The Funny Future of the Comedy Industry
Welcome to Comedy Networking!
I built this website to help Career-driven comedians establish themselves in the crazy industry of showbiz.
When you think of the word showbiz, things like Hollywood, contracts and agents come to mind, offering you lifetime deals that will grant you a life full of laughter with an audience they put you in front of.
The unfortunate truth is that this is not as common as you think...
When I started in comedy, I learned the hard way many times that it doesn't matter if you're hilarious or talented in the world of comedy.
Even if you can fill in seats, you will be ringed out for every penny by someone who understands the business better than you do for your talents.
It's better to understand the business for yourself and develop an experience on how to navigate a comedy career. Especially in modern times.
The famous comedians you see now have gone through their own path to fame and fortune. But every path is different.
To follow in the footsteps and follow the norm of "making it" in the traditional sense may not work for you.
But luckily for us comedians, we are very creative by nature. And in todays connected world, we can break traditional business models and make some great progress.
In this blog post I'm going to share some of the most fundamental skills and factors that will place you on the fast lane to grow your comedy career and finally make a living off of your sense of humor.
1. Become what I call an "Independent Comedian" and create your own Comedy Industry
Think about it, when you are making an audience laugh, its just you and them...why do we need a middleman to make a living off of laughter.
We live in a society that has made it normal for competition, yaysayers or naysayers to approve someones advancement in their creative endeavors.
Look at America's Got Talent, Hell's Kitchen, event Cupcake Wars (Imagine that, a show about baking something like cupcakes getting judged!).
These shows exemplify that in order to be good at something - one person or a group of people decide if its good or not.
To rely an entire career to the judgement of someone else is a fast way to get shot down quickly.
It's better to rely on the self-assurance of your own capabilities and progressing from there.
To achieve this, consider looking at your comedy career as an entrepreneur. Where the decisions you make will grow your path towards the goals you would like to achieve.
Examples of this is starting a podcast, selling a merch line with your punchlines, producing your own show, or monetizing a YouTube channel with your comedy sketches.
You have direct control of your career if you make an effort to take on a role of an executive rather than a prospect for an executive.
If you build this foundation, anything else that comes out of your comedy career will be supplemental. Bookings on top of bookings, commercials, deals, etc.
2. Develop Your Comedy Creativity
Every comedian is different. Our sense of humor is like a fingerprint, and the more you develop it, the better your identity within the comedy style you're developing.
No one can ever be another Richard Pryor, Rodney Dangerfield or Eddie Murphy; these are examples of comedy development that runs deep into a brand.
If you're always working on your craft, over time, more capabilities will begin to emerge based on what you're creating.
Podcasts, one-liners, screenwriting, sketches, stand up bits, etc.
Understanding your comedy style will not only make you funnier and a better performer - but will be able to be called upon on command more often rather than moping around a laptop or blank page.
The more comedy you can create the more online content you can create.
3. Create Comedy Content Often
Doing comedy online comes first, on stage second.
You're online more than you are on stage and we need to take advantage of that.
No need to wait for an open mic. Every comedy or joke idea can be placed online to get feedback immediately.
And there are many ways comedy can take the form of comedy content. Memes, twitter updates, podcasts etc.
But the most talented content creators know that each joke can be extrapolated into all forms of comedy.
For example, if you're riffing on a bit during a podcast interview, you can make a photo quote, clip it out for audio post and for a video clip post.
That's 4 pieces of content off of one joke.
The more content you create the more an audience will be able to recognize you.
There is a big difference between being known and being famous.
Fame is an act of chance, but being known is something you can create for yourself with a consistent online presence.
4. Build An Audience Over Time
When you begin to understand your comedy style, and have a system for creating comedy often online, you'll soon start to bring together an audience.
This audience is your direct feedback in who you are becoming in your comedy career, it is the direct result.
And never be ungrateful for a small audience, they are the spark to a larger following.
Keep an eye for feedback and measure it.
Likes, shares, comments, etc. these are the indicators of where your comedy can go.
Comedians who find their sweet spot of comedy content recreate it to grow their followers.
In turn this following supports you by purchasing tickets, merch, and subscribing to your podcast or YouTube.
5. Networking Effectively
And here is where the magic of this website comes in.
Connecting with other like-minded comedians is one of the biggest cornerstones to your success.
They can provide information, experience, bookings, podcast interviews or introduce you to others.
And its not just because they give you opportunities, but they also challenge your status quo.
Seeing another hilarious comedian absolutely crush it in their careers will rub off on you. So seek them often and interact with them.
Here on ComedyNetworking.com, we plan on creating a source for these connections to happen more often and create a network of comedians seeking a new comedy industry to make people laugh!
To learn more about the project, be sure to subscribe to our Comedy Networking newsletter.
