Compare

I love smoked wings and I am always so excited when I hear of a place that does it right. There are a few places in Atlanta that do them well : Fox Brothers (currently #1 in my book), the Local, Moe’s BBQ and the Albert (which I need to try again).

My comedy buddy Dan and I decided to grab dinner and landed on Sweet Auburn BBQ since it was within walking distance of the open mic we were planning to go to.

It happened to be “All you can eat” wing night but we both opted for the 6 piece. I love wings, don’t get me wrong but I never want to O.D. on wings.

Dan ended up with the traditional buffalo but I chose the server’s recommended Wu-Tang sauce. The wings came out on a cute metal prison tray. I chose the brussel sprouts with bacon as my side.

The wings were super aromatic so I had high hopes.

They were good.

They were smoked.

The sauce had flavor but a little too thick and sticky for me.

Would I eat them again? Sure

As I ate them, I kept thinking about Fox Brother’s smoked wings. These wings were so close but no cigar. I felt like I was cheating on the Sweet Auburn wings as I made love to them with my mouth but was thinking about how happy Fox Brother’s had made me.

If only I had eaten Sweet Auburn’s wings first I would have loved them like I should.

Comparison can be so dangerous. Sometimes you can start to compare yourself to other people and feel like you aren’t good enough. I see comics like myself compare themselves to comics who are at a different level than they are.

I have been doing comedy a little over two years (over one year seriously) and it is not okay for me to compare myself to someone who has been doing stand up twice as long as I have. I have to be the Sweet Auburn wings and not compare myself to the Fox Brother’s wings of Atlanta comedy.

Not only in comedy, but in so many aspects of my life I play an evil game with myself called, ” Let’s see how other people are better than you: in exercising and keeping fit, eating healthy, looking better, being smarter, being better educated, having a better job, having more friends…” and the list is endless. That circular comparison thinking is detrimental to self esteem. I have hurt myself too many times trying to compare myself to some top shelf wings when  I felt like I was just Chinese buffet wings (next to the French fries).

I am preaching to myself too, focusing on your meat smokers and your sauce is the most important thing to becoming your best wing. I can’t talk down to myself that I will only amount to Tyson Anytizers,  when if I perfect what I have, I will reach my goals. The Fox Brother’s out there can serve as an example but I have to do my sauce MY way!