Marketing 101 from Hamburger, Cable Guy

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on April 25th, 2007

From a Richmond.com piece on the upcoming release of Whitney’s movie, “Delta Farce”:

Whitney found his niche on stage during one of his early shows when he introduced Larry the Cable Guy– Larry is his middle name-– to the world. He had used the character during call-ins to radio stations in 1991 and 1992.

“It helped me develop a following,” he said. “When I got on the radio it was really cool. Radio has been really good to me. A lot of comedians move to Los Angeles [to entertain], but I figured out a way to reach the masses through the radio. My material– a lot of one-liners– is really suited to the radio.”[…]

“Stand-up is 10 percent comedy and 90 percent business,” he explained. “I always want to take advantage of every opportunity that I can.”

From Neil Hamburger, who has spent much of the year touring as the opening act for Tenacious D, has been featured in their movie and who has just released his second DVD, “The World’s Funnyman.” quoted in the Lawrence (KS) Journal-World:

Originally dubbed America’s Funnyman, Hamburger has apparently graduated to being the master of a global stage.

“I think you’re looking at a marketing gimmick,” he clarifies during a tour stop in Los Angeles. “When you’ve got stuff that’s tough to sell — whether it’s my patented brand of comedy or the new Pringles sour cream and onion potato chips-— you’ve got to pull out all the stops. Now, I have performed internationally quite a bit in the last year-— which could contribute to earning a title such as that, were it a real title.”

Two radically different approaches to comedy, two radically different strategies to marketing, each solving different problems.

And two radically different dispositions.

From Whitney:

“I’ve been fortunate,” Whitney said, noting that his rise to fame didn’t happen overnight. “It’s taken 22 years.”

From Hamburger:

As for any future local funnymen who might want to follow in the comedian’s footsteps, Hamburger offers one bit of advice:

“Don’t do it,” he says. “This is a miserable way to live. There are not many rewards in this.”

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