This is it??

So this is it? This is "Snowmageddon 2011"? Really? Yesterday the weather people on the TV couldn't tell us fast enough how bad it was going to be. First, it was going to be 15 to 20 cm of snow. Then, it was going to be 20 to 30 cm, and then early in the afternoon, I was hearing that it was going to be 30 to 40 cm in Toronto. Right outside my door. I'd be snowed in for weeks, or hours. It was going to be like nothing we've seen in years. We were told to make sure we had our winter tires on our car. We were told to have an emergency kit ready. We were told that there could be power outages. It was going to get ugly. Then, I woke up and there was 8 cm of snow on the ground. Oh my, call the army! 8 cm. What the hell? How can we survive? Oh the humanity!!!

I know that other parts of the province got the snow that we were supposed to get. And I know that it was a pretty shitty drive for my fiancé Sam who had to drive out to Oshawa (about 40 minutes on a good day) at 4 in the morning for her job as the newslady on CKDO radio (1580AM and 107.7FM). But even with the brief periods of shit, this did not live up even close to the hype. They were only half right from their first snowfall projection and only 20% right for their highest forecast. A 20% accuracy rate – that's something to be proud of! And it seems that every time there is a storm a brewing, the TV stations have to fall all over each other trying to tell us how bad it's going to be. I guess they need to do something to justify the money they spend on weather jeeps and fancy graphics. But really, it's gotten to the point where I don't believe a word they say anymore. Remember H1N1? That was supposed to kill us all, yet I think more people died from the common cold than died from H1N1. Sound the alarms!

And it's not just the media where I see this overblown hype. I see it all the time. Everything is the "most dramatic yet", "worst you've ever seen", or "best show ever". I think we all need to take a step back and manage expectations a bit better. A good example is a comedy show that I got an invite to. It is billed as the "Superstars of Comedy". Now I don't know about you, but if I heard that the Superstars of Comedy were coming, I'd be looking for names like Chris Rock, Louis C.K., Jerry Seinfeld. Real superstars. Instead, we see a bunch of funny guys putting on a show. They are funny, and it'll be a decent show, but they aren't exactly superstars. I'm not picking on those guys, but that's just the latest example I have seen. It happens all the time. In this case, it'll be a good show, but in a lot of other instances, it will be a giant steaming piece of shit show and if some poor unsuspecting person walks into that show and sees the train wreck, and thinks that's what comedy is like, they'll be reluctant to go see a real comedy show at a place like Absolute Comedy, Yuk Yuks, Second City or the Comedy Bar, just to name a few.

Why don't we all try to do a bit better job of under promising and over delivering? Why don't we try to do a better job of telling it like it really is? Maybe that will lead to less disappointment and more realistic expectations from all of us. Maybe I'm just bitter and disillusioned. Okay, no maybe about it.

So, with that in mind, you absolutely have to get your sweet ass (I'm assuming it's sweet. I'm just trying to be hip and cool like the kids.) down to Absolute Comedy tonight at 8:30 for what will undoubtedly be the most amazing comedy show you will see tonight on Yonge Street. There will be laughs. There will be tears. It will change you in ways that only yesterday were unfathomable. I will host, Denis Grignon will close the show and in between will be 5 or 6 of the most amazing mix of professional and amateur comics performing at Absolute Comedy tonight. Drop by if you can get out of your house. It'll be fun. That's the truth.