Be A Comedian

If you’re serious about taking your career as a comedian to a higher, more professional level, you should really look into getting a manager or talent agent. No one runs alone, and no matter how talented you are in the biz, you can only rise so far on raw ability. The old axiom of “It’s not What you know, it’s Who you know” is especially relevant in the entertainment industry.

So first things first: You’re probably asking yourself why you need to bother getting an agent, when we’ve all heard horror stories about actors, musicians, and yes, comedians, who got their careers messed up by a sloppy agent. Well, there are several answers to this question, and I’ll go through them one by one.

First off, without an agent or manager handling your career, you’re pretty much stuck to relying on your own personal contact pool when it comes to finding a gig. While this may be enough if you know a lot of club owners in your area, in the long run it won’t be sufficient for your needs if you plan on taking your show to other cities.

Booking for gigs at places and finding work for you to do is what agents and managers do for a living. They rely on their own pool of contacts which, by the very nature of their work, tends to be more extensive than the average person’s. They contract jobs not only in your area, but in other venues outside your normal operating zone.

Furthermore, once you’ve established a good rapport with your agent or manager, they will have a much greater idea of your personal capabilities, meaning they will be able to find gigs for you in places where they know the audience will cater to someone with your sense of humor. Admittedly, different people tend to find different things funny. Some groups appreciate dry humor, others slapstick comedy, and still others prefer parodies and cynical barbs. Your manager will have a good idea what type of approach you take, and find you audiences receptive to it, guaranteeing you won’t be a flop.

Also, when it comes to booking abroad or in another town, it’s your agent’s job to get all your travel, food, and lodging arrangements made. Imagine having to do this yourself. It seems easy enough to do. Heck, we plan for these things all the time when we’re going on vacation. But it’s much more convenient to leave the job to an agent who knows the turf you’re going to better than you do. Besides, once your schedule becomes busy enough, this service is a god send. Imagine having a gig in your town, then having a gig the next day in a neighboring town. Can you handle a full night’s stand up comedy on stage and still have enough moxie left to arrange everything for the next day’s run? Most people who insist on managing themselves get worn out this way.

Okay, now that you know the reasons why you need a manager or an agent to handle this kind of stuff for you, what now? Well first off I’d suggest finding a good, reliable one. Don’t immediately accept any offers from talent scouts if you get approached by one on a gig. Scout out your potential offers, and also check comedian forums for the names of reliable agents and management companies that know what they’re doing. The wrong sort of agent will screw you over for a percentage, and news like this travels fast in the industry.

Find someone that more experienced comedians trust, someone who knows that the success of their careers are inextricably bound up with the success of yours. Then contact all the potential good ones you find, and meet them in person. The questions you need to ask include trying to find out how they manage the careers of other comedians aside from yourself, how extensive their contact pool is when it comes to potential places for booking you for a gig, what their percentage is from every performance you make, and how often they will be finding gigs for you to do.

Once you meet them in person, before giving a yes or no, do your research on them. Ask around with people you trust if they’ve done any jobs with these agents. Once you find someone who you feel will be a good agent for your career, then it’s just a matter of trying out working with them and going from there.

You might be amazed to know that the successful Hollywood comedians have their own coaches. Actually, comedians rely on coaches for their acts to be constantly interesting and their antics always funny and interesting.

Professional comedians would certainly assert how important it is that their comedy materials and antics be constantly updated so the audience doesn’t grow tired and weary of them.

It isn’t enough that a comedian get the grasp of what he actually presents and his own comedy styles and antics. There has to be another individual who should make comments and suggestions on how the presentation should be better executed.

That is why it is imperative for aspiring comedians to hire a comedy coach or enroll in a comedy class before finally attempting to hit it big in the entertainment industry.

There are thousands of aspiring comedians out there. But definitely, only a few have the opportunity to make it big and acquire a staying power. Comedians come and go and those who last are those who constantly undergo evolution.

Even veteran and seasoned comedians recognize the need to attend comedy classes or have sessions with personal coaches. As a performer, they know how much burden and expectation is put on their shoulders.

To ventilate whatever pressure they have in relation to the comedy performance, it is advised that comedians get a support group, in the form of classes or personal sessions with coaches, that can serve as an outlets for any emotional or mental stress.

