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I am a fan of rollercoasters sure, but not when it involves the day to day schedule of my life. In the last 48 hours, my schedule for the next 7 days has changed (and may change again). To begin with, I was scheduled to record my new special/album Saturday September 9th in Philadelphia but they had to move the date to January. I had already scheduled multiple full hour shows leading up to the September 9th showdate to prepare for my album recording so moving the date would be a nightmare on my end and finding replacing shows has been hard too, although I was able to find a back up show in Chicago. The new January proposed date to record was also a conflict for me since I already had booked a healdine show in Texas. I was hesitant to contact the venue, since it is my first time there. I don't have the luxury of moving dates at venues at my level, since I am a new headliner and a lot of places are tryign me out for the first time. Not a good luck to start with requesting to move the date. I told my label Helium comedy studio this and they worked hard to make the original day stay. Today, they confirmed I can keep the date to record my album so I can keep my date. THANK YOU Helium! Great news and I am excited to record next week and head to Florida this weekend to prepare with multiple headline shows in Tampa and Winter Haven. Of course now nature has different plans for me. I wait to see if my flight tomorrow will stand or if Hurricane Idalia has other plans for me. Onward #standup #hurricane #newalbum #formerlawyer 
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Its hard to for me. It was before I was a comedian but now that i am, its even harder. Even when I have a set schedule, things change. Last week, I had a date cancel again which set a whole series of plans and preparation into chaos. It was a struggle and I am still trying to re-make my schedule one week later. I've had friends ask me to plan ahead to meet with them and I always say, I can do that but if I pick up a show, I have to cancel. It's not ideal. While I do love spontaneity, I also hate cancelling plans or having plans cancelled. It reinforces my inability to plan ahead. I am up for the challenge. It sucks that instead of being creative and writing, I now have to spend hours trying to find replacement work and fish out emails from venues who asked me to perform that week and see if they will still use me. One thing I did plan ahead was ending my podcast, SINGLES ONLY after a successful 7 year run. I was hoping to end on episode 369 because I am a child but in the end we ended on 370. I had a blast with the podcast but it was time to move on. I am goign ot start a new podcast and am working on the steps to plan ahead for that one. (see what I did there). Take a listen to the last epside of SINGLES ONLY if you had a second. Link in comments below. #preparation #formerlawyer #comedylife #standup  Every since I was a kid, I didn't like taking orders or direction from others. When I entered the workforce, I also didn't like working for someone else. As soon as I was able, I became my own boss in the music industry and then later as a lawyer with my own firm. While in both careers, I still had to answer to clients, I still had a significant amount of control over my day to day life. With comedy, you would think as a stand up comedian, you would be the epitome of your own boss. It's often the case, especially when it comes to picking your shows and creating your schedule for writing, projects and what to submit for. In the end, however, there is so much you cannot control, especially at the level of a feature/headliner like me. My schedule is often changed when bigger names need my long scheduled dates or my projects submissions stall because they need to see more from me or get more input from people who don't know who I am. Its stressful, but part of the game. And at my level, I can't tell people off but can only hope they have empathy for what I need to do to re-route my schedule and plans, especially when plans change last minute. Its frustrating, but you can't control the uncontrollable. #standup #careerchange #formerlawyer  I have a joke about the stereotype women like pilots because they travel and I say, "I travel too!" but of course, I am mostly going to places like Wisconsin, Kansas and Arkansas; not exactly "Eat Pray Love" travel. But the truth is, I do get to visit cool cities and lately I have been able to take advantage of that by exploring cities like Boston, Atlanta and Charlotte; places I would never go to if it wasn't for comedy. All of these cities have great "must see" tourist traps and food items and I am grateful for both, especially the food! This week I spent a lot of time in Boston and got to knock off another "bucket list ballpark from my list (Fenway Park). Recently, I was discussing the "cruise ships" which a lot of comedians do since you get to travel to exotic places and don't have to worry about promoting and selling tickets for your shows. A lot of comedians like the cruise ship shows for these reasons and the pay is great. Personally, I rather stay on the mainland if I could get to a level where I am selling a ton of tickets for my own shows in comedy clubs. I hope the rest of the year ends with more sold out shows mainland and I am excited for my shows in Columbus, Vegas, Winter Haven, Denver, Dallas and Philadelphia. Please spread the word if you know folks in these places! #standup #comedyclub #comedyshow #travel  I get asked that question a lot when I travel for comedy; “Does the club pay for your hotel?’ The answer varies. When you headline, they usually do when it’s a weekend, when you are a headliner, or you are a bigger named comic. Or sometimes they have “comedy condo” which varies in comfort and some have not been updated since Reagan was president. Thankfully the "comedy condo" is a thing of the past, although I never had horrible experiences with them. When you are not the headliner, unless you are handpicked by the headliner and a budget for travel is included, you usually are "out of pocket" for hotel. This can be costly, especially in bigger cities. I have the luxury, when I am not headlining of paying for my hotel from all my miles and accrued membership points from my years of traveling in prior lives. Often times, the comedy club is inside a hotel so that usually works in your favor, even if you are just the feature comedian opening for the headliner. Travel expenses add up for comedians, even just driving to gigs with the cost of gas. The way to raise money for these costs is usually through merchandise; coozies, buttons, t-shirts which comedians can sell for their expenses. (Buy our merch, people). Anyways, if you have questions you want to ask about this comedy life, just message me on instagram @paulfarahvar (follow me too). #comedyshow #standupcomedy #formerlawyer  |
AuthorPaul Farahvar is a comedian hailing from Chicago, Ill. Archives
October 2023
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Paul Farahvar Comedy
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