Recession breeds more comedian wanna-be's

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on August 7th, 2009

Or so claims the AP article by John Rogers.

There’s just something about a recession that makes people want to do funny things.

Like wannabe comics who are out of a job and hoping amateur hour at comedy clubs could be the ticket to a paycheck—and maybe stardom. Because, really, how hard could that be?

At New York City’s Gotham Comedy Club, co-owner Chris Mazzilli says he saw more than 1,000 such hopefuls recently as they tried to win a spot on a program being broadcast on Comedy Central’s “Live at Gotham.”

“We’ve had financial people, attorneys, garbage men, right down the line,” he said.

We don’t buy that more people come to open mike because there’s a recession. We do, however, buy that some folks who are out of a job, between jobs or seeking to transition from one career to another might see this “node” as an ideal time to finally give that comedy thing a try. (It’s a subtle difference– it’s not so much the recession, but the “opportunity” afforded by the recession.)

The Male Half did his first open mike the second Wednesday of October of 1981. About three weeks later, he was let go by the typesetting company where he’d been employed the previous 10 months. (According to most reports, a recession had started the previous July and ended in November of 1982.) Over the next eight months, TMHOTS hit the bricks during the day, searching for a new job… and used his free time to work out, write material and psych himself up for whatever open mike or bar gig might be upcoming. (And he collected unemployment. He frequently joked that he was a “state-subsidized comedian.”)

Viewed in this manner, the choice to pursue standup seems less like an affliction and more like a protracted informational interview with countless audiences, club managers and fellow comedians.

Pursuing standup comedy, especially in the early stages, is all-consuming. It’s not the kind of thing that’s recommended for someone with a day job. Pursuing it “between jobs” is somewhat easier because it makes it easier to focus on and prepare for upcoming gigs… and easier to concentrate on (and deal with possible fallout from) any after affects.

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