True Fan

I sat down to think of who I'm a true fan of. It took me about 2 seconds to come to a conclusion. Then, I asked my roommates who they thought I was a true fan of. We all agreed... I'm definitely singer, songwriter, guitar player John Mayer's true fan.... with comic Kathy Griffin being a close second.

Both of these performers are pretty mainstream, so I doubt that my dedication as a fan has little to do with their overall success. However, I do help boost their ratings and numbers. I now have realized how much money and time I have dedicated to being their fan. For John Mayer, I've been to two of his concerts (with tickets costing about $60 a piece), bought every single cd the day it came out (he released his fifth album, Battle Studies, in November. I may have skipped class to go buy it...) and own both of his dvds. I also make sure to dvr most of his television performances and I follow him on twitter (and I HATE twitter). As far as Kathy Griffin, I legally purchased both of her cds on itunes (as opposed to illegally downloading them) and bought her book the day it came out. I own one of her comedy specials on dvd and went to go see her perform at RIT in February. Looking at all of this in writing makes me seem a little obsessive, I think, but I find both performers to be extremely entertaining in their own right.

So the next logical question is why?

As far as John Mayer's concerned, I love his music. Love it. It always cheers me up when I'm upset and I find his lyrics to be very relatable. One of my best friends is also one of Mayer's true fans and has said the exact same thing on multiple occasions. There is a John Mayer song to go with nearly every situation one finds themselves in.

As for Kathy Griffin, the stories she tells in her comedy routines also make her seem like a normal person, complete with flaws. She tells her stories in a way that makes her relatable too (as well as very vulgar, but that's a different issue). She does stupid and embarrassing things, just like everyone else.

So, as a consumer of entertainment, I think that I tend to appreciate reliability and realness in my favorite performers, whether they're comics or musicians.