Getting on the Right Wavelength

​Very often people talk about how working harder will bring them to the point they desire in the workplace or career. That's not actually true. Plenty of nepo-baby, lazy, whiney, entitled brats have made a fortune off the backs of others who actually did work hard - for them. Do you really think Donald Trump outworked Hillary Clinton? Do you really think these top podcasting comics "outworked" Gary Gulman in stand up comedy? Are you going to tell me Andrew Tate even works harder than your dad? No.

The world is filled with WTF's who make it over more impressive talents. Unrefined, lucky bastards who stumble into success and gain fame by association or blind luck. It's why so many artists and sport stars feel so empty. Deep down, many know they don't "deserve" it, and they see all the people they came up with never catch the same breaks. The tragedy is they can't really admit it, because part of the American ethos is that you get what you earned. Which is what lucky people say to unlucky people. 

The funny thing about luck, is it can change and go both ways. I think we can all think of the comics and actors who had a great four to five year run, and now they can barely fill a 200 seat theater or open a movie to save their life. They become novelty acts. Cautionary tales. And maybe they can be a guest on a hit TV show in a form of stunt casting. But they also become a punchline. 

Yet, the one thing that propelled them into the stratosphere of success is they are on the same wavelength of the American people at the moment they made it. They figured out what people in that moment want to see. Some, like Andrew Dice Clay or Sam Kinison, can run hard for a short term, while others like Adam Sandler have their finger on the pulse for 30+ years. As people are fickle pickles, and tastes change, the truly popular people evolve with their fans and use their talent to maintain their popularity. But for a moment they had their finger on the pulse of society. 

So if you are feeling like you just aren't making it at the level you know you could be, I would challenge that you don't lack talent or skill, but instead you simply aren't on the wavelength as the buying public...yet.

The Pursuit of Success Without Success is Tragedy 
In Arthur Miller's brilliant essay "Tragedy and the Common Man," he argues that modern tragedy is not Prince Hamlet losing the throne, but a middle-class person seeing their "rightful place in the world" taken from them. They toil and fight, only to have outside forces knock them down.   

"The possibility of victory must be there in tragedy. Where pathos rules, where pathos is finally derived, a character has fought a battle he could not possibly have won. The pathetic is achieved when the protagonist is, by virtue of his witlessness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, incapable of grappling with a much superior force."​

Miller wrote Death of a Salesman with this thought in mind. Sure, you can get up twice a night, hit every open mic, email every booker, and sacrifice relationships and jobs, because you see the potential of a career in the arts, yet in the end, the tragedy is that if you aren't what people want, you just aren't going to make it. Or you won't last long, if at all.

So one comic's bit of taking his shirt off goes viral and your well crafted jokes about workplace politics fall on deaf ears. And a pretty boy's crowd work clips get shared by your family, but your clips die in the algorithm at 200 views. It's not fair. Those are examples of people making it, who even they acknowledge are the product of luck. Yes, they got up on stage a lot, but I can point to a hundred open micers 10 years in who got up more than them.   

But the element of "luck" or "right place right time" is a hard truth that hard work will not overcome. You can't work so hard that you write a joke as on brand as taking your shirt off. You can't teach dimples and sex appeal. They tapped into what people want. It's that simple. It's just that isn't always what people wanted, and when you tried to be something different, they were cashing checks being whatever it is they are. 

For the comics that get more respect from Twitter and peers, even their talent or hard work isn't the main reason they made it. They were authentically themselves, and like any relationship it either lasts a few years or a lifetime.  

Being on the right wavelength of the American people is what we call "The It Factor." And you can't out work that. You can't be as non-threating as Trevor Wallace. You'll never be as striking to look at as Whitney Cummings. You're just not as likable as Patton Oswald is or Ellen was. They caught the wavelength of what people wanted, rode it, and because they have talent, they're soaring in multiple ways. Yes, they will say they worked hard, but that's just a sliver of the reason for success. 

In fact, in an existential way, saying "I earned this" or "I worked for this" is offensive to all the equally hard working comics who haven't or didn't. Yes, they worked hard, but they also caught a moment and a connection with audiences.

It is the struggle artists face. The desire to become famous, yet plagued by a lack of connection with audiences. Sure you connect in person, but how many "fans" did you really convert into your camp? 
There's a lot of reasons why you may or may not be on the right wavelength. One ironic positive spin is you could just be ahead of your time.  

