Five Things You Must Do To Be A Professional Humorist

How does one get into comedy or become a cartoonist? Let me count the ways. There are too many to mention and its really one of those trial and error fields. But "funny" is a must.

Much of finding one's way in comedy or humor or any kind of entertainment is to discover what feels right. Which of these genres of work can one do and feel comfortable in his/her skin. If one tries acting, and feels like a fraud, then acting might not be for them, or, they may take professional acting classes and try again. In fact, the classes are a good idea from the start in any field. I tried many venues including the stage before finally settling for humor writing and cartooning. And I feel very content with it. When do you know you've paid your dues? Believe me, you'll know it. Be sure to bring several hankies for the multiple bloodied nose experiences.

I have been a stand-up comedian in New York City, but that was many years ago, and I am the last person to ask how to master that skill. I was dismal at it. But frankly, all I did was asked club owners, if I could "have a shot at it". Some said yes and some said no. The ones who said no did me a bigger favor, in retrospect.

Keep in mind, once you are an emcee at a nightclub, you have not "arrived". You will get a lot more attention from the opposite sex (and sometimes your own), a few free meals and drinks if the club owner is generous, but not a lot more perks than that.

Leno did gigs in nightclubs all over America for years before he tried out for television in Los Angeles. Chances are he could have made it big way before he actually did so. But he wanted to make certain he knew exactly what he was doing, and the nightclubs were his grade school, middle school, and even post graduate comedy degrees.

What to play humorous characters in television, movies or commercials? Take classes. There are plenty of them in larger cities. I took some in New York during my short stint there. Yes, they helped, but not enough. That was my reality so I moved on.

I can honestly say that the best education I ever received for becoming a humor writer, and eventually having my own cartoon, was "hanging with funny people". I was fortunate enough that a childhood friend, Patrick Weathers, had been a regular featured performer on Saturday Night Live. Patrick was my roommate in N.Y. I was privy to his friends who, were for the most part, quite witty. I learned to think like they thought. I carried that with me throughout life. I found, like many of them must have, that a sense of humor can help one cope through all kinds of situations. And I have had many (situations).

I became a cartoonist by accident. I was writing humor and designing cartoon concepts for fun. A concept designer in cartooning is probably equivalent to art director in the movies). I illustrate but not very well. So I recruited artists who felt they understood my concepts and writing and were willing to draw on speculation if I would continuously promote their name and art during down times, that is, of little or no income. Many artists came and went. A day did not go by in the first three years that I did not think we would have to abandon the project. But we persisted. (It doesn't help to read self-help books on the topic of persistence).

Ten years later, it is almost unimaginable to me. We created the largest offbeat cartoon panel site on the Internet with over 8000 original images and have lured about 10 million people since we started counting ten years ago. We've opened 7 niche stores with over 90,000 cartoon items. Now we have arrived.

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From scratch in a metal warehouse, Rick London created the largest offbeat cartoon site on the Internet, Londons Times Cartoons The Best Ways To Enter The Field Of Humor

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