Suggestions from comedy authorities and experienced coaches would also help a comedian develop that much needed staying power to survive the entertainment scene.

Comedy classes

There are a number of acting workshops that are offered to aspiring actors. Take note, that several of these workshops are specifically allotted to comedians and would-be-comedians.

There are several entertainment institutions from across the globe that currently offer comedy classes. In these classes, there is an instructor who would offer basic techniques in pulling out an antic.

The comedy students would also be given the opportunity to criticize and applaud the comedy acts and materials of their classmates. Instructors for such classes are usually veteran comedians themselves, so the students would find them credible to talk about craft-honing.

However, take note that comedy classes aren’t administered for free. Like may other types of classes, students of comedy classes are charged with premium fees. Classes are also formalized, and so a student must adhere to classroom rules and schedules.

You would be amazed to find out several comedy formulas that would surely enhance your ability to naturally make people laugh.

Comedy coaches

There are several comedy coaches that offer services to aspiring and even seasoned comedians. Like singers, for example, who have voice coaches throughout the duration of their careers, comedians also must establish that kind of relationship with a coach.

However, be reminded that comedy coaches won’t teach you how to pull out a joke or make people laugh. It is assumed that before you decided to pursue the career path, you already have that talent to induce laughter among audiences.

Comedy coaches will only give guidance about how you would fare better and assist you in developing the skill to use proper timing upon the execution of jokes and antics.

Comments, suggestions and even criticisms are necessary and should be taken as constructive opinions that would help comedians improve their talents. That is the main concern of a comedy coach.

The coach makes sure that a material fits the comedian, or that the material isn’t outdated. People easily get tired of the usual ‘tried and tested’ comedy formula. Personal sessions with a coach would facilitate for that.

How to find a class or a coach

There are entertainment institutions and seasoned performers who offer workshops and personal services to comedians and would-be-comedians.

You will easily find them if you just open up your eyes and start seeking. Log on to the Internet, type keywords and your area, and voila, you will have the list of institutions and professionals who offer regular comedy classes and coaching sessions.

So who would say it is that easy making people laugh?

With the increasing volume of problems and economic crunches bearing impact on a greater number of people worldwide, it is no wonder why there are more comedians rising up these days than there are dramatic actors and other kinds of entertainers.

People are recognizing the importance of having a good laugh amid the problems that hound them everyday. Thus, there are more and more entertainers who aim to get the attention of the entertainment market through becoming comedians.

Getting involved in comedy productions is really a tough task, especially nowadays when the audience is getting sick of the usual antics and slapstick comedy.

It is imperative for a comedian to have the genuine talent of cracking humor and of mastering comic timing in the execution of jokes and other comedy acts to be able to tickle the senses of audience.

When watching comedians at play on stage, in movies or in television, you might have the impression that becoming a comedian is relatively a lucrative form of earning, as it is very easy. Indeed, it is lucrative, but the assertion that it is easy is very much debatable.

Entertainment experts always emphasize that it is much easier to make audience cry than to make them have a really good laugh. Take note that comedians take more time in preparations compared to singers and dramatic actors.

Beginners

If you are aspiring to take an entertainment career by becoming a comedian, you should know that you would have to first set goals and know about the business you are about to penetrate.

There is nothing better than being equipped and knowing the industry’s know-how’s before you aim to get into comedy. Remember, there are thousands of comedians who attempt to set careers in different comedy platforms, but only few really make it big.

It isn’t enough that you are confident and have the knack and interest in becoming a laugh catalyst. It would certainly help if you decide early what style of comedy you would employ and focus on.

To begin with, there are six basic styles of comedy. Most of them branched out from the early Greek theater. You will notice that each style has its own element and demands. These styles are the black comedy, satire, parody, adage, irony and alternative comedy.

How to decide which style is best for you

You should focus on one style of comedy, or integrate two or more, or all, when you prepare your script or antics for a comedy act. To be effective, take note of the demographics and general characteristics of your audience.

Be sure not to be offensive to some audiences. You could do so by avoiding sexist and anti-religion and cultural jokes. Have knowledge about the six comedy styles you could employ.

To use black comedy, you should have the guts to devise jokes involving tragedies and serious situations like war, sickness, plague, murder, suicides and others. There are several people, and some of them may unfortunately be among your audience, who find such antics distasteful and offensive.

