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Last week I covered a good day, so it’s time for the bad. For some reason, this is easier to remember. During the actual daytime, it could be if your flight is delayed or cancelled and you can’t make a scheduled show. A worse day is a show that gets cancelled because of something out of your control, or worst ever, sales being low. Those hurt. Or you get moved from a show or a miscommunication about a show date turns into a show you no longer have. On the flip side, which is rare for me, is forgetting you had a show and getting a “What’s your ETA” message. That happened to me just once. Learning that you did not get into a festival that you auditioned for or any opportunity that you were hoping would happen is a sting that can lead to spiraling down a lane of negativity. Some comedians report that getting a bad comment from a troll online can ruin their day, but I always engage with those idiots. Maybe it’s a sickness, but it’s cathartic for me. Especially if their comment was intended to make me “quit comedy” or be hurtful about my comedy. I alway engage because if they continue to respond and engage, it actually helps my algorithm and more people end up seeing me roast a jerk. Of course, I don’t have it as bad as women or trans comedians who get attacked for their appearance or just for being who they are. Those trolls need to be shamed but I can understand how that could be draining emotionally. Also posting a video on social media that you worked hard to write and edit doing poorly. That always hurts. A bad night would be having set go poorly or getting interrupted by a heckler who derides a show. Those can sometimes hurt but bombing is part of the game at this point so a good bomb is something you can always find a silver lining in, unless the other items I mentioned above. Of course, comedians are people too so personal drama or trauma can also affect your day, just as any in other career. Did I miss anything, fellow comedians? 
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First off, a good day is usually a good night. A new joke works, a set goes very well or you have an interaction or organic moment that is captured my video that you know will be a good clip for social media later. A good night can also be getting a compliment from a peer or an established comedian you respect or an audience member who says how much you made their night, especially if they really needed it. I cherish the messages or conversations I had with people who needed a laugh or a break from whatever struggles or sadness they were facing and told me I was able to provide that brief moment of joy for them. As for a good “day”, it would be booking a show or a weekend at a club or an opportunity for stage time. It could also be a social media clip that goes viral and getting positive comments from fans. The greatest feeling for a comedian is having a good set or having a new joke work. I have had a lot of “good days” and good nights outside of comedy including winning trials as a lawyer, having a small role on a national tv show or commercial, a first kiss, going to a concert with my best friends and performing music for a sold out show. But very few days compare to the days of my greatest shows as a comedian. I still think about the times where I “got the light” at shows which means I had to get off stage and I was sad because I never wanted to leave. The one thing that makes me the angriest is people not paying attention or talking. Other comedians don’t like any sort of disruption, even if it’s positive like saying “that’s funny.” But for me, its the not paying attention, most of all, if it's other comedians in the showroom. As a fellow comedian, you don’t have to pay attention to me or watch my set. To be honest, I never like it when other comedians are watching my set. It’s stressful and triggers “imposter syndrome.”, But don’t talk and disrupt the show, especially if other people can see or hear you. Obviously, if they can hear you, it’s bad but if they can see you, it sends a message that if comedians can talk, we can too. You will never see an established comedian do this, or at least I have not. The headliner may not watch his or her openers, but they will show them respect. Recently the host of my show actually went to the back of the showroom to continue a date, whom the host had presumably invited to the show. You can hear them laughing but not at the parts of my show, to the point where others turned back to see what was up. Respect the stage and the showroom and put away your phones, as they say in the announcements. I can't speak for other comedians I don't know personally but I do know many who are sober because they had problems with alcohol and substance. Going sober helped them focus on their comedy career. There are also many comedians who have never had a drop of alcohol or a drug. For me, I am not "sober" but I rarely drink. I can count on one hand how many times I drank in the last 2 years. Initially I stopped drinking in solidarity with a friend who went sober. But I also had a few health scares that made me change my diet and alcohol intake. I drank a lot when I was younger. Too much really. I relied on alcohol to entertainment and ease my anxiety and insecurities. Also, it was fun. So many great memories involving partying. and liquid courage led to talking to many ladies who I otherwise would never have the guts to approach. When I started comedy, I also was diagnosed with ulcers likely affected by my schedule (lawyering, stand up comedy, improv and music) and drinking. I had to slow down; doctor's orders. Also when I started comedy, I needed to do a shot before every show to make me comfortable on stage while also drinking on stage and after. I may have borrowed that practice from my other careers in music and law. I changed that pattern after I did three shows in one night and saw the video of my drunken performance on stage. I thought I was crushing before I watched the show, but I wasn't. I decided after that I would never drink before a show. I added not drinking after a show after I would have a drink and be ready to "party" when everyone else in my age demographic was going home. My choices were to drink alone or go out with comedians who were 20 years younger than me, doing the fun things I did at their age. Since I have a show nearly every night, drinking slowly became less of my life till it was gone completely, outside of the occasional special event or baseball game. #drinking #standup #comedy  Never. And I can tell you 99% of my fellow comedians never do either. It’s funny to me because when I have a good clip on social media of a crowd work interaction o response to something organic that happened, like a bottle breaking or an alarm clock going off, they think think it was a plant. I see other comedians accused of this as well, and I know it’s not true and I know the comedian is ready to respond to anything that happens because they are professionals. I try not to do crowd work anymore, but when I started it, I loved it because I never had time to write a joke but it is an art form that I happen to be good at, perhaps from my training as a lawyer that taught me to think on my feet. There was a rumor about a comedian who used to have plants when I started who he would hire to heckle him so he can destroy them, but I am not sure that was ever confirmed as accurate. And I know when I used to do improv, people assumed the show was preplanned when it wasn’t. It's flattering in a way because if people think that the audience member is a plant, that means they think the segment was so funny that it had to be prepared. But no, never have I ever had a plant in the audience.  |
AuthorPaul Farahvar is a comedian hailing from Chicago, Ill. Archives
May 2026
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