Day Jobs
Many people view the day job as the ankle weight of their creative pursuit. The things that’s slowing them down. They know they would be more successful by now if they didn’t have that pesky day job to worry about. On paper it makes sense. You only have so much energy in a day, and your day job forces you to spend it on something that isn’t directly serving your dream. In the beginning, however, the day job creates more opportunities than it takes.
I remember starting out in the open mic scene around Boston. Many nights ended with comics having some drinks and imagining how far they’ll go with comedy in the future. Back then I had never even been to a legit comedy club. I didn’t know the standard operating procedures of a host, a feature, and a headliner. I knew you didn’t go from five minutes at a bar’s open mic night to a Netflix special, but I hadn’t learned any of the steps in between. So any dreams about success shared out loud over drinks after the open mic were spoken with total ignorance.
Inevitably, these whimsical conversations about how we’re all going to make it were cut short by reality. Someone would bring up bills, rent, their back up plan, and their current day job. This was 2013-2014, so Gary V. wasn’t dominating my Facebook page calling me a pussy and telling me to just go for it. I was terrified of not having a back up plan. I was already embarrassed for any future version of myself who tried and failed. Other comics were ready to live in their car and do it full-time already for no money, certain that their big break would come sooner or later. I stuck with the day job, working in schools by day and telling jokes by night for a decade.
Comedy became a part-time job, but a full-time plan. I knew it was where I was going, but the reality was that I wasn’t there yet. Many of the open mic’ers who went all-in burned out within a year. The day job, on top of providing some stability and allowing me to afford a car to get to gigs, became a source of material that helped me relate real audience members. I’ve lost this paraphrased quote to the years, but early on I recall an interview with a comedian that basically said ‘Live your life. Don’t just bury yourself in the comedy scene because then you’ll have nothing relatable to talk about.’ The day jobs I’ve had over the years gave me a lot of relatable material to work with as I developed the mechanics of being a comedian.
As years went on and the money for shows became more, and more frequent, I started to entertain the idea of quitting the day job. I’ll never forget having the opportunity to participate in a Q & A with my favorite musician, Frank Turner. It was a premier for a documentary called GET BETTER that captured Frank’s journey as he worked on his newest album. After a showing of the documentary, Frank Turner and filmmaker Ben Morse sat down to take questions from the audience.
When my turn came I had my phone recording the audio as I explained, “I’m a comedian,”
To which Frank replied “God bless you!” getting him bigger laughs than I was used to.
“I’m also a teacher,” I continued.
To which Frank replied “God bless you even more!” getting him even bigger laughs than I’m used to.
I went on to ask him about his even earlier days than the documentary covered, and to speak a little about what it was like making the decision to dive into music full-time. Aside from a dreary quote about Mount Everest being the early grave for once highly motivated people, Frank offered very real and practical insight to such a decision. He recalled being asked similar questions from other musicians, almost as if they wanted his blessing or permission to take the risk, but it isn’t something other people can decide for you. He remembered the countless jobs he worked to fund his early career, warning that before you dive into the arts you have to remember that there are plenty of people talented enough who tried really hard and didn’t get the opportunities. In the end, he advised that he personally would rather crash and burn than to wonder what if, and luckily it went pretty well for him.
I left this interaction knowing that one day I’d take that jump, but I wouldn’t say I’ll never look back. I have hit many milestones over the years, and I have a few more attainable and realistic goals to reach. As I check them off I reassess how far I’ve come and how much further I want to go in the next year, and I set new goals. Until my calendar is full every weekend with high paying gigs, there’s always room for me to hustle something on the side to keep money coming in.
Over the years I listened to the audio recording from the Frank Turner Q & A to remind myself that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Tragically, I upgraded my phone without backing up my audio notes and lost that recording. I literally cried when I went to listen to it and realized it was gone. But the message was received and I follow it to this day.