Several comedians are making fun of President Bush, Bin Laden and other political figures. If you want to come up with similar antics, then you are getting into another style of comedy known as satire. Usually, satires not just ridicule political figures. They also invoke a political statement, usually disagreement with a political concept.

When the audiences are too technical, like engineers, doctors and scientists, you should pull out jokes that involve jargons and technicals involved in their professions. This style of comedy is referred to as adage. Because such comedy is not for general consumption, cracking them to a generalized audience would not be wise.

Parody is that popular comedy style when you want to make a spoof of a popular work of another artist. For example, the movie “Scary Movie” is a parody into several other Hollywood movies. This style of comedy is sure to make people laugh, but be sure the audience is familiar with the work you are making a spoof at, or they won’t appreciate your jokes.

Irony is one comedy style that needs a intensive script that should be religiously followed. In this style, the audience will laugh at a situation where the comedian plots an activity or end result but ends up having unplanned situations. TV Sitcoms are full of ironies.

If all else doesn’t work, your last resort would be alternative comedy. Alternative comedy relies on antics, slapsticks and many other physical and verbal tricks to tickle the audience.

Now that you know the basics, decide. Which style is best for you?

Having a routine is essential for stand-up comedians. Yeah, it definitely helps to be a comedy natural who can make your buddies and girlfriend bust a gut laughing after you’ve got a beer or ten running in your bloodstream and doing all sorts of things to your brain cells, but being naturally funny is only the first part of becoming a good comedian. Getting a routine ready is a necessity if you’re planning to take your show out of the bar room and onto the stage.

Okay, you may be wondering why you need to build a routine. Adlibbing wisecracks is all well and good, and you can probably slam most people down in a dissing match when the urge to trash talk hits you. Yeah, these definitely help on stage, but trust me, there’s nothing worse than being on the stage and suddenly having one of those rare but annoying attacks of “dummyfication”, where your neurons suddenly go on strike and leave you with an IQ that’s roughly on par with a flea’s toenails. Then you’re left there on stage looking like a slack jawed doofus, with your eyes bugging out and your wit suddenly as sharp as a spoon. A wooden one.

Your routine pretty much shakes hands with your wits; the routine allows you to send your brain into autopilot, firing off jokes without straining your brain. You can save the spontaneous cracks for those times when members of your audience decide to get overly interactive, and start to trashtalk you. Then you can feel free to return fire and let the rest of the audience have a laugh at the poor sod’s expense.

Okay, that said and done, here’s the first thing you need to know when you’re making a comedy routine. Have a stage personality, but make sure it meshes with your real life personality. There are different types of humor, ranging from subtle jokes to sharp barbs and witticisms, to self-deprecating humor, to parodies of famous people. These are just a few examples.

Ask yourself what type of wisecracks you toss off best; make sure that you go with the ones that make people laugh, NOT the ones that leave them trying to decide whether they’ll laugh or beat you senseless with a nearby stool. Save those kinds of wisecracks for on-the-fly shots at the audience once you’ve got them warmed up.

Keeping your routine in line with your personality puts as little pressure on you as possible, allowing the flow of your jokes to come naturally. Trying to adapt a style of humor that’s different from your personality can come out forced. Definitely NOT a good thing.

Start with writing a 5-minute routine designed for your buddies. Since they know you best, they’ll actually be both easier on you AND harsher than a real life audience. Easier in the sense that, because they’re your buddies, their personalities mesh with yours and they probably already find you funny to begin with. Harsher also because they’re your buddies, and will probably take every opportunity to smack your butt down while you’re performing for them.

Having a routine made for your friends is also a good thing because your buddies will probably be there at the bar for your first performance. Most likely, they’ll be leading the audience in laughing, but will also likewise be tossing their own share of barbs at you – at which point they can be the first victims of your anti-trashtalker material.

Once you got a 5 minute routine down, practise in front of a mirror. Make sure that whatever stage personality you’re conveying, your body language and facial expressions match. These little things count for a lot when carrying an act. be animated. My friends, for example, say that I always remind them of a living cartoon, like someone went into a looney tunes video, pulled a victim out, and dumped him in the real world. Expressiveness, even in as simple an act as tossing a rougish grin or waggling your eyebrows, can make the difference between sending a room into gales of laughter or getting showered by tomatoes. Canned tomatoes, unopened.

