Self delusion and paranoia

I recently visited Go Bananas comedy club to watch Marcus, a friend and former colleague, give his stand-up routine on "open-mike" night. Marcus was always a funny guy at work, and he actually had a very funny routine that had the audience rolling in the aisles. Several of the "comedians", however, were absolutely TERRIBLE. I don't mean they just only made me giggle or crack a smile--I mean they were about as funny as a funeral or car crash. It made me very uncomfortable being in the audience while these people performed, having to pretend to be amused--I left the club having added to my stress level instead of getting de-stressed. How can these people actually think they're funny?

As I've mentioned before, I'm a bit addicted to reality television--including American Idol. The early shows, however, that have the tryouts of people who sing about as well as me are as painful as the comedy club. I've always thought that these people MUST realize that they can't sing and are trying out on a dare or to get their 5 minutes of fame on TV. In many cases, though, they leave in tears--their dreams seemingly shattered. Are they incredible actors/actresses or did they really think they were that good? I'm starting to believe that they really think they are talented.

It kind of makes you wonder--at least it does for me. What is it that I do that I think I'm pretty good at that others look at me and say, "Can you believe he actually thinks..."? (By the way, that's more of a rhetorical question--I'm not looking for comments.)