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Thanksgiving was the first night I had off in over two weeks of playing shows in a bunch of cool cities. I loved most of my twenty sets but a few of them felt like work. I was able to try some new material and dust off some jokes I haven’t done in a while but, in the end, I definitely needed a day off. In addition to the shows, I had auditions, voice overs, radio appearances, promos, podcasts and, well, life to attend to. And due to the shows and travel schedule, I fell behind on a few things. At the start of the year, my goals was to take more days off and focus on growing other areas of my career and, for the most part, I have done that but it still makes me nervous when I have 2 days off in a row from shows. I have gotten better at letting it happen, however and I know in the new year there will be times when I won’t be as busy as I have been fortunate enough to be in 2024. The non-stop shows are great to keep the steady flow of jokes rolling, but without breaks, it starts to feel stale. For 2025, I will embrace the slow times or nights off and use them to live new experience that can perhaps lead to new material. Or just relax and reset #standup #reset #breaks #goals #formerlawyer 
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I work in stand up comedy, which generally speaking, strives for diversity as of late. In recent times, comedy clubs were placed on notice for not booking enough comedians of color and women as headliners. Most of them responded by taking a look in the mirror and making that change. It was a needed change, in my opinion. Lot of talented women were overlooked because of the old misogynistic argument that women are not funny. Let's not forget, however that in the 90s, women dominated comedy. Rosanne, Ellen and Bret Butler were the biggest stars of stand up comedy. I also agree that shows with all white straight males can be problematic, especially on a showcase show with multiple comedians where probably half the audience is not male. I also happen to help book shows for myself and other venues and I always try to make the best show for the crowds, keeping in mind the various members of the audience and what will make them laugh. Diversity factors are gender and race but for me, another is POV (Point of view). Will the audience see different points of views and different styles of comedy. If I am doing a show for elderly people in Florida, I don't think diversity of race and gender is as important as POV. Just as doing a show for a college crowd will not benefit by having three older comedians of color, talking about grandkids, divorce and colonoscopies. There is diversity in a line up based on race, gender and color and then there is diversity based on POV. For example, if you have five comedians on a show who are all of different races and different genders, but they are all talking about dating, thats not a diverse line up. It's gonna get boring for the crowd (unless the theme of the show is dating!) In theory, that's diverse but it really isn't. The experiences are all going to overlap, especially if they all live and grew up in the same one mile radius of each other. In my opinion, you also have to consider factors like age, marital status, life experiences and what topics are addressed by the comedians. And style of comedy (Dark, story telling, one liners). For that reason, I rather have three "straight while males" on a show if one if 24 and single with one liners, one is gay and married with stories and the other is a divorced father then three comedians who are all 21 and single but black, female and transgender. Also, I'm not implying they all will talk about relationships or dating but thats just an easy example since a lot of comedians discuss this. In Chicago and New York City and other big cities, diversity is a big issue for comedy line ups but in cities like Austin or Orlando, its never discussed or considered. Funny is funny. I understand that POV as well. This may need more discussion. #standup #diversity #funny #comedy  I recently met with some musician friends from my music days. They have assimilated back into the real world, finding a family and stable jobs that don't require you to draw fans or promote. We reminisced about all the fun we had and the memories we could remember, given the time that had past and the influences we were under at the time. They had delayed their personal lives, getting married and having kids later in life since the majority of their youth was spent pursuing music and the arts. While they moved on to their personal lives, I seem to have substituted music for comedy. I looked back on some photos a family member posted and I saw I was absent. During this pursuit of comedy (and music before that), I have missed weddings, funerals, births, birthdays and reunions. The sacrifices creatives have to make to pursue this path, when the cards are stacked against them are immense. I know other careers have many similar stories, but because of our work hours, we live in parallel lives, since most people relax and celebrate during the times we creatives work. If and when I am done with this pursuit, it will be a rocky transition to normalcy. I talk about it a little on my new podcast Why Are You Awake, where I interview other creatives about being up late and living this life. I go to bed when some of you are getting your day started. I wake up sometimes when some of you are having lunch. I work when most of you are asleep. The only reason to live this live is because you love it. And most of the times, I do. #standup #blessed #comedylife  I had to perform the night after the election. It was hard to laugh or try to be funny, especially since many people, including myself (I am not a liberal and not a conservative, by the way) and other comedians were not happy with the outcome. There was an elephant in the room and you either had to address it or ignore it. I addressed it and moved on and it was fine. I went on auto-pilot after and the show was fine. In fact, people loosened up as the show went on and realized life will go on. Some people clearly came out to get away from it all while others were happy with the outcome and were celebrating in a way. As for comedians, I know a lot of them cried that night, especially those from groups marginalized and attacked during this election. As for the crowd, they didn't want to hear about politics but they also didn't want you to ignore it. It was a challenge to make people laugh but that was the job and we did it. My heart goes out to those of my comedy friends who will be negatively affected negatively by the new administration and also for those non-political people who didn't realize that they voted against their interests. As a middle-eastern person who experienced a backlash after 9/11 and have family members who were attacked after the Iranian Hostage crisis in 1979, I hope the recent attacks on immigrants and LGBTQ community, specifically transgenders does not lead to more violence. The comedy world is also going through a shift, just like the country. For the last four years, many were attacking the woke and political correctness of leaders. There will be less excuses now. Funny is funny, so if you punch down, you still have to be funny. I hope the comedians who were punching up on those in power, stay punching up on the new leaders, regardless of the letter in front of their name. #standup #comedy #formerpoliticalwonk #formerlawyer #election  I am not a “comic’s comic”. These are comedians that other comedians always wanna see or will stick around to watch or stay around to see when they do a set. A comedians' favorite. In other words, I am not typically a comedian that other comedians stay to watch. When I started, I always tried to entertain the people who paid to see the show, not the comedians in the back of the room. There are comedians who play to the back of the room, which sometimes feels like “inside baseball” to me and the patrons of the show. Those are jokes catered to comedians that non-comedy fans typically don't understand. You will see a joke not hit with the general crowd but hear everyone in the back laughing, to the point where the patrons will turn around to see what they are missing. I was never bothered by it, but recently it started to bother me, since it feels like I am being slighted. Especially when there is a smaller crowd and the comedians laughing for their comedian (the comic’s comic) help to fill the laughs in an otherwise smaller show. To be fair, I don’t really go out of my way to watch other comedians sets, unless I need to or hear things about someone I should watch, but when possible, I always stay in the room to listen. Unless its a comedian I really love. Hyppocritcal I know. Recently a comedian went up while we were all the other comedians were in the green room. It was a small show, but all the comedians went to watch him. I was the comedian closing the show after this comedian, so when he got off stage, they all left. It would not have been a big deal except for the comedians were 1/3 of the audience. Recently on the road, I did play for the back of the room (the comedians), and it did feel great, I am not gonna lie. I still think the paying audience is who should be the focus, but I hope to also win over the comedians someday. #standup #comedy #comedian #formerlawyer  |
AuthorPaul Farahvar is a comedian hailing from Chicago, Ill. Archives
August 2024
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