I have had comedians ask me, “Hey Paul, I see you performing around the world all the time. Let me buy you dinner at Morton’s and pick your brain about getting my foot in the door.”
Nobody (NOBODY) loves Morton’s Cajun Ribeye steak more than I do. But really, the answer is simple: Don’t just get your foot in the door when you can go ahead and kick it the hell down.
Here’s one way to do that: The China International Comedy Festival.
My friend Andy Curtain, who runs the amazing Kung Fu Komedy club in Shanghai, also produces the aforementioned festival, a large part of which is a comedy competition. This year, it all goes down May 19-27.
You already know how I feel about comedy competitions. It’s absurd to try to put a number to someone’s art. But if that absurdity is happening anyway, why not take full advantage of it?
Enter. Win. Work. That’s all there is to it.
You don’t even have to win. I convinced another comic to do the competition at the Hong Kong International Comedy Festival, and while he didn’t make the top 3 at the finals, he now performs across the region.
Working IS winning.
Do well at the CICF, and impress Andy. He’s got an absolute jewel of a club in Shanghai, plus a great tour of shows across mainland China. For example:
You are Judge Dredd in the image at the top of this post. Kick in the door of access with a strong performance in front of the booker, and you’ll get to spray your act in fabulous, far away places.
There’s your free advice. But if you’re still insistent on taking me out for a Cajun Ribeye, I ain’t stopping you.