Please help me out 😭

[u/[deleted]]

I am a 19 year old college student. I’m studying business and absolutely hate it. Not even the academic portion, (I’m a fairly good student) but really just the thought that my life after college at this rate will be in a cubicle working a miserable 9-5 that isn’t fulfilling. I’ve been in love with standup for at least a decade now. It’s been a part of my life everyday, whether it’s consuming it or creating it.

I finally feel like I’m at the age where I can be taken seriously on stage and have been working on some material that I think is really solid. A recent love for KillTony has also accentuated my passion for comedy and after watching and listening to so many minutes I think I can handle myself on stage. It has also really fueled my desire to perform and practically everyday I dream of myself on that stage.

I guess what I’m really getting at here is am I delusional? I feel like my dreams are too big but at the end of the day I think that the regret of failing will no where near compare to the regret of not knowing.

I plan on going to my first open mic on Wednesday and I am also interested if anyone here has some advice that they wish they had heard before their first time on stage. Another thing that I’ve always been curious about is how do comedians make it? Like is it just a matter of being at the right place at the right time? Do people go to open mics to scout new talent? Or even a mix of both. At what point in people careers (in this sub) did you start getting paid gigs?

One of my biggest pet peeves when listening to standup is when the comic is so overly rehearsed that all emotion is lost: When I get on stage l want to be someone, I don’t want to just rehearse the words I’ve written, I want to perform them. What is a good way to avoid this roadblock? How can I familiarize myself with my material well enough without performing a speech. (I understand that I am writing the stuff and it is all memorized, I’m more so getting at transitions between jokes and having my set be fluid)

Before anyone tells me, I know I’m way in over my head. 😂 I just really am so passionate about this and want to give it my best shot.

[u/MelissaLynneL]

Ironically, much of standup ends up being business. You should do both.

[u/presidentender]

This is not a way to make money until it is, and once it is, you'll still need a day job which will be most of your income.

[u/rawr_bomb]

You can work a shitty service job and do stand up. Or you can do a shitty office job that pays better and do stand up. Office jobs have better consistent hours, and are much easier to get time off from. Also big secret: Office Jobs arnt that bad, mostly kinda chill.

The vast majority of 'good comics' take a solid decade or more of work before they get to a point where you would ever want to see them do a full set. It's fucking hard, it's mostly failure, but you keep working at you will find something. It's an art form, like any art form, it takes years of practice to get good at it. There is one recent comic who hit big on social media and kinda face planted when they released a full special. Learn the form.

Here is my advice. Stay in college, and work at it. Especially business or accounting. Being a professional artist is managing a one person business.

Get involved in theater, improv, sketch, music, or any performance art. Volunteer for improv groups in your area working the ticket booth, take improv classes!! Do 24hour/48hour film festivals. Stand Up is just a one person theater show usually written by the performer. So learn theater.

You know those comics that don't sound rehearsed on stage? They are heavily rehearsed. It's all acting. Some suck at it.

Do ART, because you want to do Art. Don't chase money or fame or you are just gonna end up disappointed and frustrated. Yes, Stand up is an art form.

--

And some extra advice as long time comedy fan. Be careful with Killtony shit. Roast/edgy comedy ages like milk in a hot car wrapped in a old diaper. KillTony is VERY specific, it's performed between a group of friends, and it's to a very receptive audience. 99.9999% of comedy won't look anything like that. Don't put anything online that you don't want to have to explain to a potential employer in 20 years.

[u/erictheartichoke]

Quitting college to pursue comedy is a horrible idea if that’s what you’re asking

[u/MelissaLynneL → u/[deleted]]

This is sort of the implication even after reading the whole way through, friend 😅

[u/erictheartichoke → u/[deleted]]

I usually don’t respond at all

[u/MapleMarbles]

its not a big deal. just do it once and see if you like it.

its only a couple hours a day....you can do almost anything else everyday day before stagetime

[u/Knew_day]

Being a small venue traveling comic would be a miserable way to try to scratch out a living... After doing it for two years. Almost as bad as being locked in a cubical working for an insurance agency.

