“I consider it, the life of being a comedian – they have a right to boo me.”

Nish Kumar, Comedian

Pros and Cons of Working as a Comedian

You want to become a comedian? Great!

However, before making your final decision, you should check out all the pros and cons of being a comedian in this article.

Only then will you be able to think about this profession in an objective manner and can make a better decision regarding whether becoming a comedian will be the right career path to go for you or not.

Being a Comedian – Key Facts

Advantages of Being a Comedian

1. Comedians can make people laugh
2. You can help people to overcome difficult periods in their lives
3. Being a comedian can help you become famous
4. Some comedians earn good money
5. You can work indoors as a comedian
6. Barriers to entry are almost zero
7. You don’t need a college degree as a comedian
8. Comedians get access to exclusive events
9. You can work for yourself
10. Being a comedian can be exciting
11. You don’t have to work in a physically demanding job
12. Good job if you are born being funny
13. Being a comedian forces you out of your comfort zone
14. You learn how to deal with pressure
15. Social media can help you build your brand
16. You learn how not to take life too seriously

Comedians can make people laugh

One advantage of being a comedian is that you can make people laugh and ensure that they have a good time.

Many people just have a pretty boring life and are not really happy with it.

Yet, they also don’t want to make any changes to feel better in the long run.

Through your job as a comedian, you can make the lives of people better since you can distract them from their issues for a certain period of time.

Hence, becoming a comedian can be a great job option for you in case you want to make a positive contribution to the lives of others.

You can help people to overcome difficult periods in their lives

As a comedian, similar to psychologists, you can also help people to overcome pretty difficult situations in their lives.

Life is not easy and sooner or later, every one of us experiences unpleasant periods in our lives where problems seem to be unsolvable.

In those times, it is crucial to give people hope and to show them the good parts of life so that people get prospects for a brighter future.

As a comedian, you can give people a good time and can show them why life is worth living.

In turn, you can help people to find meaning in their lives again instead of just giving up.

Being a comedian can help you become famous

Another benefit of being a comedian is that you can become famous.

Of course, not every comedian out there will make it and most of them will never be seen on TV shows.

However, if you are a quite funny person and are also willing to work pretty hard for it, you may have a higher chance to become famous than in most other jobs.

Therefore, if you urgently want to become a public figure with whom people want to take pictures with, becoming a comedian will be one of your best choices to fulfill your dreams in this regard.

Some comedians earn good money

If you make it to the top of the pyramid, comedians can also earn really good money.

In fact, there are some comedians out there who had become pretty rich during their careers and who can afford almost everything they want.

Some of them even have private helicopters or even jets.

Consequently, if you aspire to a fancy lifestyle and wealthy is just not enough for you but you want to become really rich, a career as a comedian may also help you out in this regard.

However, please note that the chances to get rich as a comedian are extremely low and that many comedians will struggle to pay their bills instead of becoming rich.

Hence, you should always have backup plans so that you can avoid financial problems in the long run.

You can work indoors as a comedian

As a comedian, there will rarely be the need to work outdoors.

Most of the time, you will just work indoors in big halls or stadiums.

This also means that you will be protected from rain, snow and also from extreme heat.

While you may take this for granted, there are still many jobs out there which require you to work outdoors.

For instance, people who work in construction and have to fix streets or buildings will not have the luxury to work inside.

Working under those extreme outdoor conditions is not fun at all and you can avoid this issue by becoming a comedian since you can work indoors in rather moderate conditions.

Barriers to entry are almost zero

Another upside to working as a comedian is that the barriers to entry are pretty low.

What I mean by that is that you just don’t need to go to comedian school or to get any other fancy education.

You just need to be funny and need the persistence to push through difficult times.

In fact, there is no school out there that could prepare you for the life as a comedian since you just need to learn on the job and become better every day.

The positive thing about this is that you can just start off today without any educational requirements that could stop you.

It also doesn’t matter if you have been previously convicted since you can work self-employed and don’t need to work for a company as a comedian.

Hence, almost everyone can become a comedian and there should not be any excuses why you should not be able to do so.

You don’t need a college degree as a comedian

As mentioned before, you don’t need any fancy education and for sure, you also don’t need a college degree.

While this may be obvious, it still means that you can save plenty of money on education your friends will have to spend to get a degree and to get into a fancy career.

You can also avoid student loan debt that often comes with college education and which can lead to serious financial problems later on in your life.

In fact, while your friends will have to study for many years, you can make money right from the beginning and can also avoid paying large sums of money for tuition and other expenses related to going to college.

