Shayne-Michael.COMedy

Investing in Yourself - by Shayne Michael

Comedians are whiners. They complain about the cost of open mics, books, classes. They get annoyed when open mics charge $3.00 that is redeemable for a drink that they would have bought anyway. They get offended that someone puts ideas into words and then sells them to other comics for $15 a reprint. They get annoyed anyone could command $450 for a comedy class by they declaring that comedy is subjective and can never be taught, unless you're teaching yourself.

Not everything that costs money is a bad investment. Not everything that is free is worth your time. Any investor who says I only buy investments that are free is either very lucky or heavily into scams. And a comedian who writes off every tool that isn't free is a fool.

Evaluating Open Mics

Free open mics aren't always the best use of your time. Free open mics attract comics who believe when they're given something they owe nothing in return. This type of comic will use language like, "I can't stand being forced to support the venue. I only buy drinks when I'm not being blackmailed." Number one grow up. Number two, they lie. Watch the same comic at a free open mic. They almost never support the venue when it's optional. Any club that caters to this type of patron will eventually collapse under the weight of its own mismanagement.

Now, take this one step further. You have an audience full of comics who have no loyalty to anything but their own set. What are the odds that they'll stick around and support you? How close is this audience you've selected to a room full of paying patrons at a comedy club?

I'm not saying every free open mic is bad. I'm not saying every open mic that you pay for is good. However, when you look for stage time you need to look at more than a price tag. A open mic that gives you irrelevant and irrational feedback will cost you more in the long run than a $2.00 cover charge appliable to the venue's menu. In many cases, you cost yourself more by avoiding the best stage time all together because it wasn't free.

Evaluate open mics on the totality of circumstances surrounding them. Get word of mouth reviews. Find out if industry attends. How much stage time do you get? How many non-comics show up? How fair is the emcee? How decent is the club? How long will you spend looking for parking? Put them all together and look at the price last. All investments come with a price tag anyway - be it gas, time or money.

I live forty miles away from most open mics. I would never drive to the Un-Urban over Jennifer's Coffee because, to me, when the hostess and lights your set by "dancing you off the stage" while two people are left watching and every comic has left his or her set was finished made the Un-Urban a bad investment. I'd rather spend $2.00 and get feedback I can use.

Evaluating Books on Comedy

Many comics believe you can't learn anything from books on comedy. Some comics believe there is no such thing as teaching. Others believe there is no such thing as teaching comedy. You definitely can't put successful patterns of delivering punchlines into words and charge $15 a reprint.

Again, this is a bad and a blind assumption. It gives every comic willing to pick up a book a huge advantage over you. If you ask most comics who refuse to ever invest in a book they will say it's because books are never worth the price tag. But ask these same comics how many books on comedy they read before they decided that, the answer will be "zero". Ask them why they don't evaluate the books at the public library and then decide if they're worth the money they will answer "no time."

The truth is these comics have no frame of reference to tell you if a book (or books in general) are worth the price tag. I would never take advice from someone who's sworn off reading, even in comedy. If you want to evaluate books on comedy look at the reviews on Amazon.Com and Barnes and Nobel. Ask other comics who have read the book. Or, check the book out from the library first.

Ninety percent of comics who will never buy a book will never borrow one. It's not because of the cost. It's because they believe they have nothing to learn from anything but their own observations at open mics. Do you want to win in an arena as competitive as comedy? If so, you had better get a wider spectrum of view-points. Read biographies. Check out how-to books. Get interactive CDs. Listen to mentors. Only a fool would limit his sphere of knowledge to the words and wisdom of open mic-ers who do nothing but attend free open mics and wine about the price.

Evaluating Comedy Classes

People who say classes aren't worth the money have rarely taken one. How can you possibly know if a product is worth the price tag if you never look into that product or anything remotely similar? How can you blow off classes in general, if you've never taken one?

Classes come with a higher price tag and a wider price range. Before you decide if the class is a good investment, get a more accurate picture of what you're getting for your money. Then decide if it's something you need. How will that class give you your tuition times one thousand five years from now? If there's a reasonable answer to the last question, is paying tuition really a bad idea?

What questions should you ask to learn if the class is worth the money? Get feedback from former students you really respect. Find out if the teacher is still performing. What have this teacher's students gone on to do? Do they attribute any of their success to this instructor?

I learned in Greg Dean's basic class simple joke structure. For me, nobody else had broken jokes into such a clear precise formula. Three years later, I still use what I learned, despite the fact that his basic class lead to no performance. I recommend Dean's basic class to everyone. Dean's advanced class was a waste of time for me. I learned nothing new, yet I got stage time and a tape. I only recommend his advanced class to someone who needs a tape and stage time. To them, the price tag might be worth it. Weather or not that class is worth $350 depends on the student's goals and what the class will do to help the student meet them.

Summary of this Article

Not every investment is free. Open mics, books, and classes are investments any comic can make in themselves. Too often comics get hung up on price and limit themselves to the free tools provided within the industry. They're locked on the idea that comedy is a universe onto itself where the best investments are free and involve their own point-of-view alone. Do this and your competition will run you down, without looking back.

Those comics who never invest in themselves decide they can't afford it before they ever decide if it's a good or bad deal. They avoid everything with a price tag, no matter how small. That's a foolish way to go about learning, and it makes improvement take ten times as long. Everyone can afford to invest something in them self. And if you really want to compete in this industry, you can't afford not to.