How To Make It in Comedy

Probably don’t bother

When you image of “making it” in comedy, you might imagine Jerry Seinfeld. Yellow legal pads and nightly stand-up sets at the Comedy Store.

But there’s this whole other realm — the realm of improv and sketch comedy — where people like Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Will Forte, and Jason Sudeikis came from. A different breed. Someone once told me, “If stand-ups are wizards, then improv people are snow-elves.” I don’t know what that means, but it’s provocative.

The most prestigious place to try your hand at this kind of comedy is a school in LA called the Groundlings. Named for the people who would stand on the ground (hence “groundling”) for a pittance to see a play. Low-class, no-filter characters came out of the woodwork to watch a raucous Shakespeare play, throw rotten tomatoes, and hoot and holler. They encouraged the aristocrats in the upper rows to holler along, laugh, and cheer. A welcome release valve for the stodgy elites. The Groundlings made the shows fun. Their absence is why, for the most part, Shakespeare is not fun today.

At The Groundlings, you go through these Scientology-like levels, up through the ranks, where at each level you can be kicked out and never get another chance. You’re judged by a mount Olympus of famous and semi-famous comedians. Each of the cast is a co-owner of the theater…