Starting at the bottom is a necessary step for comedic performers 

By Chip Hammell

The open mic night at the East Village bar was not off to a good start.  All of the lights were aimed at the audience, not the comedians.  The audience couldn’t see who was on stage but the performers could clearly see the audience not laughing.  The MC called up a male-to-female post-op transvestite, who looked like Steven Tyler but with straighter hair, to the stage.   She only told one joke, “I used to be a waitress.  Before that I was a waiter,” and spent the rest of her five-minute set telling the audience about how she had quit comedy for six months.  With that, she sat down amongst the silent, dwindling crowd still in this East Village bar turned temporary comedy club.

The MC took the mic again: “Please welcome to the stage, Ester Steinberg.”  Steinberg, an NYU Tisch performing arts student, jumped on stage to a minimal applause from the five other patrons.  ‘Thank You!”  She said with an energy that seemed out of place in this bar.  “You know, I quit comedy for six months too.  I came to two open mics and had enough.”

Stand-up comedy might look easy, but professional know it’s anything but.  It takes years of practice to make a polished act appear conversational on stage.  Starting out, stand-up can be miserable, humiliating, and fruitless.  Yet, there’s something exhilarating about making a room full of people laugh with only a microphone, a water bottle and a stool.  When a performer succeeds at stand-up, they usually can make people laugh in all kinds of circumstances.  Which is exactly why comedy clubs have been the breeding ground for Hollywood’s funny elite for decades.  Producing and perfecting a polished, funny act, is the first step comedic performers take on their road to success.

Steinberg started out doing stand-up when she was seventeen.  Her father was the first to inspire her when he moved from her childhood home in Tampa to Los Angeles for a five month long attempt to be discovered.  “My father pointed out that stand-up leads to acting,” Steinberg said in an interview prior to her open mic set.  “Everyone from Steve Martin to Ellen started out that way.”  Steinburg’s father dreamed of being an actor, but he abandoned that dream to raise a family.  “He works as a lawyer, but he’s also a part owner of a comedy club in Tampa.”  Steinburg said.  In exchange for his legal services, the club offered him a share of the ownership.  He jumped at this opportunity.  “Every time we see each other we end up going to a comedy club.”  Steinburg said.  “My dad helped me see that it takes brilliance to make a whole room laugh.”

Unlike her father, Steinburg does not see herself as a stay-at-home-mom, and is driven by her desire for fame instead.  Steinburg came to NYU in the hopes of being discovered as either a comedian or an actor.  Her two biggest icons, Sarah Silverman and Adam Sandler, are both alumni from Tisch School of the Arts.  “If I could have anyone’s career, it would be Adam Sandler’s,” Steinburg said.  “He started out doing comedy, then was discovered and got on SNL, now he makes movies and has his own production company.”  Adam Sandler is a rare example of success.  Most comedians have to struggle for years without anything to show for their work.

Most, if not all, stand-up comedians acknowledge that it takes years to develop a style and rhythm on stage.  In an interview with the Star Tribune, Judd Apatow, the auteur of movies like “Funny People” and “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” estimated that it takes a minimum of ten years to learn how to be funny.  Bill Maher, on his HBO show, estimated that it takes more like five years.

“Daily Show” writer, J.R. Havlan, worked for eight years as a stand-up before finding a job writing, which is one of many ultimate career goals for comedians.  “I was the warm up act for Bill Maher,” he said.  “And that was where I really learned how to be funny.”  Now, as a late night T.V. writer, Havlan’s job means writing for John Stewart instead of himself.  He does consider himself lucky though, as he was able to move beyond stand-up.

Vaudeville is considered the beginner of stand-up comedy and its influences are seen the styles of Don Rickles and Woody Allen.  According to Steve Martin’s memoir, “Born Standing Up,” these comedians were eventually replaced by what Martin refers to as the “new” comedy era.  The new comedy era began during the Vietnam War period when the American population began to divide politically between the older conservatives and the younger liberals.  Comedian commentators like George Carlin and Richard Pryor appealed to the younger generations by reflecting their lifestyles and perspectives.  Carlin was especially famous for his commentary on censorship in America with his “”Seven Dirty Words you can’t say on T.V.”

Stand-up boomed in popularity with networks like HBO, which was the first to air stand-up on television.   This decision moved comedy to a new venue.  Stand-up was no longer only an auditory art in the form of an album, it had become visual.   Clubs started opening up all over the country, in an attempt by small business owners to try and coax the audience into seeing a live show.

The problem was, that by the late 80’s and early 90’s, there weren’t enough famous comedians to draw audiences into comedy clubs.  As televisions and films continued to proliferate, Americans could see their favorite comedians more and more in the comfort of their home.  “Americans want more than just the performance they’re seeing,” said Alonzo Bodden, a headlining comedian and a former champion on “Last Comic Standing.”  “People don’t just watch ‘Seinfeld,’ they care about who Jerry is.”  Without enough famous talent to perform and attract audiences, comedy clubs folded across the country.

