Who's a Standup Comedian?
Want to be the next Kaneez Surkha, Kanan Gill, Vir Das, or Lilly Singh? Do you have it in you to have people in splits, laughing until they can barely breathe? Do you think you can woo an audience with your punchlines and funny jibes? If so, consider a career in stand-up comedy.
As a stand-up comedian, you would try to put a humorous spin to everything you do and say. Whether you are talking about the current political landscape of the country or about the typical Indian family, everything you do and say will have to have a major humour factor. You could perform at comedy clubs, bars, college events, theatres, or just about anywhere you want! Depending on your interests, you could do observational, satirical, anecdotal comedy, etc.
What will you do?
Where will you work?
How do you get there?
What skills would you need?
Adaptability
As a marketer, you will deal with different types of customers. You could be working with a manufacturing company that sells paper to businesses, or a company that sells chips to the masses. Your skill will be measured by how you deal with different consumers.
Communication Skills
It’s harder than ever to get people’s attention, what with so much information being thrown at them. But, people cannot resist a good story. Every good marketing campaign has a story to tell their customers and relate to them on an emotional level. Marketers who tell great stories through their marketing campaigns are always in great demand.
build this skillCreative Skills
As a marketer, you need to get people hooked on your brand. This requires you to come up with fun, entertaining, and exceptional ways to engage your audience. There is a lot of competition in the market, and the only way to be on top is by constantly doing something new and innovative.
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Time Management
The best - and worst - part about marketing is that there is never a dull moment. But this also means that there is NEVER A DULL MOMENT. Be prepared to be working on several tasks at once. That means that there are times when you will have to put certain projects on the backburner. You will have to know how to prioritise so that you don’t lose out on any opportunities.
Analytical and Data Skills
You will receive huge amounts of data from your client. This data will have to be analysed effectively so you can find ways that will help your client reach their customers is the best way possible. While it is true that the more data you analyse, the more insights you generate; analytical thinking will help you narrow down your search and find your key actionable items, thus saving you a lot of time and resources.
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Attention to Detail
Working with eggs and embryos is a very tedious task. Every little detail matters when you are observing them. If you are good at giving attention to detail, then your job at the laboratory will be made much easier.
build this skillHow do you make it to the top ranks?
Amateur Comedian
At this stage, you can perform at open mics and cafes or bars and restaurants that are looking for talent. You may not be paid at this stage, although you could get paid if you are well-received. You could also work with drama groups or assist playwrights with dialogue. If your work is noticed, you could work as a filler for a professional comedian.
Professional Comedian
Once you get the hang of performing, you could be hired by events companies to work for them. You could also work on scripts for plays, movies, or radio. You could work at a radio or TV station where you could get your own segment or perform with someone else.
Expert Comedian
You are now well-known, at least in your land. You could book venues and hold shows that you can charge for. You can also get your own TV show or radio gig. You can start your own YouTube Channel or work with streaming platforms. You can still continue to do gigs and events from time to time as part of your trial shows.
Pursuing your career locally VS abroad
If you plan to become a standup comedian in India, then there is no such specific educational course that you need to take up. You can instead watch comedy shows online, join stand up comedy workshops or attend open mic events to improve your comedy skills. You can also join an acting school that will help you improve your performance skills. Top acting schools include Chennai Film School, National School of Drama, Whistling Woods International and others. The duration and the fee of the course may vary from institute to institute. Joining an acting school will help you improve your acting techniques, body movements, voice modulation and communication skills. You can pursue a course in acting at a fee of INR 50,000 – INR 5,00,000 depending on the institute and the duration of the course. If you don’t wish to join an acting school, then you can pursue a course in stand up comedy online.
Pursuing a career in stand up comedy overseas is difficult unless you have exceptional skills. You can establish a place for yourself in the global market by enthralling the audience on a global scale by posting videos on social media platforms or collaborating with international comedy clubs and events. There are a lot of schools and comedy clubs abroad that conduct workshops or courses to help amateur artists improve their comic skills. You can be a part of schools like Gaiety School of Acting, Dubomedy and others to develop your authentic and unique stand up routine. You can also pursue an acting course from top acting institutes abroad like Tisch School of Arts, Oxford School of Drama, Yale School of Drama and others. Pursuing a course in acting abroad gives you an opportunity to reach out to a global audience that further helps you network with people from different countries. The fee for an acting course abroad may vary depending on the institute and the duration of the course. It can range anywhere between INR 5,00,000 – INR 30,00,000.
How much would you get paid?
As a comedian, the monthly income you earn would largely depend on your popularity. You can make lakhs of rupees per month simply on the basis of your popularity.
What are your career options?
Talk shows
As a talk show host, you would have your own show on TV, a streaming platform or on radio wherein you will invite people from various industries to share their life stories and experiences. You will talk to the guests and ensure to entertain the audience while doing so. To host a talk show, you should have the ability to catch the attention of the audience easily and ensure the script is high on entertainment to increase the number of viewers.
Acting
Actors play a character in a film, television, radio or theatre production. You should have the ability to convince the audience that your character is real and should be able to engage and draw them into the story. You can further specialise in genres such as comedy, romance, horror and others. Vir Das is a classic example of someone who started out as an actor and then gained popularity as a comedian.
Scriptwriting
As the name suggests, you will write scripts for movies, TV dramas, radio plays, TV commercials or web series. You would be responsible for creating different characters, crafting dialogues, writing engaging plotlines, etc. Every scene in a movie, TV drama or a TV commercial would be a piece of your creative work.
Influencing
As an influencer, you can use your high popularity on social media to influence people’s buying decisions. You would generally specialise in a particular niche and collaborate with various brands to promote their products and services across different social media platforms. In short, you would help a brand achieve its marketing objectives.
Journalism
You could be employed with a newspaper, magazine or a news agency to cover stories and report them to people. You can specialise in any beat – politics, sports, entrainment or even crime, depending on your area of interest. Your job would involve doing extensive research and travelling frequently to interview people and cover breaking news stories. Eventually, you can start writing your own columns where you will be given more creative freedom.
Actors with good comic timing and if you are a good performer then you are likely to get a chance to work in the entertainment industry.
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