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Now, everybody’s a comic (or a manager) Everybody has jokes. Half of the people who have three jokes seem to have a little room somewhere. The business is ever evolving. Now days, you have to be strategic. You have to be versatile. You have to be smart. Let’s examine each of these ‘virtues,’ if you will, shall we? One at a time.
BE STRATEGIC
There are tactics and there are strategies. They often go together but they are not the same. When one strategizes, one plans. One uses available tactics (and perhaps “unavailable”) tactics and other measures to reach one’s desired end more efficiently and effectively than without a particular strategy. You are going to need to be strategic in the way you plan your attack in this business-just like the coaches plan for their battles on the football field-just like the generals plan in war on the battlefield. Essentially, you’d be well advised to get your ‘ducks in a row’! Start with the next three months. What should you be doing? Where should you be in that period of time? Who should you know or be ‘kickin’ it with or opening for, working for or touring with? How many more minutes should you have in your act at that point? If you already have your hour plus of “A” material (don’t fantasize), when’s the last time you wrote five new minutes, or even a new bit that was up there with your “A” stuff? It’s your career. You’ll be blessed to have one. Nothing should be done haphazardly. Being strategic is “being earning.”
BE VERSATILE
Because it’s a buyer’s market in both television and film and in personal appearance, right now, you are going to have to be able to give the buyers what they want. Sure, you should be who you are. In fact, ideally, your act should be universal enough that it reaches all audiences as is, without changes. Ideally, the same jokes you do today should one day make you an international movie star. That’s ideal. Now ‘let’s kick the real. This is probably not the case in your particular instance, is it?
Every audience (and every audience member) hasn’t been where you’ve been-whether that happens to be the hood, mainstream America or overseas. Therefore, you and your act would do good to be versatile. In the beginning, you ‘get in where you fit in.’ If your goal is to make a living in this business, you should study the Bay Area Comics, the L. A. area comics, the New York area comics, the Midwest comics and the ATL/Birmingham area comics. It’s actually possible, for many of the true warriors/hustlers of the local and regional road, to make decent livings while never having to go more than a couple hundred miles from home. The ones who are truly versatile are the ones booking the most gigs and making the most (and most consistent) money. I’m sure this is true in other areas as well. Being versatile is “being earning.”
BE SMART
Some people think that being smart is being cunning or being crafty. Some people think being smart is never being taken advantage of. Some think it’s being witty or clever on stage. In the business of comedy being smart means being sensitive enough to understand that every house or stage is not the same. Being smart is being strategic and being versatile. Being smart is knowing where you do and don’t fit in. Being smart means getting a team of skilled professionals around you, beginning with a manager that you trust with your career, someone who respects you and believes in you. Being smart is planning to win in this business of comedy, making a living, without making a whole bunch of enemies. Being smart is having a lengthy career. It’s establishing relationships that last your whole career. Being smart is knowing if where you are is where you need to be. Being smart in this business is not just carving out an existence. It’s not just surviving while waiting on that elusive ‘ship to come in.‘;it’s planning your career goals and scientifically attacking them. Being smart is “being earning.”
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