I have been active in stand-up comedy since 2007. I worked very hard when I started. I recorded my sets and typed out every single joke on my computer. I then played them back and rated them 1-5, scrapping the 1’s, reworking the 2’s and even diving into the 5’s to make sure they held up. I haven’t done my closer from 2011 since 2013 and I was on the road up to 10 nights a month then. I didn’t like the joke anymore.
When I hit the road, I ran into a ton of much older headliners who started in the comedy boom of the 1990’s. There was Showtime, HBO and comedy clubs…or bars calling themselves comedy clubs. A person could start stand-up and within a few months, be on the road full time making $100 a show for 10-15 minutes hosting, not even counting shirt sales. I talked to guy who quit his job less than six months after starting and was pulling in over a grand on a good week with shirt sales not traveling more than 100 miles. When I started, it was fading; now it’s largely a fairy tale. Netflix has dozens of stand-up specials with but a click and you can stay in your underoos with your pre-licked ice cream or IPA. Comedy Central runs all day and night. Want a comedy special/TED talk? Got it online. Want political comedy, even (why I have no idea) alt-right or alt-left? You can find it on YouTube. It’s all there. Now road gigs I get offered don’t even offer hotels. The shit ridden roach traps that cost the bar $29 a night are even slipping away.
For me, I went from single guy with no regard for his real job to a sales rep running training and tech support while married with two young kids, so I couldn’t even do the road if I wanted to (and I don’t), but it is my duty as someone who has been doing stand-up for over twelve years to say this: get your ass to your local comedy shows. If I had a dollar for everyone that said, “I’m going to catch your next show!” and didn’t, I would have a helicopter to fly me to my shows. There are plenty of complete turds in comedy, trust me, but there is no substitute for live comedy. NONE. You go out to dinner and have no idea who the chef is, what the bartender knows about making drinks and if your Uber driver even has a license, but I can assure you one thing for sure: the comic you support tonight or tomorrow at your local show is busting his or her ass for the sheer purpose of making YOU laugh and isn’t getting paid well to do it.
This isn’t a finger wagging or a tongue lashing; it’s an informed suggestion . The internet has made some comics (not many) rich and famous and has buried the rest. Your attendance won’t make or break the local comic, but even if the show isn’t to the level you wanted, the live aspect cannot be recreated on something you watch streaming. I have done roasts, stand-up, improv, sketch and even voice and video recordings for comedic purposes and I can guarantee I gave it all I had. You won’t regret it, unless you’re a heckler, then I will split your soul open wide and devour it. If you do regret seeing a comic, it’s your fault for not coming to a show I’m on and if you don’t enjoy me, you’re dumb and don’t like laughing. Or puppies. Or alcohol. Or sex and coffee and America and cheese and stuff.