Being Middle of the Pack Is Okay

Comedy is like an iceberg. If you're above water, you're winning!

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We live in a culture obsessed with winning and being ahead of the pack. Whether its the old expression "keeping up with the Joneses" or today being considered "high value," we all are trying to carve out our piece of the pie and make a name for ourselves. And while many of us intellectually understand this is an unhealthy way to evaluate ourselves and our comedy career, none of us can escape the burden of trying to prove our worth to bookers, other comics, and our family & friends.

This desire to be "the best, the best around" (Karate Kid, anyone?) bleeds into all areas of life. We want the best looking spouse or significant others. We want our kids to be the smartest in their class or the top athlete. We position ourselves at work to get promoted. We get an apartment and then want a condo and then want a house and then we want a rental property. It never ends. And yes, competitiveness drives us to be the best version of ourselves, but it also creates the worst version of ourselves.

We strive to reach the levels of fame others reach. That's normal. But when we hustle and toil away, if we don't reach the next level, depression and anxiety hit us like an Amazon truck and we find ourselves emotionally worse off in our moderate success than we did in our early bottom of the pack status.    

That's why I want to tell you, it's okay to be a middle of the pack comic, actor, musician, performer. In fact, if you reach the middle, you've reached a part of the mountain 90% only dream of reaching - and that contentment can be more freeing than all the economic success in the world.           

What is the Middle of the Pack?
If you break down the comedy world there are essentially five levels of comedy. 

Level 1 Open Micer
We all start here, doing open mics at various clubs and alt venues. Even the greats started at open mics in small towns or big cities, but you have to start here if you have no inherit fame. You practice jokes and make comedy connections at this stage.

Level 2 Showcaser
At this level comics get booked for unpaid gigs at clubs, bars, and various venues. There might be some gas money or free food involved with performing, but these 5-10 minute sets are usually in front of crowds that either didn't know it was comedy night or these are hard/soft bringer shows where the comics need to do the marketing to promote the show.  

Level 3 Paid Host/Opener/Feature
Now we're cooking with gas. At this level there is a spectrum of success. You are getting paid booked work on a regular basis. You can email clubs and venues for spots. You work with established talent in the industry. This is the middle of the pack in its purist definition. 

Level 4 National Touring Headliner/Feature  
If you are traveling around the country/world doing comedy AND making money doing it, then you are in the upper middle of the pack. These are comics headlining B & C rooms, brewery shows, cruises, corporate gigs, churches, etc. They don't have a following as much as they have a great reputation with bookers.

Level 5 National Headliner w/ Fanbase 
This is a pretty big spectrum of talent. Your biggest names in comedy that everyone knows about goes here. From your Mark Normand's to your Jerry Seinfeld's. Some have big fan bases but aren't known by every age group and others have TV and movie careers where they carry the project. These are the millionaires and award winners. 

While there are degrees to these levels - like where do you put an unused SNL cast member or TV writer, but generally these five categories are where all comics can place themselves. And like an iceberg, 90% of comics make up the below the water base. 

Being in the Two Middle Levels is Really the Goal
I know we all want the Netflix package. We want the YouTube money and TikTok viral experience. But it just isn't happening for everyone. Sorry, but most likely you won't be so famous they name a burger after you at a chain restaurant or ask you to be the spokesperson for a well known product. You might never get to host the Oscars either.

Instead of winning AGT, maybe you can make the B roll and get a clip posted on IG. Maybe you get a few small parts in commercials or independent films. Maybe you can open for a famous comic and get paid a couple hundred to perform at huge theaters. Maybe Dry Bar or Comedy Dynamics puts a little money into you and you get a special.  

So many comics get to Level 3 and feel like a failure. Level 3 is like being the 12th player on an NBA roster. Yeah, you aren't starting or getting Nike deals, but you're in the NBA!     

At Some Point You Might Be a Jobber  - Which is Amazing!
Back in the 1970's-1990's professional wrestling there's a term called a "jobber." This was a local wrestler who would wrestle main event wrestlers to make them look good. These jobbers would play Madison Square Garden, be on TV, and do the local house shows. They'd get paid to wrestle under the WWF banner and get beat up by Macho Man Randy Savage and Ric Flair when they weren't in a Main Event match. Jobbers would get paid and eventually become known for their ability to help a wrestler look more ferocious or noble. 

Today, I would consider myself a "jobber" when I go from town to town hosting, featuring or headlining in various cities. Whether it's featuring in Tucson, AZ or headlining throughout Oregon, I'm paid to do a job, not sell tickets. When I walk into Chadwicks or Pechenga Casino, the venue and booker did the marketing and I'm the guy hired to make them look good. Being a jobber might not sound glamorous, but to the crowd, I'm the celebrity who stopped by to entertain the locals. 

Jobbers in pro wrestling might have never made it on a Wrestlemania, but they did get to play the big venues and work with the big name superstars. They started wrestling schools and ended up getting jobs at WWE and other territories. Sure, it wasn't the endgame, but they got to be a part of something bigger than themselves, and if you see yourself as one of the lucky ones collecting regular checks, even as a host, you can say you're ahead of the pack, even if it is the middle. 

Final Thoughts 
Don't let the success of others deflate the accomplishments you do have. Your comedy career cannot be defined in financial gain or status, but must be defined by personal growth and the enjoyment it brings to yourself and others who get to see your act. There are a million factors to what allows a comic high levels of success, and being funny is at the bottom. 

Networking, comedy styles, geographical location, independent wealth, age, etc. You are more than the sum of your jokes. Sometimes a weird encounter can build a relationship that creates opportunities others never get. 

Also, stand up comedy is still a young art form. Most comics who started in the 1980's are still alive. Unlike pro sports, there's no retirement to allow younger players spots. Some people got in at the top early, and your only fault is not being born in the 1960's or starting when you were 18 years old.

If reaching Level 5 was really the end all, then why do so many top talents struggle with drugs, alcohol, relationships, and other social issues? Even the money can be a curse, with leaches and lurkers trying to suck you dry, and when you set boundaries, people yelling at you.   

Patton Oswalt once said he was happy enough with his fame stating, "I can get into any restaurant I want without anyone knowing why."  

​So if you can make it to the middle of the pack, you can breath a deep sigh of relief knowing you "made it." It may not be the "it" you wanted "it" to be, but a life in comedy in the middle is still miles ahead of the rest.