How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.
How do you get successful enough to have a sandwich named after you at the Carnegie Deli? If you're a stand-up comic or comedic performer, change that punch line to read, "Stage time, stage time, stage time." As Cary Hoffman, owner of Stand-Up NY says, "No one can discover you in your living room."
Doing stage time is the best chance for anyone to see you and offer a paying job or representation. It's also called "paying your dues." All of the participants we interviewed agreed: There is no fast track and comics must pay their dues. They've provided tips on sending better mailing packages to generate work; what clubs are looking for; how comics can cross over into other entertainment media, like commercials and film; corporate/resort work; and comedy writing. We've focused on the comedy capital of New York City, but you'll find information here that you can use anywhere.
So, where is the money in being funny? In New York comedy clubs, a stand-up performer makes $10-$15 maximum doing a weeknight set. In a few clubs, he or she can also do a "dinner set," being paid with a meal instead of money. On the weekends during prime-time shows, the most that performers can make is $50 a set, and emcees can make $75. Earnings will add up if you get a number of paying sets in New York and New Jersey during the week/weekend.
One of the challenging jobs you might have as an emcee could be to stretch your own act while waiting for a comic who is racing from another club or state to show up for a booking. Cary Hoffman remembers that when he first opened his club in 1986, along with wife Suzanne, he thought he could safely emcee the shows himself with just the few minutes of material he had. One night when the headliner was running late for a spot, Hoffman soon found himself out of material. So he advises, "Any time you're asked to do a specific amount of time, make sure you have more."
Hoffman keeps tabs on new talent by always having his club's video camera running during shows. He has a talent- and literary-management company, too, and found recent client Lynne Koplitz when he caught her act on a club tape. He can also hear about comics from his general manager, Tim Davis. (Davis teaches a comedy class for The Learning Annex.) Hoffman gets to see many newcomers because of his club's highly successful amateur nights (which spotlight the funniest stockbroker, teacher, out comic, and many more).
Hoffman sees pre-shows as well. (As you'd expect, these are early performances-maybe 6 or 7 pm slots-preceding the prime-time shows.) "I've learned my lesson the hard way," Hoffman explains. "What's important is that a performer has to be able to relate to the audience in my club. Just because a comic is funny doesn't mean their comedy will work in every room." From pre-shows, comics may go to late unpaid slots (which run after the prime-time shows), where they can develop as performers, then on to paid spots during the week or to the shorter weekend spots. (Headliners get the longer weekend spots.) Paid bookings come when the Hoffmans and Tim Davis feel a comic is ready.
Pre-shows and new-talent nights are different in each club and require bringing a set number of guests. Most likely you'll need to provide from three to 15 customers. Each of these will pay a cover ranging from $7 to $12 and meet a two-drink minimum, to watch you do a set amount of stage time-anywhere from five to 10 minutes. The amateur nights geared towards beginners have lower requirements. Shows needing you to bring more customers will often feature professional hosts, surprise network guests, and the opportunity to buy a very high-quality video of your act, which you can use as an audition tape.
Friendly Places
Chris Mazzilli, owner of Gotham Comedy Club, was a stand-up comic for seven years before opening his club three years ago. He offers, "Be nice, be humble, and get onstage. My door is open, I take my own calls, and there's room for advancement here because I'm very interested in giving new talent a chance-I've been there." He's looking for "comics with their own voice and originality. It takes as much effort to write topical humor as it does to be unique. I can't book a show with three comics who all do the same type of material. Even after a great steak, you don't want another steak."
A comic might begin at Gotham in the weekend 6:30 pm pre-shows. This year the Toyota Comedy Festival is doing a set of New Faces 2000 shows at a few clubs, and it was at Gotham's Tuesday New Talent Night that Mazzilli found some of the comics he'll be using for the fest. "This show is the stepping stone to getting into our regular rotation," he advises. Once in that rotation, you might be asked to call in your "avails"-meaning your availability to be booked for shows during the week-or you might be made the standby act for the weekend.
Mazzilli further observes, "What goes around comes around. Be well dressed, professional, on time, and get off with the light." (A light is usually how clubs let you know that your stage time has finished. Your set running over could have a domino effect, making other comics or a whole show or club run behind for the rest of the night.) Mazzilli receives 30 audition tapes a week, and his ideal package doesn't require a photo. He does like a cover letter noting who you are, how you found out about Gotham, where you're performing, and the best time you can be reached. One big mistake he sees is comics not fully labeling their tapes because their contact information is in their cover letters: "Things get separated; your name and phone number should be on your tape.
