90 minutes. Armstrong tried not to approach the project with “predetermined, rigid ideas about the relationship between comedy and depression,” but to nearly every comedian he spoke to about the project, “It was like ideas were starting to pop into their heads about the relationship between comedy and depression.” two. “It was like they knew what my project was about before I did,” said Armstrong. “It was like they knew what my project was about before I did.” Working as a digital communications specialist helped me develop interviewing skills, which paid off in my conversations with comedians. For now, Armstrong is compiling clips of each comedian for posting and is creating transcripts of interviews with the goal of writing a book about comedy and depression.
While a student at Ursinus College, Armstrong began the habit of posting a new comedy video every week. Overseas this year, stand-up clips have become faster to edit, allowing them to post five days a week, and TikTok, especially Instagram, has a much larger audience. Armstrong said, “Instagram is especially great because my content reaches comedians that I respect and are fans of, and some of those comedians follow me back and share my content. Armstrong was in Berlin, just six months into his stand-up career, when comedian Todd Glass contacted him. “I just woke up from a nap and thought I was dreaming,” Armstrong said. Since then, Glass has supported Armstrong very kindly, and Armstrong asked Glass for advice and asked him to join the Watson Project as an interview subject.
The Watson Fellowship allowed Armstrong to pursue his project, but it also gave him the opportunity to grow as a person and learn more about himself. This led Mr. Armstrong to make a discovery regarding his own personal relationship between his emotions and the way he writes jokes. “My jokes don't necessarily reflect my feelings. Many of my jokes are based on the most I thought of in a particular situation, such as while reading, in the shower, or eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It’s just a fun idea,” Armstrong says. One of the things he learned is that he's not interested in making comedy when he's going through grief, and he says: But when he's feeling down, he reaches for his guitar instead of his pen. ” Everywhere Armstrong went, especially when he was “blue,” he would buy cheap used guitars and play them every day. He played around with the chords, found a progression he liked, and added freestyle lyrics over it in an audio recording. “Anyway, those musical recordings now give me a window into what I was feeling and thinking in each place,” Armstrong says.
Armstrong experienced significant growth during his year abroad and reflects on his time at Ursinus and how the skills he developed at university contributed to the successful execution of the project. An English major, reading and thinking about literature has allowed him to develop “his kit of tools” for listening to and reviewing comedy. Armstrong says, “Guided discussions around books can help you discover the vocabulary to understand what you like and don't like about jokes, so spending time watching comedians “It's a more productive experience for thinking about what you want to achieve with your jokes.” Im kidding. ”
Workshops in creative writing classes were the basis for how Armstrong communicated with other comedians and creators “about their craft.” He explained that while you can't “pounce on criticism,” you also can't be dishonest or obfuscate what you like, adding that every comedian has a unique and good way of making their comedy. It expresses that there are strengths that can be developed to make something happen. “When people ask me for advice about their own comedy, I think it's important to reflect that strength back to them. I also think it's important that I reflect that strength back to them, and that they may not realize they're getting in their way. So is explaining things to them,” Armstrong says.
Armstrong also took an “eye-opening” DIY publishing course with his advisor and friend John Volkmer, which taught him the value of giving purpose to his creations in order to build an audience. I learned the necessity. During the course, Armstrong found that he enjoyed making fun of a format he was already familiar with. He created an “incompetent video blogger” character named Gary to poke fun at his YouTube list creators in the niche, and now his TikTok account is called @GarysFather and has over 11 million I have more followers than anyone else. Anyway, lol.'' Now, much of his stand-up content is comedy poking fun at the expectations people have on his shows. Armstrong said, “One of the simple joke formats that a lot of comedians often tell is, 'People say I look like ____ if ____.' So to me, 'People say They say I look like…my family.’ I have a joke about it.”
John Volkmer, professor of English at Ursinus College, said of his experience working with Armstrong: Whether he's recruiting faculty to star in his films or recruiting companies to use his space, Tommy isn't shy about asking questions and exudes confidence and professionalism every step of the way. I was able to. ”
Armstrong realized that the most important thing he learned at Ursinus was that “people are most important.” This life-changing opportunity would not have been possible without the help of people who care about me, including John Volkmer, Carol Dole, Talia Argondesi, Domenic Scudella, Meredith Goldsmith, Joanna Melis, and Kelly Sorensen. He explains that he couldn't do it.
Talia Argondesi, director of the Writing and Speaking Program and co-chair of the Watson Fellowship Committee, worked closely with Armstrong. “Even before we started working together on Tommy's Watson application, I was a fan of Tommy, as I was already aware of the hilarious and moving videos he made during his undergraduate days,” Argondesi said. . When he co-starred with Armstrong in Watson, Argondesi said his enthusiasm for comedy was “contagious and irresistible.” She said: “It's a cliché that as a teacher, you sometimes learn more from your students than you do from yourself, but in this case it was quite literal. Working with Tommy sparked my interest in writing. I've been doing comedy ever since. ” Argondesi and Armstrong also worked on the video in collaboration with writer Jeff Bender, who teaches his CIE at Ursinus.
It is clear that Mr. Armstrong has left an indelible impression on many professors at Ursinus College, including Professor of English Carol Dole. Doll says: “I had heard about his creativity and ambition even before I met him. Other faculty members were talking about a very talented first-year student named Tommy who made the film.” Doll said in the film. I was so interested that I went to see his film, which he had arranged to be shown at the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville. “A real movie on the big screen at 19 years old!” Armstrong subsequently attended many of Dole's classes, and she was “very creative, but also an excellent analyst and academic writer.” I was happy to welcome a certain student. Dole still remembers Armstrong's last project, which he created at a seminar on adaptation in 2018. One of her book-to-movie adaptations that students can imagine is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Doll said, “Tommy not only writes his 10-page thematic analysis, but also optionally chooses to create his own video, a complex choose-your-own-adventure game in the style of early movies.'' I did.” She further added: “The fact that it was an optional 'extra' was particularly impressive as it was so well produced. Tommy came up with the period costumes and had his fellow students/friends write scores appropriate to the style. I asked them to come up with the idea and played everything.''I made the parts myself! ”
From the time he graduated until the beginning of his year abroad, Armstrong worked as a staff member at Ursinus. As a staff member, one of his favorite opportunities is helping prepare Watson finalists Austin Mickles, Jeff Koch, Nicole Fandiño-Pasion, and Paige Bristow, who Bristow I received a Watson Fellowship. Commenting on working with Bristow, Armstrong said, “It was great to communicate with each other during the journey. Helping her prepare was one of my greatest accomplishments at Ursinus. ” he said.
Mr. Armstrong declares that this year has been the best year of his life. Giving advice to others pursuing what they are passionate about, Armstrong said: If something is important to you, set up your life so that doing it every day is inevitable. If you have a talent, the only way to reach your potential is to demand it of yourself often. ”
