The Comedy Category That Favors You

In the world of comedy, the basic categories are: rising stars, shooting stars, superstars, and fallen stars. The field of stand-up comedy strangely intersects with politics, corporate business, and live entertainment. Traditionally, comedy is based on live performances, where small clubs are the main venues where stand-up comedy takes place. Furthermore, the stand-up comic must decide what type of career they want to have  within the world of entertainment. Will they be mainstream, underground, or will they remain on the popular comedy club circuit?  Improvisational theater, live theater, television, and motion pictures are outlets potentially available to comics. 

For New York City, the stand-up comedy circuit centered around a number of significant comedy clubs.  Go back in history a little and read, I’m Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy’s Golden Era, by William Knoedelseder.  He explained how,  “The Improvisation, at the corner of Forty-fourth Street and Ninth Avenue, was the comedy center of the universe. Established in 1963 by a former ad man named Budd Friedman, it was the only nightclub of its kind, a casual, chaotic cabaret where comedians and singers alternated sets …,.” Many legendary comics got their start at the Improv, and emerging stand-up comics would travel from miles away to perform there on ‘”Open Mic” night.  Sensitive topics were acceptable,  if artfully delivered. The type of material performed impacts where each comedian will be allowed to perform in their career. 

Succeeding as a stand-up comic is not an easy thing to do. The book, How To Be A Working Comic: An Insider’s Business Guide To A Career in Stand-Up Comedy, by Dave Schwensen defined a category that everyone must respect: profanity and ‘politically correct‘ material.  Schwensen mentioned an example of how, “…you still can’t use the Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television that George Carlin listed in 1972 unless it’s on cable, and I’ve met more than one comedy club booker who counts the number of times a certain four-letter word is said onstage. Include a more than generous use of their not-so-favorite word and you won’t be on those bookers’ roster of returning comics.”  If certain material is not welcome, the stand-up comedian has to face a financial reality. Their category of classification might end up being,  ‘the uncompromising comic who does not consistently work as a comic.

Go back and watch the movie Carwash (1976) where Franklyn Ajaye played the character “T.C.” He said something very important in his book, Comic Insights: The Art of Stand-Up Comedy. People will gravitate toward certain comedy styles, and evaluate those styles so they can categorize  stand-up comics much easier. Ajaye said, “I remember watching Richard Pryor at The Comedy Store in 1973 and leaving each night both awed and depressed. My material seemed so trivial compared to his-and I had my own comedy album out at the time.” Richard Pryor existed as an outlier that transcended most categories. Ajaye went on to say that he worked on adding more depth to his act and incorporated more physical movement to his act by walking back and forth while he performed. Today, the highest category of comedy is defined by bravery. A comedian might transcend the limits that are placed on their material if they can figure out a way to skillfully deliver their material and cultivate their own paying audience outside of traditional booking agents.  There are many topics that are off limits to stand-up comics, but the few who creatively find a way to forge their own path are able to speak freely and represent a category of their own.