Comedy was how Diana Saez got along with her three brothers while they were growing up. The only girl in the family, she knew whoever was the funniest gained the most respect. Comedy is still about respect for Saez, but now it's self-respect.
It was not until a few years ago that she started thinking about stand-up comedy. Fears held her back from performing at first, but she frequented the local open-mics and talked with the comedians. For 2006 she made a New Year's resolution: she had to get on stage.
Audiences around D.C. now get a taste of this quietly hilarious character who shares her humor with a calm confidence. This tricky mix of serenity and the secret spice right under the surface offers freshness to a night of comedy.
Saez says it is one of the best things she has ever done for herself.
"It's made me feel like I've finally found something," she said. "It's a labor of love. The first couple years it's about figuring out who you are on stage, learning how to work with different things like audiences and your attitude going into a set," she said.
It has taught her to believe in herself and what she has to say, even after "soul-crushingly bad performances."
"When you've got an audience saying 'you're not funny,' you've really got to dig in deep and stand by it," she said.
But before she can plant her feet firmly on the stage and say what she has to say, Saez faces the challenge stand-up comedians cannot avoid.
"You can't just decide to be funny and sit down and say, 'I'm going to write a joke,'" Saez said.
Saez often carries around paper so she can jot down an idea inspired from the conversations and observations that make her chuckle.
"Later I'll revisit it and ask, 'Is it still funny?' and I'll talk with friends about it and work with it more if it seems to be going somewhere," she said.
She described the art of instant messaging for funny ideas.
"I'll go back and forth on instant message with funny friends. You start one place and keep working off each other. It keeps building and goes all over the place," she said. "One joke can go so many places."
Saez does not write jokes around messages she wants to convey. Nonetheless, female themes tend to characterize her comedy and she hopes her comedy opens people up to seeing more female comedians.
"Comedy is traditionally a guy thing," she said. "There's a stereotype that women are not funny."
But there is more to her comedy than her gender. Currently she is working to emphasize the stylistic traits that come naturally - her dryness, sarcasm and offbeat humor.
"You kind of make a caricature of yourself. You polish what you have, and highlight it so it comes off clearer," she said.
But she also tries to incorporate more techniques that don't come as naturally, such as using different voices and bigger movements.
Open mics, like her Wednesday night gigs at Rendezvous Lounge, play a key role in her development as a comedian. They are also crucial for the development of individual jokes, which morph and progress the more she gets to practice and experiment.
For someone who had almost no stage experience before this year, Saez has come a long way toward breaking into the stand-up comedy scene and developing a strong sense of her relationship with her newfound art.
"Just the fact that I'm not scared to be doing what I really want to be doing is success," she said.
Saez says she hopes to make a living out of comedy one day, but realizes "it's hard to give a timeline for success."
"It's so highly dependent on what's in vogue and if you can find your niche that really responds to your style and what you have to say," she said. "Some people are lucky and other hilarious people plug away and you wonder why they haven't gone big."
So for now she focuses on the passion and her personal creative development.
"It's harmful to yourself to look at others all the time and compare yourself to where they are. You kind of have to have tunnel vision. Ultimately it has to be about yourself," she said.
