It's Just Funny Business
Odd Jobs is a newsletter about careers that don’t fit in cubicles. Too many people are miserable with their lives, jobs, and themselves.
Why not do something odd and make $$$ while you’re at it?
I’ve got a million ideas for you.
The theme of the newsletters this week is: FUNNY BUSINESS!
Today, we’ll chat about the odd ways to get paid to be funny, on Wednesday we’ll profile how one person makes their income by being hilarious full-time, and on Friday I’ll share businesses that are hiring odd jobs that pay you to make people LOL.
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That’s not funny.
I had a boss who once fired me for laughing at work.
A co-worker was telling me a joke about soap and she walked over to our cubicles screaming on the top of her lungs:
“THERE IS NO LAUGHING ALLOWED IN THIS OFFICE!”
You would have thought that comment alone would have been a joke and the three of us would have laughed till our faces turned blue.
But if you knew this boss (and i’m so glad you do not know this boss) you would know that she did not have a funny bone in her body. Angry and vicious, yes. Funny, no.
So when she came over screaming, I clutched onto my desk, holding on for dear life.
“If I catch either of you laughing again, you will be thrown out of here faster than you can say sorry.”
We didn’t say sorry. We didn’t say anything.
Two weeks later, I called her to tell her I was quitting to move to New York City. I put in my two weeks.
“Oh, Jen!” she said with drips of what sounded like excitement. “I’m so glad you called. I was going to fire you today anyway.”
Get Paid to Make People Laugh
I’ll never forget the awfulness of that job and how I would sometimes scrunch down in my desk chair so the boss wouldn’t see me and yell at me for existing.
Which is why I’m dedicating this week to jobs that are perfect for funny people.
Because maybe right now, at your job, you are not allowed to be funny. Maybe your job is all buttoned up and serious. Maybe you are funny but you don’t even know how to get paid for it.
Either way, here are some viable ways to make $$$$ just because you can make people laugh.
Can you make money as a comedian?
The Wall Street Journal estimates comedian Ray William Johnson made $1 million in a single year from his YouTube videos.
Yes, but it’s going to be a hustle. It’s also going to be the kind of odd job where you need 7-13 streams of income to make six-figures.
Here are some of those income streams.
Comedy Performer
Get good at doing stand-up (take a course, do some open mics, etc.) and think about taking the show on the road. You can start off local and make this your side gig and if you get good, you can really make cash traveling the world telling jokes.
Stand-up. Perform in Comedy Clubs or One-niters on the road.
Do college comedy shows (Pay $800-$3500 per show)
Work Cruise Ships ($1500-$4000 per week)
Perform at Corporate Gigs ($400-$5000+ per gig)
Do Comedy shows as Fundraisers for non-profits or schools ($600-$2500 per event)
Work as a T.V. Audience Warm-up Comedian ($1500-$2000 per gig)
Go on tour and open for a band on the road. ($3500-$10,000 per week)
Comedy Writer
Another way to make money, without having to travel or get on stage, is to get paid to write funny material for other people.
Write for Late Night TV or Variety Talk Shows ($4187 per week min. ((network))
Write Humorous Greeting Cards ($ varies)
Write Humorous T-Shirts or other gifts and start an Etsy shop ($ varies)
Write for humor websites ($ varies)
Be a commercial copywriter in advertising with a humorous twist. (I did this and loved this. You can make around 6-figures a year)
Write joke books and publish them on Amazon Kindle ($ varies)
Write humorous speeches or jokes for politicians, CEOs, corporate presenters. ($500+- per page)
Write a comedy script to sell to a TV network or become a writer on a show or movie ($ varies)
Comedy Content Creator
In any industry where you’re providing a service (which is a lot of what you’d be doing in comedy), it’s important to have your own platform and own your audience. During the pandemic, a lot of comedians make $$$ with podcasts, YouTube channels, on Cameo or even by creating their own newsletter.
Write a funny blog or newsletter
Create a YouTube channel and post 3-5x a week
Start a podcast and pair that with Patreon to have people pay for bonus episodes
Cameo for funny video gifts
Only Fans to sell extra content
Comedy Seller
Perhaps the oddest, yet most interesting, way to make $$$ in this space is to sell your jokes or ideas.
Record and sell your on-stage routines post-show to your online audience
Sell jokes! I LOVE THAT YOU CAN SELLL JOKES! Here are some spots.
Sell jokes on Fiverr or Upwork
Teach people how to be funny (from corporate CEO’s to everyday people)
Make an sell memes (PicturePuncher.com - $1/1,000 impressions)
Reader’s Digest pays $25 for jokes or funny quotes
Know some more ways for a funny person to make cash?
I’ll be back Wednesday with a profile of a person who is making $$$$$$ just being funny.
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