Response to "The Grind" by Cole Eady

This is a story about a young man disillusioned with the work force he finds himself interviewing for. Interviewing to work for the famous comedian Stewart Donahue, the protagonist Skipper Fischer enters the interview with confidence and excitement, and leaves in an awkward way thoroughly repulsed by the business of comedy.

This story is told from the first person view of Fischer, who, like a typical comedian, has a cynical view of the world. I really like the irony that occurs here: that his cynicism leads him to disdain the most cynical of professions. His descriptions of the people he meets at the Midnight Slot interview, which are also tainted by his cynicism, give the reader spot on images of the characters. First, we see the small red-headed guy with glasses who looks nervous, then we see the tall wiry guy, whose overconfident manner suggest his content might not be good enough to impress Donahue. I also like the descriptions of the building, the “big glass doors” and the interviewees “trickling across cold tile floors.” It all gives the impression of a hyper-modernized New York City high rise. I also like the characterization of the senior writer Martin. He seems like a prick, which I think is the person you wanted to create.

One thing I would do would be to make Skipper less conscious of his judgments of others. You could do this by telling the reader how Skipper feels about certain things rather than what he thinks about them. You could describe his emotional reaction to people; this way, we would still get his cynical opinion about why people do what they do, but we would also feel a more personal connection with the character, something I thought was lacking. Maybe it was the lack of connection I felt with Skipper that confused me in the end when he came to this abrupt disillusionment with the comedy industry. It seems like he is enjoying himself at the beginning, and that he feels confident about his chances of getting a job. I’d like specific examples of what happened in that board meeting that changed his mind so fast, because I don’t really see anything in his character that would lead him to hate the jokes they were making.