People pursuing a career in comedy have a long, arduous road ahead of them before they make a lot of money, but comedy contests often provide the exposure they need to take their careers to the next level. Whether in stand-up, screenplays, or short films, comedy is often the hardest pursuit in entertainment because comedy, unlike many other genres of entertainment, is subjective. Fortunately for struggling artists, more and more companies, such as Doritos, TurboTax, Nabisco, are pouring their advertising money into comic user-generated ad contests.
TurboTax recently ran a YouTube contest asking people to make funny tax stuff. Hundreds of comics made up their best tax jokes and posted them on the TurboTax YouTube page.
Stand-up comedian John Ramsey won that competition, claiming the $ 10,000 prize and opening for Jay Mohr at the Improv Comedy Club.
Television has long been the holy grail of comics, but the opportunities are dwindling with the recent cancellation of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.” Television still offers opportunities for aspiring comics through TV One’s “Who’s Got Jokes,” featuring Bill Bellamy, and also NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” but they will compete against many other artists including dancers, singers, and chainsaw jugglers. Television contests are few and far between, but they offer their contestants a platform that offers exposure like no other.
For comedy writers, the Los Angeles Comedy Shorts Festival is a great opportunity to compete in many competitions, such as comedy shorts and screenplays. With big names attached to the event like Adam Corolla, Will Ferrall and Jud Apatow, the winners of these contests have the opportunity to live the Hollywood dream. There are other screenwriting contests like the one organized by The ScreenWriting Expo, but no other puts as much emphasis on comedy talent.