Also practise pitching your voice to match the jokes of your routine. While occassional lapses into using a monotone voice can actually add an edge to certain jokes, doing it all the time is a sure fire formula for flatlining your audience. Modulate your tone, keep it hopping all over the place. Speak in a bouncy, lively fashion and adjust your tone for special situations in your routine like doing a parody of someone.

Okay, now that you’ve got these tips down, get to writing your routine! And be sure to warn your girlfriend and buddies that you’ll be using them as test-bunnies (I think guinea pigs and lab rats are too durn small to properly experiment on) for your first routine.

Having a routine is essential for stand-up comedians. Yeah, it definitely helps to be a comedy natural who can make your buddies and girlfriend bust a gut laughing after you’ve got a beer or ten running in your bloodstream and doing all sorts of things to your brain cells, but being naturally funny is only the first part of becoming a good comedian. Getting a routine ready is a necessity if you’re planning to take your show out of the bar room and onto the stage.

Okay, you may be wondering why you need to build a routine. Adlibbing wisecracks is all well and good, and you can probably slam most people down in a dissing match when the urge to trash talk hits you. Yeah, these definitely help on stage, but trust me, there’s nothing worse than being on the stage and suddenly having one of those rare but annoying attacks of “dummyfication”, where your neurons suddenly go on strike and leave you with an IQ that’s roughly on par with a flea’s toenails. Then you’re left there on stage looking like a slack jawed doofus, with your eyes bugging out and your wit suddenly as sharp as a spoon. A wooden one.

Your routine pretty much shakes hands with your wits; the routine allows you to send your brain into autopilot, firing off jokes without straining your brain. You can save the spontaneous cracks for those times when members of your audience decide to get overly interactive, and start to trashtalk you. Then you can feel free to return fire and let the rest of the audience have a laugh at the poor sod’s expense.

Okay, that said and done, here’s the first thing you need to know when you’re making a comedy routine. Have a stage personality, but make sure it meshes with your real life personality. There are different types of humor, ranging from subtle jokes to sharp barbs and witticisms, to self-deprecating humor, to parodies of famous people. These are just a few examples.

Ask yourself what type of wisecracks you toss off best; make sure that you go with the ones that make people laugh, NOT the ones that leave them trying to decide whether they’ll laugh or beat you senseless with a nearby stool. Save those kinds of wisecracks for on-the-fly shots at the audience once you’ve got them warmed up.

Keeping your routine in line with your personality puts as little pressure on you as possible, allowing the flow of your jokes to come naturally. Trying to adapt a style of humor that’s different from your personality can come out forced. Definitely NOT a good thing.

Start with writing a 5-minute routine designed for your buddies. Since they know you best, they’ll actually be both easier on you AND harsher than a real life audience. Easier in the sense that, because they’re your buddies, their personalities mesh with yours and they probably already find you funny to begin with. Harsher also because they’re your buddies, and will probably take every opportunity to smack your butt down while you’re performing for them.

Having a routine made for your friends is also a good thing because your buddies will probably be there at the bar for your first performance. Most likely, they’ll be leading the audience in laughing, but will also likewise be tossing their own share of barbs at you – at which point they can be the first victims of your anti-trashtalker material.

Once you got a 5 minute routine down, practise in front of a mirror. Make sure that whatever stage personality you’re conveying, your body language and facial expressions match. These little things count for a lot when carrying an act. be animated. My friends, for example, say that I always remind them of a living cartoon, like someone went into a looney tunes video, pulled a victim out, and dumped him in the real world. Expressiveness, even in as simple an act as tossing a rougish grin or waggling your eyebrows, can make the difference between sending a room into gales of laughter or getting showered by tomatoes. Canned tomatoes, unopened.

Also practise pitching your voice to match the jokes of your routine. While occassional lapses into using a monotone voice can actually add an edge to certain jokes, doing it all the time is a sure fire formula for flatlining your audience. Modulate your tone, keep it hopping all over the place. Speak in a bouncy, lively fashion and adjust your tone for special situations in your routine like doing a parody of someone.

