In the Trenches: Comedy and Code

Artificially imposed deadlines, do-whatever-it-takes mentality, vague requirements, no guarantees, inadequate time for testing and delivery, stomach-wrenching pressure. Sound familiar? While it could be the formula of the software development industry, it’s actually a synopsis of Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches at Saturday Night Live by Jay Mohr.

I listened to the audiobook of Jay Mohr describing the fulfillment of his life’s dream—the fantasy of every comic wannabe—with fascination, reeling at the unexpected parallels with our profession. Any red-blooded American (and probably internationals, through syndication) able to stay awake past the nightly news has heard of Saturday Night Live, but perhaps we’ve never thought of ourselves as having anything in common with Dan Akroyd, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, or any of the other household names associated with the show. Is the thrill of a clean compile akin to appreciative chuckles? When a software project is cancelled and a sketch doesn’t see airtime, do the drones in the trenches feel the same agonizing disappointment and desire to reclaim precious segments of their lives expended in vain?

I expect that it’s not so much that software development has a lot in common with comedy, but that many diverse professions share similar frustrations in the arduous journey from concept to deliverable product. We agonize about process, but so do they. We blame the political climate, economics, myopic administration, the fickle public, and of course, ourselves. So do they. As Jay Mohr apparently discovered, either you learn to deal with it, try to change it, or get out. Changing “the establishment” can be difficult when you’re not in the driver’s seat, but perhaps as Edward Nilges said, it’s a moral obligation to try. Maybe it’s the only way to preserve sanity and sleep at night. In any case, I take some measure of comfort in knowing I’m not the only one sweating bullets as I stand before a heckling audience (end users and management) wondering if my latest offering will receive appreciative applause or Death March boo-hisses.