We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Drew Davis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Drew, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

If anyone is considering a career in standup comedy or other kind of field as an entertainer I would say, it’s an amazing experience, but you really need to be aware of your mental health and how you deal with all emotional aspects of this job.

Any career where you need to build a following now, whether it’s a comedian, singer/songwriter, or artist of any kind, social media is a necessary evil. You need to make post regularly so more people tune in to whatever you do. As a result, you are checking all that stuff more regularly and it gets so easy to compare yourself to everyone else you are seeing. The people you know, and the super famous people that you do not. When your reels do well and get lots of views, comments, likes, and shares, you feel like you’re at the top of the world and you are killing it as a performer. On the other hand, when your posts and reels don’t do as well as you’d want, you begin to wonder if anyone’s noticing you, caring about you, or if you’re ever going to “make it” as a performer. It’s easy to see fellow performers and their success and pose the question, “Why am I not getting that opportunity? Am I not as good as this other person.” It’s very easy to develop a low self esteem if you care to much about the social media aspects of the job as a comedian or entertainer. This is definitely something to watch out for!

There are a few things I’ve been trying to do to establish more healthy boundaries with social media. First, at the beginning of the week I create a posting schedule. I can’t really explain it ,but this helps me not get as personally attached to the posts I make.. Secondly, I hired a part time assistant who’s main job is to post on most of my social media platforms. It’s great not having to constantly look at how things are going, because i know it’s being taken care of. Lastly, we picked a day that we don’t post reels and it serves as a reminder to take a break from social media.. If anyone is wanting to do this, I suggest Sunday because that’s the day where typically your content will get the least amount of views.

Something else to be aware of in the life of an entertainer, especially when you’re starting out in the full-time entertainment world, is the feast or famine lifestyle of your career. Some weeks I am booked a lot, making money, and feeling good about my career. Other weeks, I have less bookings, more time at home, and more time to wonder if my career has died and I am going nowhere. Before I even went full-time comedy, everyone warned me that this is part of it and how your schedule always finds a way to work out…but it still doesn’t make it a walk in the park when I have the slow weeks!

I am learning not to “live in the extremes”. When things are going really well, I acknowledge that I am kind of on a high in my work life and I should enjoy it while it lasts, but not define myself by that feeling. In the slower weeks, I am learning to take advantage of the slowness, and to try not to consider it a “waste” or a “failure”. When I am in a week with less traveling and less paid gigs, I can use that time to work to set up my schedule and bookings for future weeks. I can also work on new material, come up with ideas for new creative things (a podcast, a new show, network with other performers, etc.). I can also take the opportunity to rest ,rejuvenate, and have a social life. I had a slow week a couple weeks ago and on one day I went to help my brother move a TV, and then decided to spend the rest of the day with him. We hung out, watched a movie on his new TV, and it was wonderful being able to spend time with him because we’re both usually incredibly busy and the schedules don’t line up. So for anyone in the full-time entertainment working world, or thinking about joining it, try to appreciate and take advantage of your slower times instead of dreading them!

Also, I acknowledge this is easier said then done and sometimes the best thing you can do when you know you have a slow week coming up is realize that you need to keep an eye on your mental health because it might be easier to get anxious or depressed for you then. As G.I Joe said, “knowing is half the battle!”

The last unexpected issue of being a full-time comedian (or entertainer of any kind) that I’d like to bring up is the importance of having your community, and how hard it might be to find time for them. As a comedian, most of the active part of my job takes place at night, and on most nights, so having a social life can be difficult. My schedule is most free during the weekdays when all my friends are working and then in the evening or on weekends when they are able to get out, I’m traveling or performing somewhere. It’s a lot harder to get plugged into other things like church as well too, because your schedule is always erratic and changing. With all that being said though, I’m constantly being reminded of how important community is for any person. We are not meant to live life alone! It’s just easier dealing with all the other stresses I wrote about, if you have good people in your life that are backing you specifically, not just your art and career. So it’s important to MAKE time for family and friends. It’s also important to connect with and build community with like minded artists in your field. I am tempted, whenever any negative issue in my job comes up, to feel like I’m the only person in the world dealing with this. But, whenever I talk about it with my comedy friends, I am frequently reminded that it’s something we all are dealing with. And then, I feel less alone, and also it makes that issue seem a little smaller and more manageable.

It’s important to know who’s on your team and who’s got your back. It’s also important to be that person, for somebody else!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Drew Davis and I am a standup comedy and show producer based out of Nashville, TN. I transitioned into full-time comedy about two years ago, and before that I was a youth and young adult pastor. I have been doing comedy for 12ish years now and have loved everything that I have been able to participate in because of standup. I also am one of the founders and producers of a show production group called the Clean Comedy Collective, which produces amazing clean comedy shows all over Tennessee (and one in Alabama!). I have two online comedy specials out and am a co-host to a new Fast and Furious rewatch podcast called The Quarter Mile Podcast…which I hope everyone tunes in to because we need all the new viewers and listeners we can get!

