Are You Sure You want to be a Comic?

The production editor of BMS sends me an email.

"Derek how would you like to write an article on how you got started in comedy? It might be of interest to our readers."

Oh great! Now I'm going to have to make another appointment with my psychologist.

I hope she has a sense of humor, my psychologist that is!

I got into comedy when my business was bankrupted, my wife left me, her sister ran over me with a Volvo, I was diagnosed with a mental illness, became homeless and started living on the street. Pretty much how most comics get into the profession. You think I'm kidding? Not really!

Comedy is an art that lives on the pain and suffering of the comic. Think about most of the famous comics you know and I can tell you the mental illness or tragedy that propels them. Bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, compulsion, depression and that was just last night on TV. What is painful to the comic, when given a certain spin, is laughter to the audience. I know many comics, but I know very few who are well adjusted. Bringing a comic to "Career Day" is like packing guns for a flight to New York. Not a good idea.

I started to use comedy on stage as a way to stop the pain of loss. The loss of my family, loss of my job, loss of my status, loss of my mind and losing my place in society. I would go up on stage and talk about my pain. "Do you know what it's like to be run over by a Volvo? It's bumper, ground, muffler, ground, out. The last thing I saw was a tire with Goodyear on it and I remember thinking...probably not this year!" Pain is a comic's secret weapon. There are others, but you need the "special" decoder ring.

Today more than ever before in our history there is a need for comics. The 500 channel universe needs writers and performers, the comedy clubs always need new talent and society as a whole needs to lighten up. If you have the interest there is a place for you. To help in this I have developed a little checklist to help you decide if comedy is the career for you.

1. Can you handle rejection?
2. Can you handle alcohol? (Remember, your office is a bar)
3. Are you sure you can handle rejection?
4. Do you have or can you get a mental illness? (Big help)
5. Do you like long boring road trips for years on end?
6. Sure about that rejection thing?
7. Can you stand in front of blinding lights, in a smoky room full of drunken strangers and convince them not to hurt you? (Not just at Family Reunions)
8. Do you have someone to support you financially until you get a real job again? (Usually 2-47 years)
9. Do you have someone to support you emotionally? (Unlikely…you are a comic…)
10. Last but not least does Mom think you're funny? She aIone is the best judge!

I am often told by people that they are just naturally funny. I reply there is no such thing. We argue, fight...oh sorry, did I have a point? Oh yeah, comedy is like any other profession. You have to learn it. There are people who aren't comics that like making others laugh, but the reason true comics are so good at amusing us is, they practice making us laugh. The leap from fun at a party to fun in Flin Flon is huge. That's why it is so lucrative for the truly great. Not many reach that level. But if you do, you might just be able to quit that day job.

If you feel driven to perform you have to learn the skills and tricks. Comedy is an art that requires dues. I can't tell you how to react when an audience member in Yellowknife is showing you his "Male Cognitive Center" in the middle of a show. But if you are a comic you will know how to make it funny. That's what practice does.

I will leave you with some words of wisdom from my partner in crime Melanie Grace.

"What doesn't kill you will make you funnier!" Count on it!

Derelict

By Derek Wilken