A professional does need to have a tape. If you don't, then pay for a good one or do one of the bringer shows to get a tape." (Comics call shows where you have to bring people "bringer" shows.) A tape shouldn't feature clinking glasses in the background or waitresses' heads, or be shakily done with a hand-held camcorder.
Gina Savage, entertainment director of New York City's The Boston Comedy Club, got her comedy training at Carolines On Broadway, working for highly respected Entertainment Director Louis Faranda and owner Caroline Hirsch. Boston is owned by Barry Katz Management, so Savage's booking strategy includes many signed clients and comics being considered by Katz for development.
Like Gotham's Mazzilli, Savage is accessible, especially to professionals who may not be getting enough stage time elsewhere. There is a Monday new-talent night, which she often attends, and she's always looking at tapes. Paying spots happen on the weekends and for these she has to take seniority into consideration. The comics who move to paying slots "move up quickly because they're confident and have energy, more than just because of their material," she explains. "Boston is a boxing ring of comedy; if you throw someone in the ring who isn't ready, it shows." She confides, "If you can do well here you're set."
Savage doesn't mind comics being persistent. She's found that if a comic is around the club constantly, and a scheduled act doesn't show, she'll put up the comic who's there instead. She also takes recommendations from her popular club emcee, Lewis Schaffer. Boston, too, has always been known as a venue that allows comics to sit in the back and watch for free when seats are available (Gotham Comedy Club also tries to be flexible with allowing up-and-coming performers to watch the club's shows).
Each club in New York City has something different for the comic looking for performance options, so it pays to do your homework and find out what each can offer you. Carolines is a headliner club, but it has a well-respected new-talent night. Being "passed" by Lucien Hold at The Comic Strip is on the wish list of most comics on stage today. (Getting passed in a room means getting the thumbs-up from that room.) The Comedy Cellar is also popular, and the king of the alternative comedy-club scene is Surf Reality. The comedy grapevine is strikingly accessible in clubs; you just need to ask.
On the Road Again
Because more money can be negotiated doing club work on the road, some comics will drive long hours and hundreds of miles for a club one-nighter, or to spend a few days to a week performing in one area. Pay is higher, ranging from the hundreds to $1,000 to $3,000 a week for a headliner, but you can sometimes be covering your living and travel expenses out of that pay.
Comics can contact these clubs themselves and mail audition packages, and are often recommended by other comics. While you can try to increase your earnings by calling clubs and picking up more bookings in an area where you know you'll be working, it's important not to book shows at competing clubs.
Jim David is a Back Stage Bistro- and MAC Award-winning outrageous and sassy southern comic, whom Newsday has called, "The best-kept secret in comedy." He headlines all over the country and on TV. "Most of the money in stand-up is made on the road, but you pay a price," he confides. "You spend most of your time alone in a hotel room in a strange city, where the only available restaurant is Hooters. The rest of the time you're onstage seeking the approval of people you would normally run from on the street."
David was in New York as an actor for 10 years before starting to do stand-up 13 years ago, in which he was quickly able to support himself. "When I started you just passed at a club; now you have to telemarket, clean the toilets, and bring your friends. I never would have made it; I had no friends." He adds seriously, "Nobody is a headliner in New York; everyone's competing for the same spots here." He has appeared on Broadway and also has a successful one-man multi-character theatre piece called "South Pathetic," about his experiences working with a southern community theatre.
David stresses, "I can't state enough how much work I've gotten by networking with comics in the clubs. I wish I had done it more when I was starting out." Noting another area of opportunity, he continues, "There's also great money to be made in corporate gigs-between $500 and $5,000-but you have to be totally clean and edge free. They just want to entertain their clients, not hear your opinions on corporate greed and white supremacists. It's very important to be able to tailor your material to a specific venue. I essentially do my act, but I don't curse or say how much I hate Reagan."
Comedy Corporate Style
There are firms that help resorts and corporations find comedy talent for shows and events. While we've found that no comic likes to broadcast what he's been able to personally negotiate for doing a one-shot appearance as a corporate emcee, we can tell you fees range easily from the hundreds up to $1,500, occasionally reaching the $2,000-to-$5,000 range.
