We were lucky to catch up with Adam Cayton-Holland recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Adam thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I started stand-up comedy at the exact same time I started freelancing little pieces for the alternative weekly newspaper in my hometown of Denver, Colorado. To pick up the rest of the income I needed to make a living I was a substitute teacher. This was twenty years ago, in a different, cheaper city. But cobbled together that was enough to survive. After awhile freelancing, I got offered a full time gig at the alternative newspaper. Then over the course of a few years I went from my entry-level-but-salaried-position at the newspaper, to FULL TIME STAFF WRITER. That felt like a big deal. Meanwhile I was doing stand-up comedy the whole time, getting better, getting new opportunities, flying to NYC and LA to “be seen” with any vacation time I could get from work. I got laid off from the writing job in 2009. By then I had started doing “college gigs,” a particular, hellish, very well-paying type of stand up comedy that a lot of comics pursue on the way up. When I got laid off I was shocked. I was a popular writer, had a weekly column, they were talking about syndication. But alas, print media was dying, and I was a young man with other opportunities, and I think they knew that, so they cut me, instead of other, senior, more legitimate journalists. Made sense. But it was the shot in the arm I needed to pursue stand-up full time. I threw myself into college gigs, knowing that if I patched together enough, I could make as much as I had as a writer. It worked. Then I transitioned to “club comic,” then all sorts of other opportunities came my way. But the whole thing was a leap of faith on my part. Just like the writing gig was. I don’t know of any way I could have sped up the process, but after getting laid off I just had to take a deep breath, get practical, and bet on myself. I’m still making a living off comedy to this day. Jut had to take that leap.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

If you don’t know me I’m a stand-up comic and a writer. Also, an actor, I guess. My friends and I had a TV show called “Those Who Can’t,” which ran for three seasons on truTV. But we never considered ourselves actors. We were just three comics who wrote a show, got lucky, and suddenly were in front of the camera. But I’m incredibly proud of the work we did. And by Season Three we were KIND of acting. Eureka! Show is currently caught in merger/streaming purgatory, but if you can find a way to watch it, by all means! It’s the smartest dumbest show ever. You’ll dig it.

I’ve had a Comedy Central half hour, did Conan and a handful of other late night spots over the years. I’ve got a bunch of albums available to stream, and just put out my first hour-long special that I recorded video of (plenty of hour-long audio albums). That’s called “Wallpaper” and it’s free on YouTube.

I wrote a memoir in 2018 called, “Tragedy Plus Time.” It was all about losing my little sister to suicide. It was a gut-wrenching experience, one that has shaped me in a lot of ways ever since, but I wanted the book to be like she was: dark, funny as f*ck, real. I think I nailed that. I recently adapted the book into a one-man show called, “Happy Place,” that I’m touring around and am really happy with how it’s turned out. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done in stand-up, but it feels really good. So I’m leaning into it.

I’ve written a bunch of stuff published all over, and I have a podcast called, “The Grawlix Saves the World,” and all sorts of other stuff but I really hate plug plug plugging so go to my website – adamcaytonholland.com – for all this stuff. Or follow me on social media @CaytonHolland

I’ve got a podcast I do with my frie

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

I chose this question because it’s entirely ridiculous that a stand-up comic would be talking about NFT’s. I know jack shit about them. But here’s my view: they sound stupid! It’s like vaping. Either smoke or don’t smoke. Buy the product or don’t buy the product. Nothing in-between.

If you want more sound investment advice, reach out to me! The guy who gets paid in chicken tenders!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I was in the post office the other day. There was this incredible mural on the wall. A western scene of some horses grazing in a field. I looked up the artist on my phone. It was a long line and I had time to kill. Turns out, he was hired as part of the Works Progress Administration, Roosevelt’s vast economy-boosting effort after the Great Depression that enabled and employed SO MANY artists. Most of the great public art you see all over the United States, that’s WPA stuff. Can you imagine that?! When the country actually admired and appreciated works of art enough to subsidize them? You try to pull that now, the right wing would throw an absolute shit-fit. I long for those days. When our government valued art. I read a lot of graphic novels. Not badass ones that become action movies, but really nerdy, personal memoir-type graphic novels. They’re so good. They hit you in the gut when you least expect it. So many of those artists are Canadians, working on their art through government grants. I wish the US could get its act together and properly value and fund art. It happens somewhat on the small scale, local governments here and there, city stuff. Think globally, act locally, I suppose. But alas, I fear the anti-intellectual bent of our country. I don’t think we’ll ever get back to a WPA mindset. But the great thing about art is it always finds a way. Like those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Or something.

Contact Info:

• Website: adamcaytonholland.com
• Instagram: @CaytonHolland
• Linkedin: @CaytonHolland
• Youtube: @AdamCaytonHolland

Image Credits
Photo by Sarah Elizabeth Larson