My Love/Hate Relationship

People are often amazed when I tell them I am a stand up comedian. They always have a ton of questions: How did you get into comedy? Do you get nervous before you go on stage? Do you know so-and-so? Do you write your own jokes? Or the worst response of all: Tell me a joke.  And then they proceed to tell me how they should be a comedian because everyone tells them how funny they are. Or they tell me what I should put in my act. It never gets old. But regardless of these shenanigans I do love stand up comedy. Or should I say I love the CRAFT of stand up comedy.  I love to laugh, I love to write, I love to make people laugh and I appreciate the art. What I dont like has its own list as well. I dont like that comedians are oftentimes not compensated for their talent. They are not paid well, if at all. Most bookers believe its just an honor to give you stage time. The artist creates material and the performance AND has to kiss booty to get on stage. Now, you can have a certain look, walk into a bank, get discovered and subsequently get paid tens of thousands of dollars to act in a commercial or movie. Or take a script, do your thing and get paid handsomely. But write, create and make people laugh all on your own? You might get some chicken wings or a drink ticket. I would like to address an incident that happened to me last night. I was requested to perform at a major comedy club on the Sunset strip. I didn’t ask, I was requested. As usual, I was professional. I showed up early and asked one of the employees where the guy I was supposed to check in with was. He told me he wasn’t there yet but would be there soon. He showed up after the show was supposed to start. He was borderline pleasant when I introduced myself. There was no list of comics and no order. We were not told where to go, who the emcee was or any direction at all for that matter. Sitting in the green room, the emcee would just come in to get a comic right before they were supposed to go on stage. When asked about the list she said she didn’t have it but the guy running it had it. I went to talk to him and he said, You didn’t bring anyone. This, in the comedy world, was a bringer show. In other words, you can only perform if you bring people. There is no respect for the art, only greed for the green. I told him that at this stage of the game I do not do bringer shows. I have been doing this for over 15 years and do not submit, request or do these shows. They are more for new comics who ask all their friends to come out and see them perform. Needless to say, he said, Um, yah, this is a bringer show. So I was penalized for having the experience and the only level of talent was measured on how many people the comics could bring. I am not demeaning the other comics that were there. I am saying that there is no recognition of credits or talent. I ended up walking out. I know what I am worth. If I want stage time I know I can go out and get it. Bringer shows are common in this greedy town. They make money off new comics because they get all their friends out. They are solely promoted by the comics. But I was ASKED to participate. And then treated like dirt. Blah blah blah, I could go on and on. The fact still remains that I love the craft, but not the business. If you truly appreciate the art or just like to laugh, I ask that you go out and support live comedy. Not because you are being pimped! And dont just like the status of your friends that are posting their show dates. Go out and actually see them. Not on YouTube, but live on stage! They work hard at what they do. And how bad could it be? You get to laugh and be entertained.