For advice we went to Howard Rapp of Charles Rapp Enterprises, a management office that provides talent-consulting for resorts and corporations. He is willing to look at mail submissions-but before you lick that stamp, pay close attention to what's required: "The delivery you're going to use in a comedy club is a totally different speed than what my clients need," Rapp counsels. "Usually in clubs, you're working in a smaller room requiring spitfire jokes. The smallest rooms we work with seat 700 to 1,500 people. In a big room your delivery needs to slow down. If people can't hear you, even if it's because you're getting laughs, they'll lose interest. You have to wait for the laughs to die down first."
"If a comic is good, they're good," Rapp offers. "It matters less to me how long they've been at it, or where they've played." You must also have at least 30 to 45 minutes of material for a booking. Unlike most offices interested in a short tape, Rapp needs to view on tape the full set you have to offer-"10 minutes isn't enough for me to see." This longer tape, however, has to grab the watcher immediately, just as a shorter tape would be expected to do.
One of the comics Howard Rapp works with is Modi Rosenfeld, a.k.a. Modi, who has been doing stand-up for four years. Modi started after friends brought him to an amateur night at Stand-Up NY. He has a young Sid Caesar-esque talent for creating accents and characters, making him appeal to a diverse audience market-plus, he's able to work "clean" (no blue humor). He believes his professional business background, working in international banking for Merrill Lynch Private Clients Group, has also helped, because he can be organized and professional about his comedy career.
"I get job offers from audience members, so I always carry copies of my tape and business cards," he reports. "You'll find the best work and money always comes out of nowhere. I'll drive all night to a road job to make $300 working Thursday through Sunday, or work a show for no money, but someone there will see me and book me to work an hour as a host for an event and make $2,000. I did a dinner spot at the Comedy Cellar after only being at it for six months and had an audience member book me for a great money job at Club Med." He advises, "You must make yourself usable for any audience."
For a manager's eye view, we went to Roger Paul of Roger Paul Management, whose exclusive comedy roster includes Lewis Black, A. Whitney Brown, Billy Jaye, and Claudia Sherman. Paul's background includes working for Spotlight Enterprises, Ltd., representing artists like Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno. He spent 12 years as an agent, and with his Roger Paul Agency worked with Gabe Kaplan, Marc Price, and U.S.A. network's Rhonda Shear, to name a few. Paul's specialty in the past has been colleges, clubs, and personal appearances, and he is now branching out into the fields of television development, film, and literary. He switched to management because it offers more control.
Back Stage asked Paul what is required for success in today's competitive comedy market. "There's no fast track in comedy," he replied. "There are so many factors involved, but you can't just be a stand-up comic anymore. You need to be an actor or a writer, who is able to work with people and create a persona and an atmosphere when you're onstage. You need to be disciplined and not worry about what anybody else is doing. Focus on your material, be believable, and work every night if possible. Do writing sessions; always be working on something. Don't be lazy. You also need to be versatile and be able to work clean. Dirt was in, but now it's not; people want variety."
What types of jobs are available to comics? "I like to say anybody with warm blood and cold cash," Paul responds jokingly. "Cruise ships, camps, high schools, kids' work, casinos, resorts, corporate, or create a job for yourself. It's also very important not to steal material."
For mail submissions Paul looks at a tape, but he likes to see the act live and is out in the clubs nightly looking at performers.
Look It Up
Now that you might be branching out into other types of comedy work, you'll need advice on the business of show business-how to market yourself with resumes, cover letters, and other promotional materials.
Dave Schwensen has been the talent coordinator for A&E network's "An Evening at The Improv," assistant to The Improv's Budd Friedman, and manager of the New York Improv. He is also a journalist, interviewer, and humorist, and owns Dave Schwensen Entertainment, where he books talent for clubs, colleges, corporate shows, and special events. In his spare time he teaches comedy workshops and college classes on comedy.
Schwensen has taken all this experience and valuable knowledge and put it into his book "How to Be a Working Comic-An Insider's Guide to a Career in Stand-Up Comedy." The volume is full of proactive ideas and hands-on experience, because it also features interviews with more than 16 top comics, including Drew Carey, Jeff Foxworthy, and Tom Rhodes, plus a forward by Ray Romano. You'll also find explanations on the difference between agents and managers, and other essential data for the career-minded comic. You'll find Schwensen's book a valuable resource no matter what career level you may have achieved.
