How to succeed even if you're not the best, part 2

The emcee at the comedy club is the low man on the totem pole. They don't get paid much, they don't get much time on the show, they have to go out first to warm up the crowd, and pretty much every time they're on stage, something else is happening – people are taking a bathroom break or ordering drinks or food. It's a thankless job and it's at the bottom.

This week we're talking about tips for succeeding even if you aren't the best person at what you're doing. And today's tip – use your time at the bottom to get good. Don't rush through it. I actually got from a comedian Lord Carrett when I was emceeing – he told me to emcee as long as I could stand it. He said what happens to most comedians, is they try to blow through the emcee spot, and barely have enough material when they reach the feature spot, where they need 30 minutes of jokes. So they get there, but end up getting stuck as a mediocre feature forever. He said make sure you build your act to a solid 30 minutes while you're an emcee, and then you'll fly through the feature spot. He said if you're really good, you won't get stuck as an emcee, but if you're medocre, you will get stuck as a feature act.

I took his advice and flew through the feature spot into headlining. There were comics who were funnier than me, but they stayed stuck in the feature slot, because they got labeled as a mediocre feature.

So stay longer than you think you can stand it at the bottom, so that you are over prepared.

ACTION: If you want to hear stories from my comedy career, check out my short podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. It's called Comedian Stories. I kick off with a joke, tell a short 3 minute story, and end with a take-away tip from what I learned.

That's it for today. Take care and enjoy your journey.