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Comedy is a very unique work environment. We are all independent contractors. There is no HR department (and no health benefits). But we work in the trenches together. We grow together and suffer sometimes together. We celebrate our friends victories and are envious of the success of peers, just like a normal office, I suppose. We unite against a common enemy (heckler) but at our water cooler, we gossip about the new star. And just like an office, it's hard to forget that most of the people we work with are colleagues, not friends. I heard Comedian Erik Griffin say that on a podcast once and didn't fully appreciate it, till later in my career. It's hard to remember that sometimes because we are often laughing with each other or experiencing great loss together (i.e. peer's death, pandemic). For me, I try to treat others with kindness and pay it forward as a result of having amazing, more experienced peers help me on my journey. But not everyone has that same mentality. When I gave comedians I felt were worthy, the opportunity to open for me on shows, I loved seeing there enthusiasm and I would always say (jokingly and seriously) "When you make it big, just remember this and let me open for you!" They would always agree and sometimes laugh it off, like it would never happen. It's funny 'cause some of these comedians who did open for me years ago are now doing larger venues and theaters but sadly, radio silence on letting me open for them. I also share milestones other comedians have, whether its a special or a TV role, because I think its the right thing to do and I love to see comedians, especially once I have worked with, do great things. It also gives me great pride to see their success, especially if we started together or worked together in Chicago. On some level, I feel like we are friends. Unfortunately, I did not see the same pride in my successes. We are alone. #standup #comedy #formerlawyer #careerchange 
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After you release a comedy special, its a little scary. You just put your material you have written for the last few years and have to start again. When you do shows, you don't know who has seen your special and don't want to repeat the same jokes. At the same time, you sometimes don't really have a lot of new material that isn't on the specials so there is bound to be overlap. That being said, it is so excited to go on stage with a blank slate. The last few weeks after the release of my special (go watch it on youtube already!) have been exciting. Trying new jokes, talking to the audience on interactive jokes. Earlier in my career, I would never try new un proven jokes on a weekend show but now I do it often, especially when I have a longer set to hide it in between two proven jokes (aka the sh*t sandwich). I honestly feel reborn. I get excited to try new stuff and see what works then go back and write the parts this did (and eliminate those that didn't). I am excited to rebuild my new set for my next special! Hope to see you at the upcoming June shows in Indiana, Detroit, North Dakota and Florida! #standup #comedy #newjokes #comedian  I get asked this a lot or "Do you hate hecklers the most?" And its not that at all, although hecklers do suck. "Is it the travel" and its not even close, because I actually love driving and I don't mind flying (Thank you Southwest Airlines for being there for me) or staying in hotels, especially nice ones! Without a doubt, the worst part about comedy is promoting shows. Having to promote shows and ask your friends or contacts to spread the word about a show when you come to a town. Then getting the email from the club that says "Tickets are slow. Can you promote it on your socials?" It stresses you out to no end. I talked to other comedians and that seems to be the common thread for all of us. I have a show in Atlanta tonight and I should be relaxing and writing but I am trying to figure out ways to get the word out on. Its funny because I come from promotions. I promoted and managed bands for years and the company I founded Shoeshine Boy Productions still does live entertainment promotions. The game has changed since 2000, when it was mostly press, snail mailers and fliers and with social media running things, its hard to get a handle on what works and what doesn't. A few years ago I could boost a Facebook ad and the shows would be well attended. Now, you need more. I still believe the best way to promote a show is word of mouth. I still think, if you can get a few people in a new city to tell folks to come to your show, you are golden. So if you like an artist, whether its a comedian or band, tell your friends, share their schedules and works, tag friends in towns that they travel to. Speaking of which, know anyone in Atlanta, Cary or Greensboro Norhh Carolina this week? #standup #comedy #formerlawyer #atlanta #greensboro  It sounds so cool. And it is. Until you ask us WHERE we travel. Unless you are a superstar, its to towns with populations less than 10,000 or "fly-over" cities. As a midwest comedian, I can say 50% of my shows are in cities located in next door states like Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. I like to drive whenever possible - I have always loved driving - so most of my time is spend driving to and from these shows. But honestly, those are usually the best shows. You are the only thing in town to do. As opposed to cities like Chicago, where someone can go to theater, ballet, a concert or a baseball game, the comedy show in Slinger Wisconsin is THE event to be at. And that means, they are happy to be there and look forward to the show. When I travel outside the Midwest, most of my time is in airports and airplanes. In the past 3 months, I have been traveling by plane a lot. And out of the country. Remembering gates, airports and then hotel rooms becomes tedious. After last weeks ordeal with my "first" cruise show in the carribean, I was anxious about my shows this week in Halifax for the Halifix Comedy Festival. I triple checked to make sure I brought the right passport this time (see last week's entry) and even arrived early to my flight anticipating any other possible pitfall involved with international travel. I was able to prepare for my sets this week in Chicago , which will be broadcast on Canadian television. When I get back to Chicago, I am off again to Atlanta and North Carolina. By plane. Please keep spreading the word about my shows (it helps) and check out my special "Middlewester, Middle Eastern" if you have not already. Its almost at 10k views. Also, if you have apple music, amazon music or spotify, please considering downloading the album (for free). Thank you for reading #standup #comedian #special #livecomedy #formerlawyer  So the last 2 days have been a disaster. But then also a blessing. I flew to Florida to perform on my first cruise in the Caribbean but when I landed in Florida, I realized I brought my expired passport. I immediately had to catch the very next flight right back to Chicago, 40 minutes later. Thank God for my Southwest miles! Once I landed in Chicago, I flew to Atlanta 4 hours later (red eye) to providence turk and then to Grand Turk where I was to wait for the Cruise ship to pick me up to perform on the last 2 days of the cruise. I was able to sleep for the first time in 2 days, which was nice as I was on zero sleep, but for the hour here and there I got on the planes. When I woke up 9 hours later, I got a message that the cruise could not dock at Grand Turk where I was staying, so I would be headed back home (still paid obviously). Now I return to the same four airports tomorrow AM. Because of this, it will be four days without doing a set, which is the longest I have gone without performing stand up since Covid times. I guess I needed a rest and there would be worse places to be stranded than in Grand Turk, but still, it is a lot of traveling and not a lot of sleep. Plus, I really need to prepare for the Halifax Comedy fest I was accepted into next week, so I hope to grab some stage time this weekend at some clubs in Florida. On the bright side, I learned that my album was just released on Amazon and Spotify and will be available for download on iTunes/Apple later today. My special has reached over 8,000 views on Youtube, which is also cool. Thank you to all who have listened or will download the album. Links in comments! Please continue to share it with friends, if you like it and hope to see you soon. hashtag#roadlife hashtag#standup hashtag#comedian hashtag#travel hashtag#formerlawyer Special: https://bit.ly/MiddlewesternMiddleEastern  |
AuthorPaul Farahvar is a comedian hailing from Chicago, Ill. Archives
August 2024
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