Stay in School
The college market is also a very lucrative way to make a living, although it does require some initial investment and hard work. The National Association for Campus Activities has a website at www.naca.org that will tell you all about becoming a member. The initial investment for membership, the association's directory, a buying guide, and a subscription to Programming magazine may seem pricey at $530, but it is the link to 1,200 colleges that pay top dollar for performers. More than 600 talent agencies also belong to this organization-so when you consider signing with an agent or manager, ask if he/she is a member and can get you booked into colleges.
Another helpful publication is the "Jewish Entertainment Resource Directory." (Find JERD on the web at www.jewishentertainment.net.) If you are a performer whose material and appeal is to a Jewish audience, for $80 yearly and a first-time start-up fee of $10, you can be listed in this directory that goes to temples, schools, and organizations. You can also have your show dates listed on the website's calendar, with a link to your website.
Providing this information is comic Scott Blakeman, who as well as being dubbed by Jewish Week, "the King of Comedy at Jewish singles events," is an astute political comic. He's been a regular warm-up for "David Letterman" and teaches comedy at New York's The New School. "Comedians are your best agents. They are my best leads and connections," declares Blakeman, who also produces and hosts a number of popular singles events for the 92nd Street Y-including a Sunday Brunch Variety Talk Show and a regular Singles Comedy Night. He pitches these events to other groups as well. Having been recommended by a third party to the Y, he has continued to pitch show ideas for its catalogue, including his "Laughs From the Left" night of political humor, which has been a sell-out the Sunday before election day. He'll also be interviewing Robert Klein this summer as part of the Y Goes to the Beach series.
Producing his own shows in cabarets and comedy clubs has been the successful comedy path used by "Rosie O'Donnell" writer Seth Rudetsky. This past year he won a Back Stage Bistro Award for his musical comedy, which he performed regularly in his own show at Rose's Turn cabaret. He currently has a sketch-comedy-and-camp show monthly at Carolines. His partner in that enterprise is Jack Plotnick (seen in "Gods and Monsters" and often on "Ellen"); their next show runs May 23, at 6 pm.
Rudetsky began doing stand-up four years ago at the Duplex, after his sketch partner Plotnick moved to L.A. Rudetsky's material often comes from his other career, playing '70s music in piano bars and then being pianist for a number of Broadway shows. He first crossed over to writing for Rhonda Shear and "USA Up All Night" because another comic at the Duplex-Shecky Beagleman-was a staff writer and performer on the show and suggested Rudetsky go for it. He typed up a list of ideas and pitched piano-oriented sketches which played up his strength as a musical director.
Meanwhile, on Broadway he played the "Grease" revival auditions for many stars like Brooke Shields, who became material for his act. He got involved writing parodies for the Broadway Cares events by asking if he could help out with one show, and was soon writing the opening number for the Easter Bonnet competition. That's where O'Donnell got the idea to have him write Broadway-song parodies for her show. Soon after she invited him without the usual writing submission requirements to join her writing team.
Rudetsky is a great fan of working in cabarets, where you can produce at little cost, while keeping all the control and the covers. He now has his sights set on writing and starring in his own sitcom.
Mother Knows Best
Producing your own Comedy CD is another opportunity to showcase what you do. Quirky single comedienne Amy Borkowsky is an award-winning (five Clios, three Cannes Festival Lions, and an Emmy) advertising executive with a major New York agency. She's also been performing stand-up over the last two years, appearing at Carolines and Stand-Up NY. Busy Borkowsky's answering machine is a major survival tool, and this is reflected in her act.
Following the comedy adage "talk about what you know," the jewel in the crown of her set has always been real answering-machine messages from her mother, who has been known to call between two and four times a day. The comedienne noticed that this part of her act consistently resonated best with audiences. She has just released a 28-track CD which she markets on her website, www.sendamy.com, featuring pearls of maternal wisdom collected from her machine since the mid-'80s.