Comedians get access to exclusive events

As a comedian, you will also get the privilege to get access to many exclusive events.

Especially if you have got some level of fame and people recognize you, you will get access to events for which most normal people would never have the chance to go to.

This will not only be pretty much fun for you, but your family and friends will also envy you and wish they were you.

Consequently, becoming a comedian can also be a great career choice in case you want to be part of those exclusive events and love to be in the spotlight.

You can work for yourself

You will also have the opportunity to work for yourself as a comedian.

While many people will get stuck in corporate jobs where they have to carry out many tasks they don’t like at all, you will have the freedom to work with anyone you want.

If you don’t like the people you do projects with, you can just quit contracts and work on other things you like more.

Especially if you are really famous, there will be endless options to choose from in this regard and you can just do the things you love most and ignore any unpleasant job offers you may get.

Being a comedian can be exciting

Since you will never exactly know how your audience will react to your jokes, working as a comedian can also be pretty exciting.

Of course, this also implies a certain level of pressure since your job as a comedian is to make people happy and that they are laughing about your jokes.

However, if you can handle this pressure in a proper manner and you are the type of person who needs this exposure to uncertainty, becoming a comedian can also be great in this regard.

You don’t have to work in a physically demanding job

In our current state of the world, there are still many people who have to work in physically exhausting jobs.

Of course, machines have made the lives of workers much easier compared to a few centuries ago.

However, goldsmiths, construction workers or other people will still have to deal with plenty of manual physical work and chances are that those people will suffer from serious long-term health issues.

As a comedian, you can avoid physically demanding work and can focus on the mental side of things.

Good job if you are born being funny

One thing is for sure. You need to be pretty funny as a comedian and while many people are just not born this way, others are funny in a pretty natural manner.

You could also say that some people are just born being funny and that those people just have the natural talent to make people laugh.

If you are one of those people who are born with this natural talent, you will likely have a pretty easy time as a comedian since you can just be yourself and working as a comedian will rather feel like a hobby than a real job to you.

Being a comedian forces you out of your comfort zone

If you want to be successful as a comedian, you also have to get out of your comfort zone sooner or later.

In fact, many people just don’t feel comfortable speaking in front of an audience right from the beginning.

However, over time, people who are brave enough to get out of their comfort zone will learn how to handle those things and can grow in character.

We as humans often learn the most once we are put into unknown situations which also implies some sort of adversity.

Hence, by working as a comedian, you can really learn a lot and can apply this knowledge in various other parts of life.

You learn how to deal with pressure

By working as a comedian, you will also learn how to deal with pressure.

While some of your performances will be excellent, some of them will just be complete failures and you will never know if you have a good or bad day ahead of you.

While this may sound pretty uncomfortable at first, you will still learn how to deal with these high levels of uncertainty in the long run.

Social media can help you build your brand

While it had been pretty difficult to become famous just a few decades ago, it is now much easier since you have access to social media.

For instance, you can just upload some YouTube videos and with a little bit of luck, one of your videos will go viral. In turn, producers may contact you and ask you to work for them.

The more good content you put out on the internet, the higher your chance to become famous.

You can even film your videos with your smartphone and the cost for producing this content will be almost zero due to that.

You learn how not to take life too seriously

As a comedian, you will also learn how to laugh about yourself.

Many people out there take themselves way too seriously in my opinion and learning how to see life a little bit more relaxed can also be another great benefit of working as a comedian.

Disadvantages of Being a Comedian

1. Many comedians will never be successful
2. Financial problems are quite common among comedians
3. Financial problems can also turn into health problems
4. People will try to bring you down
5. Job security is quite low
6. You have to be pretty creative as a comedian
7. It’s much harder than you think to make people laugh
8. Difficult to get out of this industry
9. Being a comedian can be problematic if you have kids
10. You have to deal with new situations on a regular basis
11. Many people don’t feel comfortable in front of an audience
12. Your popularity may vanish from one day to the other

Many comedians will never be successful

Apart from the many advantages of becoming a comedian, there are still some downsides related to this career path.

For example, one problem with being a comedian is that most comedians will just never be successful.

In fact, most comedians struggle to make a living out of their profession and many of them even have to work a side-job.

Financial problems are quite common among comedians

Due to the rather low salary most comedians will be able to make and the high level of financial uncertainty that comes along with this career, many comedians also suffer from serious financial problems.

Many of them are just not able to pay their bills or even their rent and may end up homeless sooner or later while people working in private equity or other well-paying jobs often don’t have to deal with those problems.

Financial problems can also turn into health problems

We are not only talking about financial problems here.