Bodden who worked out a struggling comedy clubs and is now regularly working in television, said “’Last Comic Standing’ was my introduction to America.”  Before appearing on the stand-up comic’s equivalent to America Idol, Bodden struggled for 10 years to get noticed.  After his time on the show in 2004, Bodden found it much easier finding work.  “You fight so hard to get famous, but once you get it you have to fight to keep it,” he said.  “You can never relax in this business, not on any level.”

Like any business, there is a hierarchy that has to be worked up to reach success.  When a stand-up starts out, they perform at open mics, which leads to “bringer” shows.  These are basically the same thing, except the comedian has to bring a certain number of people in order to perform.  After that, a performer is “booked,” meaning they have a spot in a lineup, and eventually they get paid.  Bodden worked his way through the hierarchy, and now is fighting to stay at the top.  Steinberg, on the other hand, is struggling to rise from the bottom.  “Every time I think I’ve moved up to the next level I get pulled back down,” she said.  “I’ve performed in front of 300 people in Tampa and 200 in New York, I’ve had bringer shows at Caroline’s, and I’ve opened for comedians like Colin Quinn and Greer Barnes.”  This hierarchy is not fluid, and while Steinburg may perform before a large audience one night, the next night she may perform at an open mic.

To advance up the hierarchy, a comedian has to do a lot more than just be funny.  “Comedians usually have to promote their own shows,” Steinberg said.  For Steinberg, this usually means standing in Times Square all day and asking pedestrians if they want to see a comedy show.

Networking between performers is the most important part of advancing a stand-up comic’s career.  “I’m not as good at networking as I could be yet,” Steinberg said. Most of the comedy contacts that Steinberg has are ex-boyfriends, who have burned a lot of bridges with Steinburg.  She likes to joke about it in her act: “Last Father’s Day, I sent a text to a couple of ex’s that said, ‘I think I’m pregnant, Happy Father’s day!’” she said.  “Only one of them responded, and he said, ‘screw you,’ which I found a little redundant.”

Steinburg has managed to hold on to some contacts though.  She did manage to create an NYU improv group with fellow Tisch Sophomore Doug Widick.  Widick is a self proclaimed “Improvaholic,” and he performs in three groups while also working and taking classes at The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB), which is the center of improv comedy in New York City.  “I don’t do stand-up right now, but I am planning on starting soon,” Widick said.  “Stand-up can feed off of a negative energy that Improv can’t.   Improve is all about trust and support [from your troupe], while a stand-up can just rip on himself or the audience and get laughs.”  Widick  sees these two similar forms of comedy as being tools to improve a comedians style and skills.

Widick, a student of performance, has studied some of the main philosophies of comedy, both stand-up and improv, at NYU and UCB.  “The way live comedy usually works is you take unusual or funny truths and compare them to reality,” Widick said.  UCB teaches a theory they call “Game,” which takes a funny or unusual pattern to an illogical extreme. “Imagine you have a weatherman who becomes a dog every time it rains.  The weatherman has to work harder and harder to do the weather while slowly adding barks and growls throughout.”  Slowly, the tension of the scene builds up until the audience is forced to laugh at how ridiculous it is.  In Improv, these humorous releases tend to happen with an acknowledgement of truth.  “If, during that dog sketch after a loud bark or howl, someone else yells out ‘it must be pouring outside.’  You will get a laugh.”  Widick said.  Widick explained that the thought, “it must be pouring outside” is one that existed in the audience’s subconscious mind.  By pulling that thought into their consciousness, the audience is forced to release tension through a laugh.

UCB, Widick claims, is a nexus of all types of comedic professionals.  The theatre books improv groups from around the city, and has featured performances from the cast of “30 Rock” and “Saturday Night Live.”  “People get discovered in there everyday,” Widick said.  “The problem is, talent agents don’t always know what to do with you right away.”  There is no professional improv circuit.  So even though improv groups are a place to get noticed, there is no where for the talent to rise to.  “A lot of times, they’ll tell you to start writing stand-up.”  Widick said about talent agents.  “Stand-up is a good way to get paid before you have any kind of fame.”

This is why comedians today tend to diversify their performance styles. Diversification is a way to improve all of the skills a comedian will need, which is why Steinburg and Widick decided to start one.  “I’m a performer not a writer” Steinburg said.  Some comedians are unsure what kind of work they want to do.  Most comedians would just be happy doing anything related to professional comedy.

For some, this means giving up the spotlight to work behind the scenes.  At a panel of five late night television writers in late March, Bashir Salahuddin, a writer for “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” told all of the hopeful comedians in the audience, “If you want to make it in this business, you have to be doing something.”  For Salahuddin, and his writing partner Diallo Riddle, that meant writing and performing in a small sketch comedy troupe in Los Angeles.  They also recommended open mics, or making short films.  “There are a lot of cliques in stand-up or UCB,” Riddle said.  “It’s a process to find what you do best and where you fit in the industry.”  Riddle also said that he has known people who struggled as actors and then started writing or directing and became successful.   “You have to go out [and perform] for two reasons,” Salahuddin said, “It keeps your skills up and you learn from others.”

