"That Old Economy!..."

This is post number 100, that's really cool! In fact really cool for a guy with half written scripts, joke books, notebooks of half written ideas for books on bulletin boards, in piles, in file cabinets on this ol' computer! So, let's talk about the economy.

I'm trying to listen to the economy right now. I think the economy is like a little kid, you have to be very quiet to hear what it's saying.

I tend to talk and complain with my friends about lack of work. We are all bouncing the same old ideas off each other over and over. Reminds me of that old definition of insanity, "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results"

A huge problem with creative people, we tend to listen to each other or watch each other for ideas. I'm not all that interested in doing what's already been done. Yet, I catch myself doing what's already been done.

I am quietly listening to the economy. It's saying lower your prices...it's saying, no one knows who you are...

This is tough to hear. But the reality, I have a 2 to 3 year window of being famous. Kid's love me from 4 to 7 or so. Kids love Barny and then groan at the dinosaur when they are 7. I'm in that same category (I'm a big fan of Barney by the way. I think it's remarkable to keep children's attention and clearly focus on one topic, "I love you" for 30 minutes) Kids and their families move on rapidly. I am everything to them from 4 to 7 years old and forgotten after that. That's just what happens. It's pretty neat when I run into 17 year olds and they say I was at their party many years ago and they still remember. Financially, you get an opening of a few years, then kids move on to other things. They are not hiring me.

The economy is down so people are hiring less, which means I'm seen less which means there is less competition for what I do. Because people don't see clowns out there, they are not thinking of clowns at events. It's a catch-22. The more entertainment you see, the more likely you are to hire entertainment but you have to get hired in the first place!

I'm at a crossroads. So the economy is a very good thing for me. I've wanted to transition out of the living room circus into more of a teaching writing role for a long long time.

This is my 100th post. This blog is slowly being noticed. I've got big ideas for the future. I'm nearly done with my first book. It's a book of comebacks for entertainers that work with children. It should be ready to send to a publisher in the next few weeks. It's a fairly simple concept of writing jokes for what you hear a lot as an entertainer "is this your full time job?" things like that.

I've got, just under 2000 responses to these kind of questions.

This book, if it's published..., will not change my finances much, it's a very small specific market but it lines me up to be a teacher, which is something I would really like to take on. It also lines me up to write more books. Joke writing comes very easily to me. So easy in fact, I have a hard time thinking of joke writing as a skill. I had a friend ask for jokes for a county faire show the other day. I sent him 20 jokes 10 minutes after I got the email.

I'm also a video guy. I do it all the time. I've gotten pretty good. I have ideas for turning an area of my house into a small studio. I don't even have to spend much money. I don't have great equipment but I have a good eye and I've learned a lot about lighting. Consumer equipment is incredible, I can't make a TV commercial but I can make very very nice how to videos for youtube.

So, the economy is talking..."don't fight...you have strengths...you are a writer...you are a teacher..."

Of course in the meantime, I may have to start buying lottery tickets!