Startup Standup Comic
Faisal Alam thefaisalalam.com
November 12th, 2014
Faisal Alam thefaisalalam.com
November 12th, 2014
My career in stand-up comedy officially began a little over a
year ago. It was a latent part of me
that for most of my life only scratched the surface. Although, once freed, that scratching turned
quickly into straight-up mauling, unleashing the beast and leaving a few nasty
scars along the way.
I grew up in a well-off Pakistani family along the Hudson Valley in upstate New York and attended an arts academy for high school where I began dabbling in theater- primarily musicals and Shakespeare- landing the roles of the jester or comic relief. I’ve always felt like a fish out of water. A feeling that extended well into college.
I attended Tufts University in Boston- where Harvard rejects go and fun goes to die. Groups were homogenized and the only access to diversity was alongside your friendly campus drug dealers. I joined a frat with aspirations to get attention, drunk, and laid. Older now but not wiser- all three are still a priority. That’s not necessarily what led me to comedy, but the shit-show trifecta was a perk. And that’s not to say all comedians are in it for ego, booze, and ass. Some are fine with just two of the three.
Early on I wanted to become a programmer, but couldn’t stick to it. In fact, nothing much stuck from college, with the exception being the faint thrill of having to cram all night for an exam. A rush I still feel when I’m rushing to prepare for a show. Despite my parents’ expectations, I was an abject failure academically and became their “biggest disappointment”. I hated college but started down a law track anyway, inspired to help prosecute domestic abuse assailants.
After college I went to L.A., studied screenwriting, and became interested in stand-up. I went to graduate school in NYC to finish a law degree and had the distinction of being in a certain 10% of my class: the bottom 10%. The only time I was truly engaged in law was during a whirlwind relationship with a younger-than-expected girlfriend which sent me into a panic to better understand statutory rape laws.
Still, my relationship with law remained superficial and not the passionate fervor that most attorneys cling to. I couldn’t shake this desire to forget it all and just perform on an open mic. Five years passed in NYC and the excuses kept coming, until I was laid off from my job and ran out of excuses, so I took a class at the P.I.T. (People’s Improv Theater), found the courage to do a few open mics and then “bringer” shows, where you have to bring part of the audience. Before too long I had the comedy bug and bad.
I grew up in a well-off Pakistani family along the Hudson Valley in upstate New York and attended an arts academy for high school where I began dabbling in theater- primarily musicals and Shakespeare- landing the roles of the jester or comic relief. I’ve always felt like a fish out of water. A feeling that extended well into college.
I attended Tufts University in Boston- where Harvard rejects go and fun goes to die. Groups were homogenized and the only access to diversity was alongside your friendly campus drug dealers. I joined a frat with aspirations to get attention, drunk, and laid. Older now but not wiser- all three are still a priority. That’s not necessarily what led me to comedy, but the shit-show trifecta was a perk. And that’s not to say all comedians are in it for ego, booze, and ass. Some are fine with just two of the three.
Early on I wanted to become a programmer, but couldn’t stick to it. In fact, nothing much stuck from college, with the exception being the faint thrill of having to cram all night for an exam. A rush I still feel when I’m rushing to prepare for a show. Despite my parents’ expectations, I was an abject failure academically and became their “biggest disappointment”. I hated college but started down a law track anyway, inspired to help prosecute domestic abuse assailants.
After college I went to L.A., studied screenwriting, and became interested in stand-up. I went to graduate school in NYC to finish a law degree and had the distinction of being in a certain 10% of my class: the bottom 10%. The only time I was truly engaged in law was during a whirlwind relationship with a younger-than-expected girlfriend which sent me into a panic to better understand statutory rape laws.
Still, my relationship with law remained superficial and not the passionate fervor that most attorneys cling to. I couldn’t shake this desire to forget it all and just perform on an open mic. Five years passed in NYC and the excuses kept coming, until I was laid off from my job and ran out of excuses, so I took a class at the P.I.T. (People’s Improv Theater), found the courage to do a few open mics and then “bringer” shows, where you have to bring part of the audience. Before too long I had the comedy bug and bad.
My comedic style at this point is not linear, traditional, or follows any kind of consistent theme. Rather, I just try to focus on being funny and to be able to read the audience to see how far I can push things. Some audiences embrace darker topics while others would rather keep it upbeat and relatively comfortable. Most show producers help set the tone early on and don’t want their first couple of comics to get too evil, but are cool with the later comics releasing the demons.
Even though I studied domestic abuse law and have a heart for victims, its personal experience I can use and do use but still need to be mindful of how it comes off. Pretty much everyone is fine with jokes that play to common stereotypes, especially regarding someone on the opposite end of the spectrum from them. I get it often and even joke about being “brown” and having Alam as a last name. One comic that followed me after a set wasn’t paying attention and took a school shooting reference wildly out of context and tried to tie it back to me, which the audience didn’t like very much. One reason comedy exists is because everyone is angry about something, so part of the challenge is to use that to your advantage.
Usually, audiences are a mixed bag and you have to think on your feet and not get too tied up with scripted material, so a good bit of material building is hit or miss. Not that I necessarily go there all the time- but many comedians do and the general rule is to not start off with your darkest stuff unless you are a well-known comedian and have established that as your shtick, then you can pretty much do whatever you want.
It is important, however, to get along with and treat other comics and show producers with respect. As a startup comedian I’ve seen how far bad impressions can go to limiting opportunities. You have to be there for your fellow comics and enthusiastically. In the beginning, there’s not much you can do about the politics. In the end talent wins and haters will always still be haters.
In stand-up comedy it’s important to leave a strong last impression, which many of the better comics do by saying some brutal shit at the end of a routine. This is why the meanest and most insensitive comics have the largest and most loyal followings, especially in this age of social media and viral videos, which makes being a comic that needs to compete for audiences all that more challenging. To be successful you need to push envelopes and will inevitably offend people along the way. I’ve been fortunate enough to develop a loyal audience and network of other comedians over the last year, which has allowed me to produce my own shows and headline so I can focus on my biggest challenge as a new comic: to continue to find my voice and a balance that allows me to push even further.
