It's been four months since I last wrote which is indicative of a very busy schedule or extreme lassitude, so I'll just say I've been busy. In reality, I have been very, very busy with comedy; not just the joke writing and performing, but marketing, marketing, marketing. This is not a business where you can sit back and expect that people will contact you and offer you shows on a silver platter, replete with hotel, transportation money and a fee for services rendered. Facebook and LinkedIn have become essential for spreading the word that I am ready, willing and able to stand on a stage and let pithy platitudes and profanity trickle from my mouth. I also go to open mics regularly, not just to practice, but to meet people and offer them spots on my Funny First Tuesday at Tusk booked mic if I think that they are good and if they may be helpful to me in return. I also try to give spots to people who may be fairly new to comedy, but whom I think are serious minded and willing to work hard to get ahead. Funny First Tuesday is booked into April now and I don't have the time to bother with one-track mind dick jokers unless they're hilarious.
I may be coming across as high-minded, which is not surprising, since I had thirty years to cultivate becoming obnoxious in two different states and sometimes Pennsylvania. My object, though, is to convey that comedy is no different from any other business endeavor: you have to work unbelievably hard and prove to yourself and others that you are worthy of their time and attention. The only differences are that it takes much, much longer to make a living doing comedy than practicing law, for example, and the bookers mostly don't have a vested interest in your success because you are a dime in a dozen. There are other reasons too, but if I were to take on bookers, I might as well take comedic cyanide and put us all out of my misery. In fairness, the ones I with whom I've had contact so far have been nothing but generous and helpful, but I've heard enough horror stories to make me wary about upon whom I wish to bestow my unparalleled talent, begging and pleading.
So, I continue on this path, making contacts and connections, slowly nurturing my two-year old endeavor with loving caresses and every once in awhile, when I feel like throwing the baby against the wall (please don't call DYFS), I tell myself that I wanted this and I still do, badly.
I may be coming across as high-minded, which is not surprising, since I had thirty years to cultivate becoming obnoxious in two different states and sometimes Pennsylvania. My object, though, is to convey that comedy is no different from any other business endeavor: you have to work unbelievably hard and prove to yourself and others that you are worthy of their time and attention. The only differences are that it takes much, much longer to make a living doing comedy than practicing law, for example, and the bookers mostly don't have a vested interest in your success because you are a dime in a dozen. There are other reasons too, but if I were to take on bookers, I might as well take comedic cyanide and put us all out of my misery. In fairness, the ones I with whom I've had contact so far have been nothing but generous and helpful, but I've heard enough horror stories to make me wary about upon whom I wish to bestow my unparalleled talent, begging and pleading.
So, I continue on this path, making contacts and connections, slowly nurturing my two-year old endeavor with loving caresses and every once in awhile, when I feel like throwing the baby against the wall (please don't call DYFS), I tell myself that I wanted this and I still do, badly.
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