McAdoo Deon McAdoo Professor McDougle English 102 4 April 2011 The Stand-up Businessman A comedian is determined committed

and hard!or"ing !hen it comes do!n to his or her #o$% The $usiness $ehind comed& is esta$lished so !ell that a comedian has to $e on the top of his or her game to e'en ma"e it $ig in the industr&% (o!e'er ne! comedians continue to surface #ust so the& can $ecome a $ig name comic li"e )edd *o++ )ichard Pr&or or Bo$ (ope% So ho! do ne! comedians could ha'e a su$stantial career in the $usiness of comed&% ,omedians can $e successful if the& ha'e a !elldocumented $usiness plan can get professional $usiness leaders to guide them in their careers create a stage presence that is uni-ue from the rest% A comedian is similar to a $usiness o!ner% .n order for $usiness o!ner to run an

efficient $usiness he or she needs to ha'e $usiness plan or some t&pe of proposal to help guide them in their #ourne&% ,omedians should ha'e the same mindset as these o!ners% The& need to ha'e either a !ell-thought out $usiness plan or !ell-!ritten $usiness plan for ho! the& !ant to e+cel in comed&% ,omedians !ho are tr&ing to get a name in comed& are more li"e an entrepreneur in this $usiness $ecause the& are going into a highris" $usiness !here either the& made it $ig or the& fail !ith the ris" of not ha'ing a !a& to support themsel'es% Entrepreneurship professor /illiam B% 0artner of ,lemson 1ni'ersit& in South ,arolina anal&2ed data from the Panel Stud& of Entrepreneurial D&namics% (e did a national sur'e& consisting of more than 300 people in the process of

McAdoo starting $usinesses 4!!!%entrepreneur%com5% (e found that !riting a plan greatl&

increased the chances a person !ould actuall& go into $usiness 4!!!%entrepreneur%com5% ,omedians can $ecome successful once the& plan and understand ho! much time the& need to dedicate in their art and ho! much mone& the& need to in'est in order for them to gro!% ,omedians can use this "no!ledge as an outline to help #ump start their careers% Also a $usiness o!ner needs to emplo& emplo&ees to maintain successful $usiness so he or she !ill hire a person or a group of !ell--ualified people !hose main focus is to run the most efficient $usiness possi$le% Similar to the $usiness o!ner comedians can hire $oo"ing agents personal managers and room managers to help them in their success in this stand up $usiness% *or e+ample !ithout these people comedians !ould ha'e to promote their o!n acts arrange their o!n appearances and organi2e or produce sho!s in !hich the& ha'e a performance spot 4Ste$$ins 1245% /hen comedians hire agents or managers it gi'es the comedian time to concentrate on their routine 4Ste$$ins 1245% These $usiness people ta"e care of the $ehind the scenes aspect of comed& so that the comedians do not ha'e to !orr& a$out it !hen the& are preparing for sho!s 4Ste$$ins 1245% Agents or managers are some of the $iggest contri$utors to help get a comedian6s $usiness up and running% The& stri'e to get comedians the $iggest profit $& minimi2ing the e+penses 4Ste$$ins 1275% Also !riters can $e another 'ital piece to a stand up comedian6s success% /riters are a highl& 'alua$le piece to a comedian6s staff $ecause the& can help !ith the editing the re!rites and the polishing of the material to get the material as close as perfect as possi$le 4Perret 1145% ,omedians6 !ealth !ithin stand up is recei'ed $ecause of the emplo&ment of their emplo&ees%

McAdoo

8n the other hand comedians6 st&le of mar"eting or their presence on stage has to $e different from !hat their audience has alread& heard% ,omedians ha'e to gi'e the audience reasons to listen to them instead of their competition% *or e+ample imagine t!o cupca"e stores in the same neigh$orhood% *or the one store to $e successful it has to offer something to its consumers that the& ha'e ne'er e+perienced $efore% The same logic applies to stand up9 a comedian cannot $uild a strong fan $ase if he or she is repeating the same #o"es that another comedian has said% (o!e'er stud&ing other comedians !ho perform !ith the similar st&le can help a comedian impro'e throughout their career% The& can attend comed& clu$s !atch comed& specials and do!nload 'ideo or audio of professional comedians and o$ser'e spea"ing patterns stor&telling and punch line deli'er& 4!!!%eho!%com5% Businesses li"e AT:T and ;eri2on li"el& o$ser'e their faults as !ell as other phone compan&6s sales faults to see ho! the& can get the upper hand on their competition% 0ene Perret states in his $oo" Successful Stand-up Comedy that there are three areas a comic needs to thin" a$out in order to $ecome a uni-ue performer% (e states <Their appearance their deli'er& and their su$#ect matter 4Perret =25%> 0ene states that a comedian6s appearance should match their personalit& 4Perret =?5% .f a comedian deli'ers his or her #o"e in a laid $ac" tone he or she should not dress li"e the& are going for an inter'ie! for Donald Trump $ecause it !ill onl& distract the audience from his or her performance% The same can $e said for a $usiness o!ner% .t !ould not ma"e sense for a dr& cleaner6s o!ner to $e dress in suits e'er& da&% 0ene also states that a comedian6s su$#ect matter should not limit them to the t&pe of audience he or she has% @i"e!ise $usiness o!ners tr& to ma"e a product that can $e purchased $& all consumers $ecause the& "no! the $igger the fan $ase the more

McAdoo consumers !ill !ant more% All three of those aspects pla& a ma#or the audience and ho! the& percei'e the comedian% E'er& comedian in stand up !ants to $e successful in this $usiness% .t seems the more popular stand up comed& $ecomes the demand for $etter and funnier comedians !ill rise% @earning ho! to sta& on top of the $usiness aspect of stand up !ill cause more comedians to $ecome more successful%

McAdoo /or"s ,ited Entrepreneur6s Start1p% <Ready, Set, Launch. Entrepreneur% March 2011% /e$% 2= March 2011% <(o! To Become a ,omedian%> !!!%eho!%com% ?0 Aan% 2011% /e$% 7 April 2011% Perret 0ene% Successful Stand-1p% Be! Cor"D Samuel *rench Trade 1EE?% Ste$$ins )o$ert A% @augh-Ma"ersD Stand-1p ,omed& as Art Business and @ife-St&le% ,anadaD Mc0ill-Fueen 1ni'ersit& Press 1EE0%