Before the break, I gave myself a Fun Audit. No need to help, IRS. I’ve got this.
As described in the book The Power of Fun by Catherine Price, in a Fun Audit you write down events that happened to you and see if they contained the three elements of True Fun: Playfulness, Connection, and Flow. I decided to do this for all my 2025 creative projects to see what aspects of them inspired True Fun for me. I want my creative process to be as fun as possible, and looking for patterns in these insights will hopefully help me max out my Fun stat next year.
From my last newsletter, here are the activities I described as True Fun:
Cocoanut Hotel – Writing Marx Brothers Dialogue – [P, C, F] – I amused myself writing Marx Brothers style gags and got into a solid flow during the writing process. Gwen, my partner on the project, gave me a lot of enthusiastic feedback. I’d call this the “True Fun” of the project.
Worst Movies Ever Played (Season 3) – Playing the Game – [P, C, F] – I loved the evenings I spent with Patrick and Brent playing the TTRPG Straight to VHS and recording it for the podcast. Technically, this is a list about things I did in 2025, and we recorded the episodes for Season 3 in 2023-24, but since it was legitimately True Fun, I’ll allow it!
Brandon (Puppet Making Class) – Learning to Puppeteer – [P, C, F] – This was the most True Fun part of the experience. As the instructor gave us puppeteering tips, we lip synced with our puppets to 70s rock songs together. My puppet Brandon was rocking out! I loved being in a room of people happily lip syncing with their puppets. What a great day.
Keeping It Sacred: 5 Year Anniversary Event – Punching Up the Script – [P, C, F] – Even though Amanda and I punched up the script together after work, we had a blast making each other laugh and debating what jokes were appropriate for a rabbi’s award ceremony. The time flew by. Any chance I get to write with Amanda, I take it. No one makes me laugh like she does.
Okay, now let’s do a bit of self-diagnosis to see if I can find any patterns…
Fun Patterns and Observations
1. Writing comedy with a partner is consistently True Fun for me.
I have been writing comedy collaboratively since I was in grade school, recording comedy tapes on cassette with my friends. It was play for me then and clearly it’s play for me now.
In the interest of having a joyful career, I pursued comedy professionally in Los Angeles. During my comedy career in LA, I become jaded about the business. I never got staffed in a TV writer’s room. The closest I got to achieving that dream was co-writing a few episodes of a televised radio drama with Amanda for the long forgotten Nerdist streaming network. Stuck in low-paying gigs writing for comedy websites, Amanda and I ran a humor press for eight years with critical, but not financial success.
Even though I got jaded about The Comedy Industrial Complex, I still find the act of comedy writing fun. This should be obvious to me, since I write a lot of comedy for my day job as a game writer and I love my work. But it’s interesting to read how most of my True Fun creative moments this year revolved around writing or improvising comedy. I think it’s notable that all three were outside the industry and with good friends. When the pressure to be a professional is turned off, I genuinely have fun writing humor.
2. Collaboration is key to making my projects True Fun for me.
All my True Fun projects were either two-person collaborations or made as part of a group. This is no accident, according to The Power of Fun. The feeling of connection with other people is one of the three key pillars of True Fun. I know how to reach a good flow as a solo developer or writer. I enjoy my creative work, whether it’s solo or as part of a team. But if I want to max out the Fun Levels on my projects, I should think about how I can collaborate more with others.
3. Performing is still True Fun for me.
When I took on creative projects as a kid, there was usually a performance element. Whether it was recording the aforementioned comedy tapes, or drawing comic strips, or singing parody songs on MP3.com, writing and performance were hand-in-hand for me.
Then I came to Los Angeles and I quickly felt outclassed as a performer. My first improv team in LA was an eye opening moment, as I found myself drowning on stage when compared to my excelling teammates. “Yes, and?” More like, “No, man!”
But I remained confident in my writing, as that was (barely!) paying the bills. So I found my niche in The Biz as a writer. I decided to put aside the idea of being a professional performer.
I still don’t think I have the chops to make it as a working actor, stand-up, or graphic artist, nor do I want to. However, when it comes to projects I pursue for True Fun, I clearly still love to perform. I should give myself a performer role, even if it’s a small one. Maybe as a voice actor or a puppeteer.
4. If I increase my skills, I can make other activities True Fun, too.
There are a couple of creative activities (not listed above, but can be seen on the full list), where I probably would have achieved True Fun if my skill level was higher. In order for me to feel playful with an art form, I need to have a handle on the fundamentals. For example, I might have True Fun playing piano if I knew how to play well enough to perform the Family Matters theme at a party, then after I finish say in an Urkle voice, “Did I do that?” But I have no idea how to play piano and I only find banging on keys like a caveman fun for a few moments.
Looking over my full list, if I had more practice programming in Unity, I bet I could’ve had more fun playing around with development on Motion Picture, spending less time on bugs and more time adding amusing bells and whistles. Similarly, if I was more experienced at sewing, I could’ve gotten into a flow making Brandon. Upping my skill level will allow me to collaborate with folks on a higher level, which would be awesome. Devoting time to sharpening skills like these is a good bet for future True Fun.
I’m going to keep all this in mind as I pick future projects. What will be the most fun process for me? One that involves collaborative writing and performance, and I should keep taking fun classes to up my skills in game design, programming, and puppets. More puppets, please!
🎲 Your Turn: What creative activities are most fun for you? What kinds of projects do you want to take on in 2026? How much do you think about process when you decide what projects to work on? I’d love your thoughts! Reply directly to this email or comment on the newsletter by hitting the orange button below.
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