Riddle and Salahuddin have worked with members of “The Daily Show,” “Chocolate News with David Alan Grier” on Comedy Central, and now with Jimmy Fallon.  Through their networking, they have formed a small community of fellow comedians and writers that they use to continue to find work.

This community also helps them to become better comedy writers.  “You get funnier when you are with other funny people,” said Erik Kenward, another panel member and writer for “Saturday Night Live.”  “Eventually this becomes a community, stand-ups tend to help each other out.”  As an example, Kenward pointed out that he got his job at SNL from a friend he had written with on the Harvard Lampoon.  “In the writers’ room, working with other writers, is where I really learned how to be funny,” Kenward said.  SNL’s writers’ room has a mixed reputation though.  While they have turned out great comedic writers like Larry David and Adam McKay, SNL was a boys club up until the early 90’s when Tina Fey broke through and became the first female head writer on the show.

Fey is a rarity in the male-dominated comedy world, a fact not lost on Steinberg.  “I’m not clever enough to use my gender to be funny,” Steinberg said with a laugh.  While she refuses to compromise on her quest for success, she is taking steps in the right direction.

Steinberg took a step up in the comedy hierarchy in early April when she performed at Comic Strip Live, the most famous stand-up club in New York City.  This club is the home of comedy giants like Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Rodney Dangerfield, and Steinberg’s idol Adam Sandler.

Her performance was at a stand-up “showdown” sponsored by TBS and rooftopcomedy.com.  NYU’s funniest stand-ups competed against Manhattan Marymount’s funniest comedians in a regional round of the Rooftop Comedy National College Comedy Competition.  The national competition includes 32 schools from across the country.  Each school chose eight comedians to compete, and four from each school moved on as that school’s team.  The grand prize is a trip for the funniest team in America to the Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival in June.  There they will perform with some of top headlining comedians, who have yet to be announced.

Fifteen minutes before the show was supposed to start and the line was already out the door.  “I’m so nervous,” Steinberg said.  “I always get funnier when I’m nervous though.”   She ducked backstage as the audience continued to file into the club.

“Make sure you pay close attention,” said the MC, a representative from rooftopcomedy.com, once the audience was seated.  “You’ll be voting on your favorites at the end.”  Out of the 16 comedians, there was only one other female comedian besides Steinberg, named Liana Rowe, and she did use her gender to her advantage.  “I took bathes with my father for 11 years.”  Rowe, a junior at Marymount Manhattan, said.  “And now he’s starting to lose it.  So last Easter he came up behind me and whispered, ‘I just drew a bath for us.’”  Rowe built up so much tension with this anecdote that the audience roared with laughter.

Each comedian was given three minutes of time.  For Steinberg the biggest challenge of the evening was trying to tell “clean” jokes.  “Since the whole thing is filmed by TBS, we aren’t allowed to swear or talk about anything vulgar.”  Steinberg said before the show.  “If only I had five minutes of clean material.”

Steinberg was thirteenth in the lineup, and she ran on stage with excitement as her name was called.  “Thank you, my name is Ester Steinburg,” she said as she comfortably shifted her weight.  “When you Google my name, all you will find are holocaust records.”  The audience burst out laughing as she paced across the stage.  “I wish that were a joke,”  she said.

The amateur segment of the event wrapped up quickly.  As the votes were being tallied, the MC brought out Judah Friedlander, who started out doing stand-up and now is part of the cast of “30 Rock.”  “Let’s talk about why I’m the greatest in the world,” Friedlander said wearing a t-shirt emblazoned “World Champion” and a trucker hat that claimed the same thing in Spanish.  “I am an expert at karate.  I took a six-month online course online at DeVry, and now I’m qualified to kick some ass.”

After Friedlander performed, the comedians who were voted to advance were called back up on stage to film a one-minute joke that would be used for online voting.  Both Steinberg and Rowe were voted to advance.  Steinberg took the stage and told her joke about Father’s Day. As she delivered the punchline “… Which I thought was a little redundant,” the audience cheered with laughter.

As the night wound down, the MC reminded the audience to go online to vote for their favorite comedians in the following weeks.  Currently, Steinberg is in the semifinals of the competition, and is waiting to see whether or not she is funny enough to advance.

While this is a struggling process, it’s one that Steinberg is willing to put in the effort for.  Whether or not she advances in the competition or not, Steinberg plans to continue following her father’s footsteps to California.  “I’ll be out in L.A. this summer.”  Steinberg said.  “I’m going to see if I can be discovered.  We’ll just have to see.”