Comedians and why they are unappreciated and underpayed | Teen Ink

Comedians and why they are unappreciated and underpayed

May 29, 2013
By KylerB BRONZE, Reno, Nevada
KylerB BRONZE, Reno, Nevada
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Comedians have to know a lot to do their jobs. They have to understand cultures and some of their stereotypes. They have to perfect their stage performance, and be able to stand in front of small to large crowds. The most important thing that comedians need to be able to do is improvise, because they’ll never know if they still have some time. Comedians have become an under paid, and under appreciated group of people though. People don’t have the same amount of respect for comedians, unlike other jobs. Making their acts may take them days before the actual show goes on, and even then they may have some finishing touches to make. The pay for a comedian can vary from person to person, depending on how much popularity that certain comedian has, which makes it pretty difficult for a beginning comedian to make a living off this job.

You may not know this, but comedians do need a lot of knowledge to do what they do. They use stereotypes, an oversimplified and widely held idea of a person, all the time to make their audience laugh. A lot of people may already know that comedians use stereotypes all the time, maybe more than anybody. The fact of the matter is comedians need knowledge to be able to talk about things, while actually knowing what they’re talking about. Comedians need to know how to keep the audience engaged as well as entertained to keep them wanting more. The one way a comedian will do this is by making their movements and facial expressions noticeable by the people that have the worst seats.

Comedians are the ultimate public speakers, and we can learn a lot from them. The laugh, cry, laugh method is what they will do to let the audience calm down after each joke.
Comedians teach us about a well prepared and memorized speech. How many times have you seen a comedian pull out a note card to see what his next joke is? Never! This gives us a perspective on what and how much you have to memorize in the day to day life of a comedian.

Comedians are great; however they are under paid, and underappreciated. Beginning comedians get paid about $30,000 a year unlike a well-known and popular comedian who gets paid about $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 a year. This is why the job gets a bad rep, because people believe that they won’t be able to make a living off this kind of career. While that is true, it isn't too bad of a part time job, which will get you a little more money for the extra things in life. It’s hard to get noticed as a comedian; everyday you’re trying to meet with an agent that could get you a shot in the lime light, and every time getting shot down. This could be fixed by making your show a website, or making it into a daily or weekly show.

Comedians have very hectic lives, what with all the shows and traveling that they have to do. Many people don’t realize how many places that they have to go to. One day they could be in the United States, and the next they’re in Europe. This can be very stressful and time consuming leaving them with little to no personal time. They have to write all their jokes, and practice their performance thousands of times before they can take a break. Sometimes they don’t have to write their jokes, but that doesn't mean they don’t have to practice their performance or go to all the shows.


The author's comments:
This is my article O_O

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