Okay, now that you’ve got these tips down, get to writing your routine! And be sure to warn your girlfriend and buddies that you’ll be using them as test-bunnies (I think guinea pigs and lab rats are too durn small to properly experiment on) for your first routine.

Going to stand up comedy gigs is a favorite pastime. Young and old, male or female, they just can’t resist to let themselves hang loose whenever they go to a comedy bar and listen to a great comedian package things in a funny way.

If you are an aspiring comedian, having the charisma and good punch lines are, unfortunately, not enough. There are seemingly unimportant parts of the gig that you have to go through to be able to make it to the big leagues, or at least make a name for your self.

One of the most important things that a comedian has to do before he starts a gig is to prepare. Hours of practice in front of a mirror or a small audience won’t mean anything if you don’t have a gig. Booking gigs is a major part of the career of a comedian.

Not all comedians have the luxury of having a personal assistant or a manager who takes care of the matters concerning the gig bookings and preparation, especially those who are just starting out.

Here are some effective tips and reminders for anyone who would like to start a gig somewhere in town:

-Buy a decent recording device

The first thing that comedy clubs and bars look for from an aspiring comedian is some sample materials. You probably have so many funny ideas which have slipped away because you thought that you’d remember it an hour after you thought of it, but you didn’t. If you thought of something funny, it’s always better to record it verbally rather than write it. Stand up comedy is a performance art and isn’t a script writing thing.

Recoding it verbally allows you to be able to hear yourself deliver the line so that you can change the way you do it if it doesn’t appeal to your taste.

After recording some notes, you would probably want to do a sample tape. Sample tapes are important especially if you haven’t had a first gig yet. There are comedy bars which require some sample tapes from the applicant comedians before they invite him for an assessment performance.

What you would want to do is invite some of your friends to come over for a sample performance. When you make a sample tape, it’s important that the sound of laughter (genuine, and not canned laughter) is present. Don’t coerce your friends to laugh if they don’t find your performance particularly funny.

-Scout the different comedy clubs

Comedy isn’t as generic as some people would think. There are different “genres” of stand up comedy and not all can be appreciated by a certain group of people. Make sure that you have had a first hand feel of the composition of the club’s audience before you request for a gig. Start with the bars which you feel would appreciate your scripts best.

-Be organized

You may want to jot down notes and keep an organized calendar containing the different activities for the gigs, including the preparation and the minute details. Once you get the gigs to roll in, there will come a time that more than one gig can occur in one night. So make sure that you know all the details of your gigs.

-Build connections

The hardest part in booking gigs is finding the right people whom you can talk to. Once you have a network and have infiltrated the existing ones, getting gigs will be much easier.

-Don’t stop with comedy clubs

There are other venues where you can show your funny stuff. Parties and different functions can serve as good gigs. Some of them pay much higher than a regular gig at a comedy club. So have your calling card ready all the times so that you can quickly build a pool of potential audience.

-Build a website

Marketing is very important in getting a continuous supply of gigs. A website is a dynamic marketing tool because it can be accessed by anyone. What makes it effective is that it is tool that uses multimedia. You can upload recordings and scripts up on the net for anyone to see.

All the tips and reminders that are discussed above wouldn’t really amount to anything if you don’t work hard. Make sure that you balance your preparation for the performance and handling the nitty gritty details that come along with booking your gigs.

Becoming your own publicist is an advantage in any industry. Wether you have the knack for it or not, you can do your own publicity and make yourself known. Admittedly, publicists have their own skillsets and contacts that can help you get your name out there and make people hear about you, but even without those skills and contacts, you can do your own job in that respect.

The are several reasons you may want to consider being your own publicist. For one, there is the cutback on costs. Publicists, agents, and managers usually charge a fee of 10% to 20% for any gigs you do, and over time this percentage can hurt your wallet. Another reason for becoming your own publicist is control. Publicists will usually negotiate deals for you and you may find yourself booked for a gig that you won’t want to do, but by then it may be too late to back out. Being your own publicist allows you to pick and choose the jobs you take.

That said and done, here are a few tips to getting started as your own publisher.

