this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2024
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Good on you for trying to spread joy. Respect.
I appreciate it, and I can't speak for every comedian out there, but for a lot of us, it was less about spreading joy and more about realizing that maybe we could make some money out of a skill we have (especially if we got terrible grades in high school). And, like all skills, it requires a lot of practice and a lot of failure before you get paid for doing it unless you're some sort of prodigy.
I mean obviously making people laugh is great and I'm glad I was able to, but when you're on stage, it's a high. It's not about giving them joy as much as getting high off of their response to you.
That said, it's also a horrible industry, at least it was on my level. Between the shitty club owners who stiff you, the long travel time, the awful motel rooms and having to deal with a bunch of asshole backstabbing comedians who steal each other's material, it's pretty thankless and I got out of it after about 5 years. It might be better when you're more successful, but I don't even blame asshole Republicans for giving up if they do have the self-esteem and patience to get past the open mic stage. Also, I was doing it in the 90s when Republicans were marginally less insane.
Don't get me wrong, I was a feature act for some amazing headliners (Tim Cavanaugh is the nicest guy you will ever meet) but overall it's just unpleasant.