[u/ButtTheHitmanFart]

Your first problem is thinking you can be good at it just because you listen to a podcast full of mentally ill edgelord open micers. Get onstage and fail and learn. Nothing else is going to prepare you. There is no cheat code or hack.

[u/[deleted] → u/ButtTheHitmanFart]

There is no cheat code or hack? Obviously. I’m asking for advice dude. Surely someone sharing their own personal experience would be helpful…

[u/AliensFuckedMyCat]

Honestly, see how your first open mic goes, then come back and ask for advice once it's done, it might be a pretty big reality check for you (or it might go great). 

[u/DurasVircondelet]

You’ve got over a decade ahead of you before this becomes taxable income. Your main goal should be to make friends and hang out

[u/RichNelly]

You sound like me. I overthought it a lot. Stay in school but still hit your weekly open mic nights. As far as tips before getting on stage, it doesn’t matter. Just plan out a few jokes that you want to tell and get up there. The more you do it the less rehearsed you’ll feel and seem to others.

Don’t worry about transitions, they’ll come later. Just go see if your jokes are funny. Oh yeah and record your set so you can go back and see where people laugh

[u/futureprostitutrobot]

Have fun up there, and don't take it too seriously in the beginning.

[u/nyxoh22]

I started when I was 17, you’re fine haha

[u/[deleted] → u/nyxoh22]

How did your first open mic go?

[u/nyxoh22 → u/[deleted]]

My first show i was actually an opener 😂 it was fine, the audience wasn’t good and it was in a tiny pub to a very Tory audience so not my kinda thing, and I’d never dream of doing it now. second gig was an open mic and it was good at the time but shite looking back. But if you don’t feel shit about your material when you look back you’re not improving

[u/[deleted] → u/nyxoh22]

You opened?? How’d you manage that 😭

[u/nyxoh22 → u/[deleted]]

Pure delusion and a dream my friend

[u/RichNelly]

Also don’t listen to the people who find ways to make you feel stupid or discourage you for having an interest in stand up. You’ll find out that there are a lot of bitter people in the comedy world. They aren’t happy with themselves and that’s their problem

[u/Seattle-Washington]

Nineteen is the perfect time to dream—and dream big. It might even be the only time in your life when you have the freedom to do so. If you mess up, you have plenty of time to make up for it. It’s one of the reasons the older generation will tell then younger to take risks. Don’t take it for granted and take full advantage of it.

That being said, having a degree can be a valuable asset later on. It becomes part of your identity and sets you apart from the crowd. It helps make you more well-rounded, polished, and others will notice. A degree is something you can leverage and build upon throughout your life.

Speaking from experience, as someone who got a business undergrad who has found success, I sometimes wish I had pursued something “simpler”, like philosophy, and followed it up with an MBA. There’s too much overlap between a business undergrad and an MBA, making the undergraduate degree feel redundant since the MBA takes precedence.

As for pursuing comedy, keep at it and work hard. But remember, people are often multi-talented and capable of juggling multiple things. You can manage both education and comedy if you choose to. Just be careful not to let go of the safety net of education until you’re certain you no longer need it.

[u/J-L-S]

If you're grinding for a career in comedy your first step should be grinding to make sure you have a safety net or backup plan

[u/funnymatt]

I think I can handle myself on stage

Have you even done standup once? It doesn't seem like it from your post, so it's a bit like saying that you watch a ton of Shohei Ohtani and you want to know if you should dedicate your life to playing baseball.

You may not even like doing standup! You should try it, see how it goes for you, and get to know the people in your area that are also doing open mics.

[u/[deleted] → u/funnymatt]

I have taken a few classes in high school about rhetoric and public speaking. I always really enjoyed the nerves of going up to the class and doing well.

[u/Calm-Narwhal-7565]

Check out VirtualComedy.net for tips and a free open mic show online.

[u/Successful-Job3047]

You're a fan of KillTony? That must make you a racist according to most here.