Know your selling points – as a comedian, you have to be completely confident in yourself. Self confidence is anecessity in any endeavor, but for entertainers of any sort who perform on stage, wether musicians, actors, or stand up comedians, self confidence is extremely important. Not only does it allow you to perform effortlessly on stage, when it comes to doing your own publicity you have to be confident about the things that make you funny. It’s not just about making people laugh; you have to know why people find you hilarious, and add these to your selling points. As your own publicist, you’ll be selling yourself, and you have to let people know what you’ve got to offer.

Expand Your Contact Base – try to make the acquaintance of other comedians as well as comedy club owners. Start small, and look to getting to know them as a learning experience. You’ll be able to pick up tips from the more experienced comedians, and stories from the comedy club owners regarding past comedians that they saw were either good or bombed. But aside from getting information, you’ll also be performing a very important task – slowly but surely, you’ll be getting yourself noticed by these people who are already working with the comedian industry. When time comes for you to start your stage runs, you’ll also be able to ask these people for assistance in getting bookings.

Advertise, Baby! – whether through posters, mock interviews, flyers, or whatnot, you’ll need to get word out that you’ll be performing. Different approaches work for different people. Do your research in this area, and look at your options. Find a method of advertising that you feel will be both effective for the audience you’re targeting, and one that you’ll also be personally capable of producing. For example, TV or radio airtime is something most people can’t personally afford (and if you can, I’d like to talk to you about making a charitable contribution to my bank account…) but some newspapers are always good to go to publish an interview or to do a review. If you’re feeling confident, you can even write your own reviews and do the newspaper’s work for them, just submitting the article to them and letting them slap one of their writer’s name on it as an author.

Go Online – get your own website. This is an easy way to get people to know you. Make sure to approach comedy websites and arrange to place links to their sites to yours. In return, ask them to place links to your website on their, so that people surfing their sites have a chance to be directed to yours. Do the same for comedian forums.

Prepare a Debut Performance – when all your stuff is ready, prepare a debut peformance. While you may already be doing small gigs at less known clubs, a properly publicized debut performance gets your name out through word of mouth faster than relying on normal word of mouth. Choose your act carefully, because you definitely DON’T want to bomb this gig. This is a make or break maneuver, so you have to choose a venue that will cater to a lot of people and has it’s own reputation that will lend an added boost to yours. Also, when preparing a debut performance, don’t rely on the owner of the club for assistance in getting the word out. Until you make a name for yourself, you’ll just be another act for that club owner, and realistically you shouldn’t expect any support from them until you can prove yourself.

Okay, if you’re a stand up comedian, one of the things that happens eventually is that sooner or later someone is bound to snatch material from you. It can and does happen in the industry. So you may be asking yourself how you can protect yourself from these thefts.

The only real way this can be done is if you have a solid act that you take with you wherever you go. Writing this down and getting a copyright on it is the only legal way to protect your material from theft. Even then most comedians don’t do this because admittedly, the job of a stand up comedian requires new material often.

Sooner or later, if you keep the same jokes running over and over again, even at different venues with different people, word will eventually get out and you will no longer be funny. So realistically speaking, copywriting your stuff if you’re a stand up comic isn’t very practical.

So how, you’re probably asking, do I keep other people from stealing my stuff? The answer? You don’t. Not directly at least. See, the important thing is that no matter what other comedians steal from you, they won’t be able to carry it out properly unless they have your personality. A comedian’s personality drives his jokes; without the proper delivery, the same joke done by someone else will often fall flat.

Naturally, there are excellent mimics out there who can imitate your style right down to facial expressions and gestures; these are the problematic ones. They might not have your personality but they can copy your style when delivering your material. The only real way to deal with these unoriginal acts is to, unfortunately, come up with other material. Thankfully, truly talented mimics are few and far in between, so more often than not you can safely go on with your routine without worrying about someone stealing it from you.

Another way to fight people who steal your material is to have your managers and agents spread the word about your act. Very few managers and agents will work for someone that they know has taken material from someone else. They won’t work with these comedy routine thieves specifically because they know that people won’t patronize an act that they’ve seen performed before by someone else.

Therefore, having your agent or manager spread the word around the industry regarding the details of your act not only generates more publicity for you, it keeps people who actually do manage to copy your style from even getting into the industry.

