...and often you die there too!
A very good friend of mine has recently (by recently, I mean in the last year and a half) has jumped into the stand-up comedy scene in the Big, Bad City. He has come quite a long way. If fact, he's probably done better than many who have been at it for years. Is he headlining at Madison Square Garden? No. In fact, to be doing well in the city means that you are actually getting paid to do your material in front of an audience. Any audience. And when I say paid, I mean 25 bucks a night, if you're lucky. Big time, right?
Over the last few years, in both NY and LA, I've seen how difficult the road to being a big time stand-up (or ANY stand-up) can be. It's an entirely different world from being an actor. There are no auditions in front of casting directors in studio spaces. Your audition is in front on an audience of drunk frat boys pulled off the street by a promoter. They are enticed with cheap beer and hopefully they stay for the comedy. It's a baptism by fire, always.
Furthermore, you run your own enterprise. Your are as successful as you make yourself (that, I think can be said for most situations--however, it's can be taken as literally as possible here). You are the writer, producer, director, performer, and promoter all in one. You've got to get people to the show. And they have to think you're funny if you want to continue to perform. Furthermore, if you need to "work out" material, it's in front of an audience. Some stand-ups can get in front of an audience 7 days a week for a month just to create an act that lasts 5 minutes.
Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and nearly every successful stand up started crafting their act at some version of a Chuckles Laugh Hut during open-mike night. Hell, many successful comedians still drop-by certain clubs late at night to work on new material (and in doing so, they bump 3 comedic hopefuls off the bill for that night--another "perk").
So, as you're walking through Times Square, hearing the constant echo of "You guys like stand-up comedy?" every 3 feet, remember that those guys you see with the clipboards aren't just trying to make conversation with strangers. Those are the guys you will see on stage that night if you by a ticket from them. They need to get people to the show in order to perform 5 minutes of possibly mediocre material in the hopes of becoming the next Dave Chapelle.
(Cue the NBC "The More You Know" music)
The problem is, I DON'T really like stand-up comedy, so I'm being honest when those dudes accost me in midtown. I would rather do just about anything than have to watch bad stand-up. Jokes about how much girlfriends love jewelry and how lame white people are make my skin crawl. I know it's a hard job, but I've said many times that the worst feeling in the world is embarrassment for another person - you can't control it, and it makes you want to dig a hole in the floor to hide. That's my #1 emotion when watching 95% of stand-up comedy.
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