The Secret to Staying Happy in Your Comedy Career

I've been performing stand up comedy for twenty-five years and this is long enough to see comedy careers go up and comedy careers go down. Simply checking out a comedian's timeline on Facebook will give a quick peek at the cycle of stardom and the toll it takes on a performing career.  The most desperate/depressing posts are generally by comedians who made it "big" at the start of their career and feel it will never get that good again.  They spend the rest of their life floundering as they try to regain that feeling of greatness achieved by way of a coveted television spot or sitcom.  Of course, there are also the comics who feel they've never really "made it" and traveled a misguided road only to be met with one disappointment after the another.

How is it possible to stay happy and focused without encountering a lifelong roller coaster ride of those ups and downs?  I can tell you that I see that answer with complete clarity.

First, ask yourself, "What is a comedian?"  The answer most people give is quite obvious. "A comedian is someone who makes people laugh."

It is not complicated.  A comedian is not described as a "star"; a comedian is not described as someone who has their own sitcom; a comedian is not described as someone who has the most YouTube hits or followers on Twitter.

A comedian is someone who makes people laugh.  If you take your own ego out of the equation and appreciate the fact that you were given the awesome gift of making people laugh and feel happy, you will learn to appreciate and love your craft regardless of ups and downs.  A comedian changes a person's life for the better.  How fortunate we are as comedians to be given this gift.  Comedy is about your audience.  They are the true stars of your own show.  If a comedian can appreciate this very basic concept, they will always feel successful and blessed and no longer be a victim of their endless internal struggle.

The sweetest sound to me are the words, "I haven't laughed this hard in years!"  That is truly the sound of success.

Female Clean Comedian - Sally Edwards
ComedyBySally.com

The Charlie's Angels of Comedy in Lake County

       Charlie's Angels have hit the comedy scene!   These new angels come in the form of three women who are reinventing themselves as comedy club lovers and designers of Comedy LaughIn in Wauconda.  Just a day ago, I met with my fellow angels Monica and Vicki to discuss our new venture.  It seemed odd that only a month ago we had the idea to feature clean comedy in room adjacent to Vicki's Salon and Spa on Route 59 in Wauconda.  One month later, we put on a show in an intimate room that had the warmth of an eclectic coffee house, complete with the smell of fresh popcorn as you walked in the door.  Great thing about women opening a comedy club - comedians are clean, room has the warmth of an old coffee house and yes, the bathroom in clean!

     The positive energy that filled the room on October 8, opening night, was undeniable.  Over and over again, we heard, this is such a fun and friendly place.

     All three of us feel as if we are on the verge of something wonderful - a place for friends and family to gather for laugher .... and everybody knows your name (if you wear a name tag).

     Vicki, Monica and I talked about this Friday's show.  With 30 reservations already in place, there is a definite need for laughter in Lake County.  At our meeting, we discussed our limited budget which oddly enough makes putting on a show even more exciting.  With a mix-match of chairs, a scavenger hunt for nice tea cups and relatives making coffee cake, this all has a small town feel.  It's a nice escape from corporate America for us and all of our "guests."

   

Best Case Scenario - Your Child Leaves Home - Hmmmmm

     They say that the sign of success when bringing up children is that they grow up and leave.  Can someone come up with another sign please?  This payoff doesn't sound so good.
     Mothers are torn between wanting to see their children accomplish great things and staying home forever and ever. Have you seen parents drop their children off at college for the first time? Bobby or Susie immediately blends into the sea of other excited Freshmen while mom and dad linger lost in their own aching hearts. Often, colleges will post the time for parent departure for fear that dad will don his old football uniform and beg his boy to throw around the ball just one last time.
     My first son, Brendan, just graduated from the University of Chicago with honors in Physics.  (Yes.  I'm beaming.  I'm a comedian and yet I gave birth to a physicist.  God has a great sense of humor.  No wonder he was such a tough crowd.)  We went to Brendan's graduation knowing what his exciting future held.  He'd been picked from the graduating class, along with one other physics major, to go to Switzerland to work at the CERN Nuclear Collider for one year - paid!  My husband and I couldn't be more proud.  We've high-fived, Facebooked, Skyed and Twittered from the rooftops.
  In my quieter moments, I was thinking something quite different.  (Bear in mind, I often think in ways to entertain myself.)  THEY JUST KIDNAPPED MY KID.  I did everything right, read all the Mommy books, attended the soccer games, made the chocolate chip cookies and bought him the expensive calculator.  The result of my efforts were an INTERNATIONAL KIDNAPPING.  How come Switzerland gets him!
  I Gmail Chatted with Brendan this morning as he watched over a number of controls at the CERN facility.  He's been in Geneva for two months now and is doing great!  To Brendan, this is an adventure of a lifetime and it will propel him even faster toward his dreams.  We are all so proud!  Secretly, I know I had the most wonderful adventure of watching this all come to be.  It started when he was six years old in the backseat of our minivan when he asked, "Mom, what do you think about black holes?"  Being a comedian I was speechless and thought, "Yikes.  This parenting thing sure would be a lot easier if I could just answer with a joke!"