Dear PJ from Bill Burr

The follwing was kindly share to us from DC stand-up Pete Juratovic:

Comedy Career Advice from one of the Great Ones....

Below is an email response from Bill Burr about comedy career advice. This email is from two years ago when I lived in Charlotte, NC and I was deciding on which city to move to for work. My moving options where Philadelphia, San Francisco or Washington, DC. At the time I was hosting/MC'ng about every other weekend for comedy clubs in the south. A lot of the headliners would do the same hour act for years. Some confessed that they haven't changed their act for more then 10 years. There main reason was because they weren't making it on TV, so they didn't see any point in working on new material. For someone new to comedy this made me very weary about comedy.

I wanted a point of view from someone who went from the open mic scene to becoming one of the most popular working comedians today.

Anywho, I know a lot of you won't find this advice helpful, but I thought I would share his opinion anyways.

I would definitely go to DC. Just bust your ass for a year and a half/ two years, and really get your time up. Then comes the NY/LA question. That's the biggest decision you have to make. When the time comes, will you go to NY or LA. As far as my experience goes, there isn't a right or wrong choice. It's up to each individual. Check out both cities and pick the one that feels right. I've always loved NY and the stage time is great. But I'm at a point in my career where I'm now looking to spend more time in LA cause I want to do TV and movies. Anyway, I think it's obvious you don't want to be that comic who hates his act. That's the quickest way to becoming bitter and being the stereotypical washed up comic with the old jokes. Don't ever be that guy. Once you get branded with that you are finished. Good luck with your comedy.

Bill