"Amy's Answering Machine Volume 1: Messages From Mom" is distinctive because it is obvious from the promo materials that the project is a loving look at her mother's use of the telephone as "a baby monitor," rather than a case of mom-bashing. Borkowsky says with a smile, "I am convinced MCI stands for Mother's Constant Interference." She weaves funny commentaries between cuts and can now use the CD in appearances, doing visual takes to motherly observations like, "Don't wear a red robe when you get the mail-red is a gang color."
The CD is beginning to get heavy airplay (60 radio interviews already) and has been written up in 20 publications, including the L.A. Times. She has started making TV appearances as well and is being considered by a few national shows. The project allows her comedy to get far more attention than she would have time to generate with club appearances, since her successful ad career keeps her busy.
Lights, Camera, Comics
There is generally more money to be made being funny in front of the camera than onstage. If you're a stand-up comic looking to cross over into television, you may think that being an actor playing a funny character will come as easy to you as stand-up does. Back Stage asked Pat McCorkle, one of the preeminent casting directors in the business, for some realistic tips on a comic "mainstreaming," or making the transition to on-camera work.
McCorkle Casting Ltd. was founded in 1979 and is currently casting 10 half-hour episodes of the Comedy Central series "Stranger With Candy," starring Amy Sedaris. This project requires high school age or very young-looking performers capable of outrageous visual comedy. Another project, "Buffalo Boys," is a comedy film set in New York at the dawn of the moving-picture show, requiring an ensemble cast of highly physical comics using a Buster Keaton/silent film-style of comedy to create a 1912 Max Sennet-like movie company.
"When we were casting "Splash' [the 1984 film], " McCorkle recalls, "you had to go to comedy clubs and showcases to look for comedic performers; you had to go within their world. Now comics have become so marketable, agents do that work for us. They have whole departments just for comics. We may not go to the clubs now, but we do look at flyers to let us know what people are doing." She adds, "Seeing listed on a resume that a performer does club stand-up or improv lets us know they have a sense of humor."
McCorkle especially stresses, "Being funny or having great comedy material has nothing to do with creating another character and whether you'll be able to do that. Once, we cast a character who had to be a Borsht Belt comic. The comic we hired had a hard time doing the scripted dialogue, even though it was very funny material. Making the transition to doing someone else's writing can be very difficult, but you must do that if you're interested in mainstreaming. You have to find out, too, whether you even like doing that."
McCorkle doesn't keep an ongoing office file just for comics, but for a series like "Stranger With Candy," for the length of the project she keeps on file a folder of those who might be castable. She does accept mail submissions from performers, and emphasizes that it's very important to use a picture that looks like you. McCorkle cautions that one thing she is not looking for is comics who are doing their acts. "It's a disservice to your audition," she cautions. "It is good to be friendly, but a real turn-off is seeing someone who is "on' and at one level or the same throughout an audition. It makes me wonder if they have the discipline to do the work required." When bringing in performers, she pays attention to the acting and on-camera training they've had, and she believes it's wise for comics to have those audition tools as well.
For those curious about what a day in front of the camera can pay, the current minimums from the Screen Actors Guild are $102 per day for extras and $576 for a day player on film. There are no set fees for non-union work, but paying non-union jobs are out there. Just like any other performer, a comic can do a mailing with a photo and resume and then do follow-up mailings with picture postcards. Write on the back where you are performing and also send flyers regularly to keep your name and photo out there. Because comics-unlike actors-always have access to some form of self-generated performance work (open mikes, for example), they luckily always have performing to write about on a postcard, or to talk about at an audition interview.
You can read the Back Stage casting notices to look for auditions you might be right for, too, and for weekly articles and special issues on topics in other entertainment fields you can explore. Another good source for information on casting directors, film production companies, talk-show casting, network contacts, and what's currently being cast and shot, is the monthly Ross Reports Television & Film guide. Each February it publishes a "Comedy Casting Guide" issue, listing which agents and managers specifically use comedy and variety performers.
Comics have become so popular that one new agency listed in February's Ross Reports, About Artists Agency, Inc., opened specifically to represent upcoming and established comics and comic character actors. The agency's owner, Renee Glicker, not only has a background as an agent, but worked in the comedy clubs as well. Current issues of Ross Reports are sold at many newsstands. To request the February 1999 comedy guide ($7.50), and to ask about other guides, call Walter, at (212) 536-5170.
