About eight years ago, I came out to Los Angeles with a big dream of becoming a comedian. I had just started performing comedy about six months before moving to LA so I was pretty much, as you can guess, a newbie. In fact, I was such a newbie that I wasn’t even considered GREEN, I was INVISIBLE!

Shortly after my move, I immediately started making my rounds at all the major comedy clubs like the Improv, the Comedy Store, the Laugh Factory and so forth. I even worked the small venues and the bars with the make shift stages and even the places with no stage at all. I found that each comedy club came with their own rules, their own audience, and their own clicks but I always had two goals in my mind – To win laughs and to become a regular.

I met all sorts of funny individuals in that process, from the experienced comedians to the wannabes like myself. It was cool meeting the celebrities in the beginning, but then I quickly realize that they were just like me. The only difference is that someone gave them a chance, but guess what? I was the one on deck. So what could I do?

I decided to approach those that were further along in their careers than I was. I’ve always had lots of questions and I’m confident, but not enough to just start asking away at things. Fortunately, I was able to develop smart relationships with individuals that were working and continued to get more and more opportunities. All the while hoping that a little, no, a lot of their success would rub off on me.

Then, instead of waiting, I decided to take a chance. I asked the one question most commonly asked by comedians, and that is…“How long does it take before you make it to the next level?” The most common response I received was “EIGHT YEARS!”

So, it takes more years to become a comedian that it does to become a doctor. You know what? Maybe it should!