Financial problems usually also turn into health problems in the long run since people who don’t earn decent money will not be able to afford health insurance and in case of medical emergency, those people will often not be able to afford proper medical treatment.

In turn, life expectancy of comedians will be below average and you may also suffer from serious long-term health issues.

Consequently, make sure that your passion for being a comedian is strong enough to accept those serious health problems and financial issues before deciding for going this career path.

People will try to bring you down

Another downside of being a comedian is that many people will just try to bring you down.

It is just in the nature of people to be envious and if you reach a certain level of success and fame as a comedian, people will just write you nasty messages on social media.

Hence, be prepared that you are emotionally stable enough to deal with these comments and that your performances will not be affected by those people.

Job security is quite low

As a comedian, you will also have almost no job security at all.

In fact, you can be fired from one day to the other in many regions of our planet and this means that you will have to deal with a great level of uncertainty regarding your future.

Only few people are able and also willing to deal with this issue and if you are a person who wants to have a stable income and doesn’t like uncertainty, the job as a comedian will definitely not be suitable for you.

You have to be pretty creative as a comedian

Even if you are a rather creative person, there will be hard times sooner or later in which you will just not be that funny.

While this would not matter at all in most other jobs, your performance as a comedian will greatly suffer from those lean periods.

If those periods last for too long, you may lose many of your future gigs since the business is just merciless and if you don’t perform, you will be out pretty soon.

It’s much harder than you think to make people laugh

In general, many people also greatly estimate that the job as a comedian can be pretty tough and that it is not easy at all to make people love.

Especially with social media and many funny videos that are shared every day, it is pretty tough to come up with something new and unexpected as a comedian.

Always remember that the consumption of those videos is free and that you will have to come up with significantly better stuff so that people will be willing to pay for your performance as a comedian in the long run.

Difficult to get out of this industry

If you haven’t got any education apart from becoming a comedian, it will also be pretty difficult to get into another industry.

You will just not be that attractive to companies since you will not have any hard skills.

Moreover, if you produce rather questionable content, you will have an even harder time finding another job.

Hence, working as a comedian is often a one-way street and you will often have a hard time finding a decent job after you finished your career as a comedian.

Being a comedian can be problematic if you have kids

Another disadvantage of being a comedian is that it can also make your family life much more difficult.

Especially if you have reached a certain level of fame, you will no longer be able to go out without being recognized by other people.

In turn, some people will also insult you and your family.

While you may be mentally stable enough to deal with these issues, it can be pretty hard for your kids.

Moreover, your kids may also be bullied in school since other kids just don’t like your performances.

You have to deal with new situations on a regular basis

As a comedian, you always have to reinvent yourself. You can never stop learning and developing yourself since other talented people will take away your piece of the cake otherwise.

This also implies that you will have to deal with many new situations and if you are not the type of person who likes changes at all, chances are that you will just not become happy as a comedian.

Many people don’t feel comfortable in front of an audience

While you can learn to speak in front of an audience to a certain extent, some of it is just talent and if you are pretty untalented or even have problems with communication, you will be likely happier with a different career path.

Your popularity may vanish from one day to the other

One thing is certain: There is just no certainty in this business.

As a comedian, you may just be a one-hit-wonder and while you had a pretty good time yesterday, your fame can vanish tomorrow without any prospects regarding what to do next.

This emotional rollercoaster will break most people and if you don’t have a pretty stable mindset, you may want to go for other job options instead.

Top 10 Being a Comedian Pros & Cons – Summary List

Should You Become A Comedian?

Now that I showed you all the advantages and disadvantages of being a comedian, it is now time for you to sit down and to evaluate whether a career as a comedian will make sense for you or if you just want to go for one of the numerous other career options out there instead.

If you are still interested in a comedian career, also make sure to get detailed information on the career prospects, salary, working hours, educational requirements and job satisfaction of comedians.

Also make sure to check out the following articles:

Advantages and disadvantages of becoming a baker

Advantages and disadvantages of becoming a chef

Sources

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-29739883

https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/want-comedian-tips-get-started-1117/

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people about the different career paths that are possible in our current state of the world. In my opinion, people often make the mistake to choose their profession solely based on how much money they can earn from it instead of doing what makes them really happy.

This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of how a fulfilling career could look like. I did the same when I started working in consulting after finishing my Master’s degree in Economics. However, I’ve quit pretty soon after that since I haven’t found true meaning in my job.

Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money.

I conducted various interviews with employees to give you a good impression of what working in different fields will look like and that you can make the best possible decision regarding your future career choice.

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