Funny + Work Ethic = Comedy

An Equation for Stand-up. Well, Kind of.

Comedy is often misunderstood. Comedians are often misunderstood. People think stand-up is just about being funny, like comedians wake up every morning with punchlines pouring out of them and crowds lining up to laugh. I’ve encountered this frequently when, in the moment that I tell someone I do stand-up, they immediately say, “Tell me a joke.”

Sure, being funny is essential, but comedy—real, stand-up comedy—is funny + work ethic. Without the latter, you’re just someone with a sense of humor. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s also not stand-up. With work ethic, you can turn that humor into something meaningful, drive it somewhere, create something lasting.

I often use “Finding Funny Everywhere” as a sort of tagline or motto. I don’t know how long I’ll keep that, but there is a sense in whcih finding the funny is where it starts. (Though, sometimes the funny finds you; you just have to be aware enough to recognize it.) For comedians, humor isn’t merely confined to a stage or a set. It’s everywhere if you’re paying attention.

Books, songs, conversations, daily routines, that embarrassing thing you said three years ago or that thing you did twenty years ago that still makes you cringe—it’s all material. Even the darker corners of life, the pain and the trauma, have their place in comedy. The tough part is often finding a way to frame them so they can make people/strangers laugh because, well, laughter has a way of making the hard stuff feel lighter, even if only for a moment.

But here’s the thing: noticing the funny isn’t enough. You have to capture it, shape it, and deliver it, as I said, frame it. That’s where some of the work comes in anyway. And it’s a lot of work. Writing jokes isn’t just jotting down something amusing and calling it a day. It’s crafting setups and punchlines, adding tags, tweaking wording, testing delivery, and throwing out what doesn’t work. Sometimes you write something you think is gold, and then it bombs in front of people. Back to the drawing board!

Creating content is another layer of the grind. Social media is practically a requirement now. You’re not just a comedian; you’re a brand. That means posting clips, writing tweets, designing memes, making videos, and engaging with followers. Anyway, It means figuring out which platforms work best for your style and consistently showing up, even when it feels like shouting into the void. (By the way, I have a YouTube short that’s starting to go viral. You should check it out HERE and, if you would, give it a “like” and even leave a comment. Thanks ahead of time!)

Then there’s podcasting, which has become a cornerstone for so many comedians. A podcast isn’t just about talking into a mic for an hour; it’s planning episodes, finding guests, editing audio, promoting the show, and doing it all regularly enough to build an audience. That’s some work! Getting my “Messed-Up To Set-Ups” podcast off the ground has been fun but has taken time, creativity, energy, and so on.

On top of all that, there’s the performing itself—getting on the mic, often multiple times a week like I did this week, to hone your craft. And it’s not just the performing time; it’s the networking, the driving to and from venues, the waiting for your turn at open mics, the endless cycle of putting yourself out there in the hopes that someone will notice.

Comedy is funny + work ethic because, to be successful, you have to treat it like a job. If you want it to be more than a hobby, you can’t wait around for inspiration to strike or opportunities to fall into your lap. They may. But they’re more likely to if you’re showing up every day, ready to grind, even when it’s not fun. And there are days when it’s not fun—when you bomb, when your jokes feel stale, when you’re exhausted from trying to juggle comedy with a full-time job or family responsibilities.

But the grind is what makes the funny shine. It’s what turns a spark of humor into a fire. It’s what separates the people who dabble from the people who succeed.

So, yes, comedy is about being funny. It’s about seeing the world through a lens that highlights the absurd, the ironic, the painfully relatable; it’s about looking at the world in a way where you can laugh in the face of anything and be bulletproof. But it’s also about the hustle—about putting in the hours, embracing the struggle, and treating every aspect of the process like it matters. Because it does, even when it sucks.