What I love most about working in comedy and entertainment is all the connections I make with people both on and off stage. Someone once told me that “Comedy is a business of relationships” and that is so true from the relationships you form with the audience as you perform, to the relationships you create with comedians and bookers to network and get more work.

Something I take great pride in right now is how myself, and the folks I produce with, go above and beyond to treat comedians like humans when we produce shows. Sadly we work in an industry where the people in power are able to not value the talent as much as people, and it creates a very toxic culture. Whenever I produce a show, or interact with comedians, I am very intentional at valuing people as humans first, and then talent. It’s not changing the world, yet, but I do appreciate the feedback we have gotten so far that comedians like working with us, and feel seen and valued.

As a comedian, i work mostly clean and I am working hard right now to build my audience and network so I can get booked more at “bigger and better” places. I’d love for everyone reading this article to check my stuff out on youtube, instagram, tiktok, or facebook @drewdaviscomedy. I’d love it if you dropped me a follow, kept up with where I perform, and maybe come out to a show sometime and say hi! Every +1 people give us as comedians on any social media helps us look more bookable to the people that can hire us to perform on their shows, so your free follow could help me get more work!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I had to unlearn: “If you take pride in yourself and what you do, you are arrogant or full of yourself.”

One of the biggest lessons I think doing standup comedy has taught me is that nobody will value you more than you value yourself. I feel like we are often taught not to value ourselves. Frequently, it’s an unintentional teaching. We’re taught to be humble, put others first, don’t be arrogant, don’t be cocky…and all of these are good lessons to learn, and wonderful traits to have. But, I believe now it’s possible to be proud of yourself and transparent about your strengths, and still have humility and put others first. There is nothing wrong with taking pride in your success and who you are, as long as you’re not using it to put others down or as long as you don’t think you have more value then any other person on earth.

I freaking love myself and what I do, but it doesn’t mean I love you or anyone else any less. Why can’t we do both? Why can’t I celebrate my success and also be proud of you and your success? It’s only when we devalue someone else for any reason that it’s a problem. So now, in my late thirties, I have no problem taking pride in the big or small good things in my life, because I know it doesn’t mean I am putting someone else down.

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

There is so much you can do to support your artistic and creative friends, and a lot of it is 100% free!

First of all, I tell my friends all the time that supporting our social media stuff is a free way to really help us grow in the eyes of the people we want to employ us. Every time you see an artist’s friend reel, facebook status, post, whatever…like it! share it! comment on it! Any and all of these things helps us be seen by more people, and more likes/shares/comments make us look more impressive to the people we’re trying to impress…that’s just way the entertainment game is played. But more importantly….every post we make, even the little ones…we are putting a small part of ourselves out there into the world. Your interaction of any kind as a viewer who also is our friend is like a gentle pat on the back that gives us the encouragement to keep pushing. It helps us feel less alone in what we do…and it costs you nothing.

Secondly, consider supporting us financially. I don’t want to hear about how you can’t pay 10 dollars to come to my show after I know you paid 300 to get Matt Rife tickets. Your presence at our events not only means the world to us as artists (because it means people we care about, care about what we do) but it also makes our events look better. As a comedian, bookers don’t really care that much if I am funny….what they care about is if I can fill seats. If you come to my show, it sends the right message to someone I hope rehires me! So the next time your friends put on a free show, or a really cheap one, or even if it’s an expensive one at a venue that is a great opportunity…consider making the trip out to see them in person!

Lastly, words of encouragement. We get a lot of negative words from our critics, our competition, maybe our families, and most of all probably from ourselves. Every entertainer trying to make it professionally has many voices telling them why doing what they do is going to fail…so you as a friend or supporter, when you have a positive message or word of encouragement, share it with them. When you hang out in public, ask us how things are going or if we have any cool or crazy stories…most of us don’t talk about the crazy (and awesome) world of entertainment to our non-entertainer friends because we are worried you’ll judge us, or think we are being arrogant artists…but we’d really like to share that recent cool or weird story with you!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.drewdaviscomedy.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/drewdaviscomedy
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/drewdaviscomedy
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/drewdaviscomedy
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/drewdaviscomedy
• Other: Check out my podcast! https://thequartermilepodcast.buzzsprout.com/ www.youtube.com/thequartermilepodcast For the Clean Comedy Collective: www.instagram.com/clean_comedy_collective www.facebook,com/cleancomedycollective