There are as many ways to enter the field of stand-up comedy, cartooning, comedy acting, and writing as there are IPODS and accessories. Okay, maybe not quite that many, but a lot of paths.
The first thing I had to do was try on a great many masks to figure out just what my "comedy voice" was and is. I tried acting, stand up-comedy and many other venues. I didn't feel totally comfortable in any of them. I did receive a lot of attention, and occasionally I was even funny on stage, but generally not. I was too nervous and self-conscious about what others were thinking. That left cartooning and humor writing. It was a wise choice.
I have been a stand-up comedian in New York City, but that was many years ago, and I am the last person to ask how to master that skill. I was dismal at it. But frankly, all I did was asked club owners, if I could "have a shot at it". Some said yes and some said no. The ones who said no did me a bigger favor, in retrospect.
One caveat: If you've become an emcee at a nightclub, you are not David Letterman or Jay Leno yet. You will get a lot more attention from the opposite sex (and sometimes your own), a few free meals and drinks if the club owner is generous, but not a lot more perks than that.
Leno did gigs in nightclubs all over America for years before he tried out for television in Los Angeles. Chances are he could have made it big way before he actually did so. But he wanted to make certain he knew exactly what he was doing, and the nightclubs were his grade school, middle school, and even post graduate comedy degrees.
What to play humorous characters in television, movies or commercials? Take classes. There are plenty of them in larger cities. I took some in New York during my short stint there. Yes, they helped, but not enough. That was my reality so I moved on.
I can honestly say that the best education I ever received for becoming a humor writer, and eventually having my own cartoon, was "hanging with funny people". I was fortunate enough that a childhood friend, Patrick Weathers, had been a regular featured performer on Saturday Night Live. Patrick was my roommate in N.Y. I was privy to his friends who, were for the most part, quite witty. I learned to think like they thought. I carried that with me throughout life. I found, like many of them must have, that a sense of humor can help one cope through all kinds of situations. And I have had many (situations).
I became a cartoonist by accident. I was writing humor and designing cartoon concepts for fun. A concept designer in cartooning is probably equivalent to art director in the movies). I illustrate but not very well. So I recruited artists who felt they understood my concepts and writing and were willing to draw on speculation if I would continuously promote their name and art during down times, that is, of little or no income. Many artists came and went. A day did not go by in the first three years that I did not think we would have to abandon the project. But we persisted. (It doesn't help to read self-help books on the topic of persistence).
Ten years later, it is almost unimaginable to me. We created the largest offbeat cartoon panel site on the Internet with over 8000 original images and have lured about 10 million people since we started counting ten years ago. We've opened 7 niche stores with over 90,000 cartoon items. Now we have arrived.
The first thing I had to do was try on a great many masks to figure out just what my "comedy voice" was and is. I tried acting, stand up-comedy and many other venues. I didn't feel totally comfortable in any of them. I did receive a lot of attention, and occasionally I was even funny on stage, but generally not. I was too nervous and self-conscious about what others were thinking. That left cartooning and humor writing. It was a wise choice.
I have been a stand-up comedian in New York City, but that was many years ago, and I am the last person to ask how to master that skill. I was dismal at it. But frankly, all I did was asked club owners, if I could "have a shot at it". Some said yes and some said no. The ones who said no did me a bigger favor, in retrospect.
One caveat: If you've become an emcee at a nightclub, you are not David Letterman or Jay Leno yet. You will get a lot more attention from the opposite sex (and sometimes your own), a few free meals and drinks if the club owner is generous, but not a lot more perks than that.
Leno did gigs in nightclubs all over America for years before he tried out for television in Los Angeles. Chances are he could have made it big way before he actually did so. But he wanted to make certain he knew exactly what he was doing, and the nightclubs were his grade school, middle school, and even post graduate comedy degrees.
What to play humorous characters in television, movies or commercials? Take classes. There are plenty of them in larger cities. I took some in New York during my short stint there. Yes, they helped, but not enough. That was my reality so I moved on.
I can honestly say that the best education I ever received for becoming a humor writer, and eventually having my own cartoon, was "hanging with funny people". I was fortunate enough that a childhood friend, Patrick Weathers, had been a regular featured performer on Saturday Night Live. Patrick was my roommate in N.Y. I was privy to his friends who, were for the most part, quite witty. I learned to think like they thought. I carried that with me throughout life. I found, like many of them must have, that a sense of humor can help one cope through all kinds of situations. And I have had many (situations).
I became a cartoonist by accident. I was writing humor and designing cartoon concepts for fun. A concept designer in cartooning is probably equivalent to art director in the movies). I illustrate but not very well. So I recruited artists who felt they understood my concepts and writing and were willing to draw on speculation if I would continuously promote their name and art during down times, that is, of little or no income. Many artists came and went. A day did not go by in the first three years that I did not think we would have to abandon the project. But we persisted. (It doesn't help to read self-help books on the topic of persistence).
Ten years later, it is almost unimaginable to me. We created the largest offbeat cartoon panel site on the Internet with over 8000 original images and have lured about 10 million people since we started counting ten years ago. We've opened 7 niche stores with over 90,000 cartoon items. Now we have arrived.
About the Author:
From scratch in a metal warehouse, Rick London created the largest offbeat cartoon site on the Internet, Londons Times Cartoons The Best Ways To Enter The Field Of Humor You are welcome to reprint this article - but get your own unique content version here.
No comments:
Post a Comment