So I have decided to take a break from pursuing a career in stand-up comedy because frankly, it doesn’t
pay anything (not even subway fare). Maybe I was crazy but my dream was to do
my first open mic, and have the MC and comedy club manager pull me aside after
my act and tell me that I was a natural and the funniest rookie that they had ever
seen and that they wanted to book me for the following week. Basically, I was hoping to be the Lebron
James of comedy aka The Chosen One.
Although my first open mic went well, none of that ever
happened. The following week, I performed my second open mic, which was much
improved from the first time around and yet no one was offering me a contract. After I
completed my stand-up comedy course, I asked my teacher if my dream about
getting offered a contract was realistic or not. Apparently, my dream scenario
was totally nuts (he thought I was joking at first) and his expression was priceless once he realized I was being serious. I was told that the most talented and driven comedians take
at least 2-3 years before making enough money to support themselves from comedy
alone. On average, most decent comedians spend about 7
years doing comedy on the side before they are able to make enough money to quit
their regular day jobs.
On one hand, this meant that I still potentially could be the
Lebron James of comedy. But on the other hand, I would need at least 2-3 more years
before I would be seeing any sort of payout. I love making people laugh and I’m
totally not in it for the money but I do have a ton of student loans to pay off
and my alcohol expenses have skyrocketed now that I have left Ithaca, NY where drinks were cheap.
Seeing that I don’t have enough savings to last me 2-3 more years without
positive cash flow, this means that I have to put my stand-up career on hold and
keep it as a hobby.
I hate to admit it but I need to find a job (that pays money). At least I can put San Francisco Comedy College on my resume now! =P
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