Fooling Yourself

Tags: determination, hard work, stand-up comedy, The Stand-Up Diaries, Work ethic

In his comedy e-book, Jerry Corley states that only two percent of all comedians who read his book and apply it will have success.

I am not in that two percent. I work harder than just about any comic in this province, certainly in Saskatoon, when it comes to putting in the work behind the scenes.

In fact, since I’ve been working with my comedy coach, I would guess that for every hour I have been on stage, I’ve spent at least 3 to 5 hours writing and rehearsing.

I do not believe any other comic in the city that’s serious about their comedy understands this point.

Natural ability will only get you so far in life. There comes a point where you commit to not making excuses, roll up your sleeves and get to work.

So why don’t other comedians put in that same kind of work ethic? I believe it’s because of their pride. They don’t want to fail. They somehow believe that failure will set them back. But, if you’ve been paying attention at all to what I write, you would know that is the complete opposite of reality.

If pride wasn’t involved with the other comics, then they would not only ask for my assistance with their material, but would take my suggestions and use them on stage. Nobody in the comedy game had ever asked me on their own about my coaching or about what I’ve learned. I think it’s been that way for one of two reasons. Pride, or else you don’t take comedy seriously enough to want to be more consistent with it.

For a long time now, I’ve sat down to write. It’s not just a thought. I write out the actual bit with how I want it to sound. Then I go back to it day, after day, after day, after day and edit the shit out of it. Edit it so much until I start seeing sideways. If you take a look at my material during the writing process you’ll see that it’s all stories, written out.

Every time I look at it I’m always changing it, inserting laugh points, changing the setup or putting in tags or toppers.

Here is a fact. You need failure to succeed in comedy. When you start writing better in terms of manipulating the material to take advantage of audience psychology, you will find your voice quicker. You will find your comedic personna quicker based solely on how the audience sees you.

Most local comics I know are more interested in taking the stage, secretly taping me or getting on stage as many times as they can. If you’re wanting to take the stage several times a week, then Why not spend as much energy on sitting down and working on your material? Why am I the only local comedian who tapes themself on a regular basis?

I have more videos online than any comedian in this city, maybe even the province. Each video shows I am getting better in the comedy game.

There is an old saying “shit, or get off the pot.” When it comes to comedy, just about all the comics I know are too lazy, prideful or scared to take that shit, regardless of how long it may take.

I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I can at least look at myself in the mirror, knowing that I haven’t fooled myself, or any other comics as to my work ethic. I not only say I want to succeed, I back up my shit with the hard work to prove it.