As Vincent van Gogh is quoted in the film "At Eternity's Gate" while in a mental institution: "Maybe God made me a painter for people who aren't born yet." He died broke. His work today is worth millions. Same with Herman Melville, who died trying to find that great white whale, metaphorically speaking. Their work was not on the wavelength of the public at the time, yet as tastes and values change, their works became the standard barriers.

Wavelengths is Why We Have "Cancel Culture" Victims 
Meanwhile, while some artists are discovered too late, others are "canceled" after the fact. As we watch old jokes by Kevin Hart, Eddie Murphy, Jerry Seinfeld, and others get reevaluated, this is simply a reflection of wavelengths changing. Gay jokes were all the rage once, but today not so much. Which is why it's unfair to judge a person's work from over a decade ago. Times change. Society changes. The Wavelengths alter. They were able to pivot, but many don't, and they suffer because of it. 

Heck, even the most successful, long lasting comic on the scene, Adam Sandler, has changed his comedic sensibilities. The crossdressing jokes in Billy Madison are not the family friendly jokes in Grown Ups. He adapted and "grew up" with his fans. From Big Daddy to being a dad, he figured out how to maintain his Midas touch. Pauley Shore, Andrew Dice Clay, and Rob Schneider did not. It is this gift Sandler possesses that keeps his career at the top. While not a critical darling, he is beloved by millennials and Gen X, and that is the most important part of why he made his fortune. Twenty box office hits later, and Netflix's top comedy producer, I think he's proven he's the master at connecting with new and old fans alike.  

How Do You Get On the Wavelength? 
This is the million dollar question isn't it? A lot is "hard work" in the sense you have to throw a lot of content out there and try a lot of jokes. But in the end, it's luck. Serendipity is another word. I'm sure Tony Hinchcliffe never thought a podcast making fun of open micers would go beyond The Comedy Store walls. Jim Gaffigan was doing "okay" until jokes about Hot Pockets broke into the zeitgeist. Robin Williams was a high energy comic whose sitcom Mork & Mindy became a hit no one saw coming. Judd Apatow had one failure after another until The 40 Year Old Virgin became the surprise hit of 2005. It's just a matter of how long will you keep going until you tap into the culture wavelength. 

Examples of the Wavelength Changing 
Right now I can say that sophisticated women comedy is on the rise and man child buffoonery is all the rage. The Rogan effect is what ushered in a very male centric group of silly boys just farting into the mic. Dads with beers in one hand and their kid's hand in the other. The frat boy mentality is not the 1990's sophistication of George Carlin and Chris Rock. Maybe today's video-game obsessed, red-pill consuming males don't want political or social commentary masked in stand up like my generation did. This sort of Andrew Dice Clay 2.0 might end soon, and maybe new voices will rise. But time will tell what that next wavelength will bring forth.  

Here's an example of the plight of women comics. Today, women comics are a more traditionally attractive group, compared to the 1980's and 90's Rosie O'Donnell and Paula Poundstone stars thirty and forty years ago. And the point of views that are strongest seem to be calling women out in ways past women didn't. 

As Whitney Cummings and Nikki Glaser sort of defend men's confusion in life, they do it with a much higher verbal IQ than their male counterpoints. In fact, Nikki Glaser was so on point at the Tom Brady Roast, one bro comic called out Hinchcliffe for putting her before their bro Andrew Schultz, claiming the Kill Tony host should have been thinking about his bro first. Of course, Hinchcliffe did nothing of the sort, but it is interesting that conversation sort of showed how moments in the sun are more manufactured than simply created. 

Final Thoughts
Art serves two purposes. One, to create something for the public to enjoy, and Two, for the artist to feel fulfilled. Not always do the two crossroads meet. Sometimes the artist feels rewarded by their attempt while the audience appears indifferent, and then the artist is empty inside by their contribution while the crowd is filled.  

So if you keep wondering what you have to do to get that break, move to that next level, or become famous, keep in mind it will take your humor and act synergizing with a mass group of people willing to pay. And that is really hard. Part of the struggle is knowing how to zig and zag as trends change, but also being at the forefront of creating those zigs and zags. So as you are developing an act, a script, a sketch, etc. just know that if something clicks, stick with that.

​Or you can try try to change the tastes of the country, but that might be a bit trickier.