Joe Dungan - Winner, Clean Comedy Challenge 2017

Revenge may be Best Cold, but Success is Best Always.

Joe Dungan, one of my hardest working students and one of my master teachers just won The Clean Comedy Challenge 2017 at the Ice House in Pasadena, CA! 

Joe competed against a litany of other comedians. And he must've done great because at the end of the performances one of the other comedians said to him, "Get ready to collect your prize money," implying that it was clear who won the Clean Comedy Challenge.

So how did Joe do it?

write for late night tv

200,005 Reasons to Write for Late Night TV

The Late Night TV industry has totally exploded. When I was first writing for Late Night, there were 2 shows. Now there's 9 Late Night style shows and that's not even including Samantha Bee's "Full Frontal" on TBS and Chelsea Handler on "Chelsea" on Netflix. With Hulu, Amazon and YouTube whispering about producing new streaming shows.

Good comedy content is in high demand and continuing to grow.

Problem is, the talent pool of good comedy writers is seriously thin. The next 5 years is going to be a boom period for good comedy writers. If you've thought about writing for Late Night TV, what you do in the next 6 months can have a huge impact on the rest of your life!

seth-meyers-write-for-late-night--tv

How Do You Get Into Late Night TV Comedy Writing?

As the news about Late Night Comedy proliferates in the media, I've been receiving more questions. The most common question is: How do you get into Late Night TV Comedy Writing?

You're going to have a love-hate feeling about how simple the answer is.

It's...

late night tv hosts

Opportunity for Writing in Late Night TV Continues to Grow

The opportunity for writing in Late Night T.V. continues to explode. We've never had more movement in that industry. There are more shows. And more shows need more content.

Who's going to provide that content?

Comedians and writers like you!

byron valino

Getting Gigs – Student Byron Valino Hits the Road

The dream is to stand on stage, hold that mic and tell your jokes, do your bits, get some laughs. Then you usually want to do it again... and again. But after doing the mics around town, getting in your fair share of 'bringer' shows, something gnaws at you to move beyond that. You want to do it in front of a 'real' audience. Some of you might even have the desire to take your act on the road for a spell. And get paid. So how do you do get to go on the road and get paid? In a word, the answer is 'work.' Hard work.
Eugenia Kuzmina Comedian

“You Changed My Life!” Can You Turn a Supermodel into a Comedian?

So I said to this model: "I'm going to send you an email with an introduction. Let's pretend that I am an emcee introducing you on the stage. I want you to answer the email and come up with a response that you think is funny." In the email said: "Ladies and Gentlemen, our next performer comes to us from the world of high fashion. In fact she must be really hungry because I just saw her in the green room devouring an entire Tic-Tac. Please help me welcome, Eugenia Kuzmina!" About twenty minutes later, I received an email from Eugenia. Her response was: "Devouring an entire Tic-Tac. That is funny, but not true. I am a model, I would never eat an entire meal at one sitting..." We booked our first meeting.

When You Do the Work…

Just wanted to post a quick shout-out to my boy Joshua Jackson. Joshua just won the Clairmont Comedy Competition in--of all places--Clairmont, California. I was humbled that Joshua thanked me in his celebratory post on Facebook. Josh attended the Stand Up Comedy Clinic for a while and busted his butt developing his act. Week after week Josh went from a guy who didn't do a lot of stand-up to really developing into someone who understood the fundamentals. Every week Josh showed up to class early, asked questions before class, was not afraid to disagree when something wasn't working, and applied the new lessons he learned to his material. Then what happened?

Conan O’Brien Just Could be a Stand-up’s Best Friend

Doing your stand up on Late Night T.V. can be your big break as a comedian. Well, unless you're Madonna doing stand-up on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. I won't get into that face-plant into a steamy pile of dog food by-product. I think that gimmick--at least for me--dropped my opinion of Fallon's show; certainly with regard to it's appeal for comedians. When Johnny Carson was still on the air. The Tonight Show was the pinnacle. If a comedian could get on the Tonight Show and get that nod from Johnny to sit on the couch, then you could almost write your own ticket. Currently, for comedians and their futures, it seems that Late Night has lost that sizzle... Or has it?
Trippers Comedy Club

New Comedy Club Opens in Lansing Michigan

Hey Road Dogs! A new comedy club has opened in Lansing Michigan. Woo-Hoo! According to WLNSNews.com in Lansing, Trippers Comedy Club has opened it's doors. For those of you out there and working the road, it could be a few days that you can fill in a long road schedule. Manager Jason Burkhart says that the club is going to be having shows on Thursdays at 9pm and Friday and Saturdays at 8pm and 10pm. You might already know the bookers too. The bookers for the new Trippers Comedy club are