Lastly, try and make friends with other comedians. Go and see their shows, and invite them to yours. While this may seem a prime way to invite someone to steal your material, it can also be used as a weapon against comedy material thieves. By observing the acts of other comedians, you’ll be able to spot other comedians who steal your stuff. Also, if you spot someone who has taken your stuff, since you’ve gone to the acts of other comedians, you’ll be able to tell if these thieves have likewise stolen other parts of their routines from other people you know.

Once you confirm that someone is liberally taking their acts from your work and the works of others, you can then spread the word to the other comedians you know that the person in question is ripping them off too. Nothing stops a person’s career dead in it’s tracks like having word spread in the industry that he’s an unoriginal plaigarist.

Remember that the best way to deal with having your act stolen is to come up with newer and fresher acts. While this may not always be possible, it is actually extremely productive and bolsters your career. Every comedy act loses it’s appeal sooner or later, and coming up with newer and funnier material makes you even better.

In this fashion, the shameless copycats who steal your material actually goads to you to improve your performance. They make it necessary for you to become so good, and come up with new acts that are so funny, that when they perform the material they stole from you, they actually become yesterday’s news, because people will either know that they heard that act from you first, or will be favoring your act over that of the thieves simply because you’re a better comedian.

Comedy is an ever-expanding and evolving entertainment sector. There are thousands of comedians that are already dominating scenes and that are starting to make their own marks in performance venues.

That is why competition among comedians starts to get more intense and rowdy. With the increasing volume of comedians, the market is becoming more choosy and meticulous, and the number of venues shrink, giving way to only a few of outstanding comedians.

So where do other comedians go? Nowhere. They either quit the business, get other careers, or wait indefinitely until new opportunities arise.

For beginners, it would be a tough challenge to establish a niche and identity in the current comedy performing scene. The challenge to breakthrough would always be an obstacle that is succeeded by a limited number of performers.

For experts, the challenge would be how to contact that staying power to guaranty his job despite the entry of new, fresh and more talented comedians.

The promo file

Comedians, just like other talents, should always keep and update their own promo files. The promo file is a portfolio containing the necessary items that would serve as references about the comedian.

As for the employment lingo, the promo file is the equivalent of a resume, a document that would outline the job applicant’s competence, experiences and relevant knowledge.

The promo file should contain demo tapes, which would serve as a sample of outputs, materials or experience, press kits, or press-release statements for promotion, and of course the bio or biographic details.

The promo file is a comedian’s passport to securing regular and even contractual performance gigs. Thus, it should be regularly and appropriately updated. Make your promo file as presentable as ever to make sure those people and prospective employers who would get hold of it would create a good impression of you.

Preparing the promo file

The life of a comedian isn’t easy, contrary to what people may perceive. That is because to be able to become really effective, the comedian should invest in time and preparation.

Before putting a foray into the entertainment scene for comedy, the aspiring comedian should make sure he has an accessible and presentable promo file.

The promo file should speak in behalf of the comedian and should be persuasive enough to convince a prospective boss to employ the comedian.

To prepare the promo file, there are a few simple guidelines that will surely be helpful. Here are they:

o Make the resume or biographical information as comprehensive as possible. Take particular emphasis on experiences, education and of course, references.
o Unlike common notions, the biographical information should be written in a way that it is serious enough so it will be taken seriously by the prospective employer. Others employ funny gimmicks to present their biography. Don’t fall into that trap. There would be enough uses for your creative juices in other equally significant portions of the promo file.
o The demo tape should be handy and should use quality tapes, so the screen quality of the video, if it’s a video, should be superb.
o Make sure to put up your funniest comic antics on the demo tape. That way, you can demonstrate your effectiveness in making people laugh or back your claim that you are a good comedian.
o Make the demo tape entertaining enough, but make it last only a few minutes, unless an employer requires a longer duration. That way, you would be able to keep your mystery and be able to create an impression that you still have more in store.
o The press kit should be written particularly for dissemination. Make a press release of yourself. This is the part where your most creative and hilarious ideas should show off. The press kit would be a run down statement about how you would handle the situation when you are asked to advertise yourself.

Taking luck

Applying for a comedy performance gig or job will also entail luck on the part of the comedian. Be aware that sheer talent and natural humor is necessary, but they’re not enough.

Determination will be a driving force. Combine them all, and you’ll have luck to be able to land that comedy job or gig you need to get for you to have a proper venue for showcasing your talent.

Good luck!

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