Learning the comedy business is starting to get very expensive

June 19, 2009 by vongsundara 

I’m very fortunate to be living in Toronto right now. There are so many resources available here that were not available to me in either Calgary or Winnipeg. Because of this, I have concentrated on getting better at my craft rather than trying to propel my career forward before I am ready. The only trouble I’m running into right now are expenses.

There are many, many great classes and courses to take in Toronto, especially with Second City in town along with many great acting studios like Sears and Switzer. I definitely believe in taking classes, and I have gotten a lot out of each and every class I have taken, though I do have to watch out for how much money I have been spending lately. It’s definitely a difficult balance at times.

The Second City classes have definitely helped me improve my comedic range. Coming from a stand-up background, my character skills were definitely lacking. At least now I feel more comfortable going forward with different types of comedy outside of stand-up such as improv and sketch, making me much more well rounded and marketable.

My next seminar revolves around personal publicity. This is definitely the most important seminar for me in a while. If there’s one thing I need to learn before opening my one-man show early next year, it’s going to be how to promote the show and get people in the seats. Otherwise, I’ll just be performing in front of an empty audience.

I think I can manage my expenses for the time being, and hopefully the dollars coming in from performing will start to balance the expenses going out. Luckily for me, I’ve kept my day job, which is allowing me to overspend a little bit on the comedy side.

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One Response to “Learning the comedy business is starting to get very expensive”

  1. Scratchula on June 25th, 2009 7:17 pm

    It's always good to spend on one's self. I think of myself as a company. If it's good for the company then it's money well spent. – G

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