Rob Paravonian's Life as a Comic

April 19, 2010 8:27 PM

Life as a Comic is series of short videos by Rob Paravonian (famous for The Pachelbel Rant) about what it's like to be a working stand-up comic. It has recently started up again after a long break. Here's the first episode which is about doing gigs at venues which aren't full-time comedy clubs. Direct links to the rest of the episodes, all of which are in quicktime-format, below the cut.

Episode 2, gigs at colleges.
Episode 3, the New York underground comedy scene.
Episode 4, what doing shows at full-time comedy venues is like.
Episode 5, travelling far for a college gig.
Episode 6, doing morning radio shows.*
Episode 7, playing for students in Hoboken at a mandatory attendance show for freshmen.
Episode 8, the video packages comics send out to people and organizations which might hire them.
Episode 9, the life-cycle of topical material.
Episode 10, performing at a pirate-themed book-launch in a boat docked in New York harbor.

Season 2!
Episode 1, what it's like being a musician-comic.
Episode 2, the cars stand-up comics drive.
Episode 3, the conventions artists pay to attend so that they get hired to play colleges.
Episode 4, doing shows at noon in cafeterias in community colleges.

Season 3!
Episode 1, performing at a NASCAR track.


* This particular episode seems to have been removed from the blog, but it's still up on archive.org, where all the other episodes from season 1 are hosted.

posted by Kattullus (14 comments total)

This post by Rory Marinich sent me looking for more Rob Paravonian material and I found this, which I then proceeded to watch, ruining my hard-won regular sleep schedule. Damn you, Rob Paravonian, for making an interesting and entertaining videoblog!
posted by Kattullus at 8:30 PM on April 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

He's like a less funny and more awkward Chandler from Friends.
posted by stavrogin at 9:00 PM on April 19, 2010

Boy is that guy unfunny.

For another take on life-as-a-stand-up (one that regularly features lots of different well-known and unknown comics as guests) try Marc Maron's WTF podcast (recent episodes #64 and #59 are good for road stories, or try episode #22 for some hilarious stories about life as a comic).
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 10:04 PM on April 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

Well, if you want to hear a VERY unfunny comic, listen to this three-hour interview with George Carlin from the Emmy TV Legends series. Why did you expect Life of a Comic to be three-laughs-a-minute?
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:23 PM on April 19, 2010 [4 favorites]

Season three, episode two: Rob constructs and worships at a shrine to his hero, Dane Cook.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:28 PM on April 19, 2010

Dane Cook? okay, I take it all back, this guy is scum...
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:38 PM on April 19, 2010

I saw this guy live at Penn State when, oddly enough, the on-the-internet version of the Pachelbel Rant was recorded. I'm just gonna go on the record and say that the rest of his routine was basically fantastic, and leads me to believe that if he has ever said a good thing about Dane Cook, it wast meant in compleeeete and uuuuuutter seriousness. Totally.
posted by DoctorFedora at 11:55 PM on April 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

I hope he's saving up for a rhinoplasty.
posted by parmanparman at 1:27 AM on April 20, 2010

if there ever is a live-action version of the simpsons, we have our milhouse.
posted by krautland at 1:39 AM on April 20, 2010

Oneswellfoop is right, talking about comedy is almost never funny, 30 Rock is funny, but that's because it's not really talking about comedy.
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:12 AM on April 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm just glad someone finally covered performing at a pirate-themed book-launch in a boat docked in New York harbor.
posted by lore at 10:40 AM on April 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

Can't speak to the video blogs linked in this post, as I haven't watched any yet, but I have to say the the Pachelbel rant and the YouTube videos of Rob analyzing the lyrics to the Friends theme song and Sugar Ray's Every Morning are regulars to bust out when it's "Watch funny YouTube videos with friends" time. Some of his other stuff I've seen on there is less entertaining.
posted by owtytrof at 1:27 PM on April 20, 2010

Anyone who has lived through a relative attempting to become a stand up comedian learns to hate stand up comedy. The tone and cadence are always the same. The people attempting never get out and live any sort of life, so they have no unique insights. It's just the same life is bad, dating is bad, self deprication stories.
posted by agent of bad karma at 3:37 PM on April 20, 2010

parmanparman, you apparently just noticed that an Armenian guy has a big nose. Would you like to buy a copy of my illustrated pamphlet explaining ursine sylvan defecatory patterns?
posted by howfar at 5:19 PM on April 20, 2010