It was four years ago last month that I got on a comedy stage for the first time. At the end of year one I decided that, as long as each year was better and busier than the last, and I was still enjoying it, I'd keep going. So far, that's been the case, though 2009 is slow to take shape as I had planned (see Schedule). I thought that by the end of March I would have made more inroads with bookers and clubs outside of my usual haunts and that my schedule would reflect that. To a small degree, this has happened: In January I did my first gig for a booker I had not worked for before, one of my April shows came about as a result of visiting a different open-mike and doing some good old-fashioned networking, and in July I'll be performing with two comics I admire in a town I've never been to. Still, there's a lot of free calendar space where I had hoped there would at least be a run at a Comedy Zone or a string of one-nighters for a different booker or two. Hell, I booked more shows myself last summer.
But I'm not complaining. What! Not complaining! Are you sure you're a comic? I know, this is the point in the blog where you'd expect a diatribe about the injustice of the comedy business, the short-sightedness of bookers and club owners, and a scathing indictment of the whole American population for its horrible taste in entertainment. But I truly have nothing to complain about. I have a job that pays the bills and gives me four months a year and most weekends off to do with as I please. Would I rather be out doing shows than painting my bathroom? Sure I would. And the moment I can make as much money doing comedy as I do at my current job, I'll be all over it. But for the moment anyway I'm happy that I can eat regardless of my comedy schedule.
Comedy is chock full of people who feel entitled to a career. They've been in the trenches, they've paid their dues, they've never done anything else. Comedy blogs and message boards are spilling over with this sense of entitlement. My favorite line is, "I don't do comedy because I want to, I do it because I have to."
Please.
I'm all for passion and dedication, especially in the arts, but come on, very few people are entitled to a career in anything, least of all show business. If you pay your bills doing comedy, consider yourself lucky and spare everyone this sanctimonious bullshit.
Do I think I deserve more stage time than I currently have scheduled? Yeah, I do. I've got a solid feature set and then some. Do I think anyone else owes it to me? No, I don't. I didn't even think about stand-up until I was 35, and I live in the middle of nowhere, comedy-wise. Despite that, I've shared the stage with the likes of Robert Schimmel, Drew Hastings, and Larry Reeb among others - people I'd never thought I'd meet much less get paid to hang out with for a weekend telling jokes. So, yeah, nothing to complain about.
Except that one guy. He's an asshole.
0 comments:
Post a Comment