Ch. 1 – Takeaway

Relish the toil of getting better. Never look for a big break or an inside track. It only leads to disappointment. When you become the cream, you will rise naturally. There are no shortcuts but there are plenty of dead ends. This industry has no shortage of “producers” that don’t pay, “hosts” that bomb, and critics that don’t do comedy. Stand-Up has no REAL governing body (hell we don’t even have a union). When the Comedy Store opened in L.A. comics like Jay Leno and David Letterman literally had to lead a boycott in 79′ to even get paid because the owner Mitzi Shore (Polly Shore’s mother) believed that her club was a “college” and that comedians didn’t even deserve money for gas. Imagine having the nerve to tell Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, David Letterman, and Jay Leno that their talents aren’t even worth gas money… Talk about gaslighting! Back then you weren’t a “real” comedian until you were a paid regular which meant very few people could call themselves comics. Decades later anyone that got paid even once were suddenly calling themselves comics. Fast forward to now and people call themselves comics after just a few zoom mics, or after paying for a class that waved a magic wand at a “graduation” show. Don’t get caught up with labels. The same is true with producers. Many only go so far as posting an event to Facebook before calling themselves a producer. Even stranger than that, most of those types actually pay working comics better than comedy clubs will. It’s all shifting sands when everyone is trying to take shortcuts to get power, clout, money, or top gigs. If the next generation of comics gets swept into the net, the entire industry is heading right back to the kind of exploitation stand-up comedy had to fight in the 70s. We owe it to the artists to preserve our living and the integrity of the art. Focus on the funny first, open mics are free and you could always start your own.