Friday August 9th, 2013 – Fox Lake, IL
I’ve
heard some refer to it as the “80-20” rule of business, and others the “90-10”.
What it boils down to is that 80-90% of one’s actual business and/or problems
in business come from 10-20% of one’s customers. I don’t know what the exact
numbers are, but I find the principle to be true.
An overwhelmingly large percentage of my
comedy bookings come from a small percentage of bookers and it’s always been
that way. I’ve chosen to branch out through the years and find more work all
over the country than most comedians I know, but it’s still from a relatively
small base.
I have especially found this principle to be
true in my comedy classes, although it’s probably as low as a 99-1 ratio
between good customers and problem ones. Most people who take my classes are
intelligent, inquisitive, and show up ready to learn something. They’re a wide
range of people from all walks of life, and I find this extreme diversity to be
not only refreshing but educational.
More times than I could count, I’ve ended up
learning about interesting facets of students’ lives I never expected, and I
come out by far the richer for it. I’ve come to count many former students as
personal friends, and that’s one of the main reasons I have continued to teach all
these years.
It ends up being extremely rewarding on a
number of levels. Only a tiny percentage of students ever take standup comedy
past the hobby stage, but that’s to be expected. This can be a cruel and
inhuman lifestyle, and it’s certainly not for the masses. Only a select few
ever make it a vocation.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be fun though,
and that’s often why people do it part time. It’s a way to experience the
thrill of being an entertainer while still having some roots in a ‘normal’ life
and I find absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s a creative outlet for
people who are comedy fans.
Most students aren’t delusional as to their
chances of hitting the big time, and I clearly inform them within the first
five minutes of every session of classes I ever teach that this is NOT an easy
path to guaranteed success. Standup comedy is a craft, and any craft requires
lots of hard work to attain any degree of proficiency. To do it on a professional
level requires hard years of sacrifice.
Because there is such a wide diversity of
individuals involved, it’s inevitable that on occasion a kook or two will cross
my path. This is to be expected, and most times I don’t mind. I don’t have a
problem with someone being odd, but once in a great while someone shows up who is
just not able to be taught. I try not to turn anyone away who wants to learn,
but at times I have no choice.
I’m getting much better at picking out the wack
jobs early, and I try to give them the benefit of the doubt until they give me reason
to cut them off completely. I want everyone to get more than they pay for in my
classes no matter how much that may be, but there comes a time when it’s not worth
the energy drain and there needs to be a line drawn. It ends up cheating the other
students.
I haven’t had to cut anyone off in a while, and
I forgot how unpleasant it can be. I had someone in a class about a year ago that
was a red flag all the way through, but despite that I gave my best teaching effort
to the point of spending extra time before and after classes. That was a mistake.
This person has been a total pest since. It’s always
a downer to have to excommunicate anyone but sometimes it has to be done. I have
to focus on how rewarding teaching is as a whole and not the occasional energy vampire
who makes me question why I do it. The good outweighs the bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment