When you see what professional comedians do, you may feel the urge to become one. This, however, does not mean it will be smooth sailing all through. You need years of practice, talent, and lots of jokes to use. Here is a closer look at the nature of such a career.
You first have to love getting people laughing. You can build on that by learning comedy. As much as your first attempts shall not yield fruit, you will have to keep going. This is usually harder when competition gets into the picture. You should look at lots of comedy from the past. Look also at those who failed at it. You especially need to be keen on where the great ones started. You will see many signs of weakness.
You need to work on your material. You should have enough reserves to keep people laughing for over an hour. Look for any open mic places around you and get on stage. This shall tell you whether you have the skill. A you write, you will understand just how hard it is to come up with anything original. Being funny is hard, more so when it has to be original. This explains the long time a comedian needs to get it right.
You need to then establish your voice. You should make sure your voice is original and unique. You need to test it out till you get it right. You may opt to go with the alternate persona route. This allows you to step outside of yourself and be more confident.
You will get more material when you write about your personal life. This approach has proven reliable for most comedians. You, therefore, need to write everything about your life. As time goes, you will learn to weave them into your content.
You need to be ready for hecklers. These are a part of your career experiences. With alcohol available in comedy clubs, not everyone in the audience shall behave well. You need to be prepared with what to say at those moments. You will do best to get the audience on your side, against them.
You should also expect to flop at one time. This will be among the worst things to happen to you. You should be ready for it, as even the best had to go through it. Do not expand it bigger than an experience. You will learn more about your career at such times. You will thus make a great comeback from it.
You should also make a point of being on stage as much as possible. Regular practice is the best way to get better. You shall discover more about touring comedy and other aspects on this site.