Some of Madison Avenue's best-known commercial mainstays are comics and comedic performers. These include popular stand-up and VH-1 "Random Play" sketch performer Jim Gaffigan (whose commercials include Saturn cars, Rolling Rock, and Barnes & Noble.com), and stand-up comedienne, actress, and voice-over performer Nancy Giles (Tide, The New York Times, and Lifetime Television).
Commercials are a great way to be seen by the suits-and-ties working in the television and film industry. There is also a high earning potential. The Screen Actors Guild tells us the current rate for a principal role in a spot is $478.70 (plus residuals, which vary with the market the spot is shown in), and extras make $259.20 (this is a buyout-extras don't make residuals). Many non-union commercials are made as well. (For more on working in commercials, watch for our June 18 spotlight issue.)
Another stand-up who is enjoying great commercial success is past Back Stage Bistro Award-recipient Tom Shillue. Seeing one of his spots (Snickers, Pepto Bismol, the Audi racer, and many more), you'd never know he literally auditioned for a hundred commercials before booking anything. Shillue started doing stand-up in 1993 and firmly believes, "Things only started falling into place when I got serious about performing in the clubs every night. Because of the success I saw of guys like Jim Gaffigan who were really working at it and willing to go anywhere there was stage time, I knew that's what I had to do to get to the next level. When I did that, I got an agent willing to send me out, and a manager."
The staff of "The Daily Show" also saw his act and sent the development department at Comedy Central to see him. Shillue then attended a pitch meeting, where one idea out of the 10 he had brought was chosen. That became the successful regular segment "This Week in Hate," where Shillue took a comic look at racist activity on the Internet. Now he is continuing to create other segments while hosting and doing sets in clubs and developing his one-man show "American Knife," a multiple character piece (now being produced by Mosaic Entertainment).
The Write Stuff
All comics are not writers, and vice versa, but comedy writing can be a solid way to make money being funny. Writing partners Mike Samoneck and John Reynolds write for the British sketch-comedy show "Bangers 'n' Mash" (they found their job through a Back Stage ad), and have recently sold three three-minute sketches at $300 per to VH-1's new sketch comedy with music, "Random Play." Samoneck did stand-up for a few years but was never really comfortable there. "It's a great way, though, to test your material," he observes. Reynolds writes cartoons and a comic strip called "Grammy" that runs in some alternative papers at www.grammycomics.com. That website and www.bangersandmash.com has brought the duo writing-job offers.
The partners get most of their writing work from being submitted by their literary agent, so we asked how they got that representation. The Writers Guild provides free on the web a list of literary agents you can mail to in every state, at www.wga.org/agency.html. Samoneck and Reynolds sent a query letter to 30 of the smaller agencies on the list and followed up with cold-calling. The woman who was to become their agent called back in 10 days and signed them immediately. They've been with her a year. Another of their projects, "Couch Potatoes," is currently in development for VH-1. They feel their experiences in writing for a club sketch-comedy show have helped enormously.
Stephen Rosenfield is the founder and director of The American Comedy Institute in New York City. He has recently been named artistic director of The Humber Comedy Center, a new professional one-year training program in comedy, being offered in New York and Toronto. One of the courses featured is for sitcom-writing. It takes students from idea to polished script, then tells them how to pitch and sell.
Rosenfield suggests that comedy writers can generate work for themselves. "If you want to write for a performer, you have to let them know you're available, and network. Say, "I love your work and here's some stuff with you in mind.' Or, "I want to write for you; what's the next step?' " He adds, "It's important that you be able to have an ear for their style and absorb their timing. Don't be afraid to ask to be paid. Put a value to what you do and set your price, whether it's by the joke at $10 or an hourly rate at $50. Be prepared to always negotiate. They won't care where you've worked before, or for who, because either your material is funny and right for them, or it isn't."
You must also be prepared to do some research. Call shows and ask for their submission guidelines and requirements. Call development departments and find out if you can pitch ideas without representation and what formats they're looking for (30-second, 22-minute-episode, etc.). Getting known in the clubs as a stand-up will also generate writing offers.
You've read our advice from the pros. Now it's up to you. We look forward to seeing many of you at the Back Stage comedy panel, on Mon., May 24, 6-8 pm, at Stand-up NY. Look in this issue for our ad with complete information. You can also read about comedy regularly in our bi-weekly column "Laughing Matters."
