Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Graham Cameron. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Graham, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I learned through a combination of structured learning and active doing. I like a structured learning process, I liked doing schoolwork and I like working towards a deadline. Part of my learning process was taking (and paying for) classes. I took a evening writing course through UCLA’s Professional Programs, online freelance writing courses, and many, many improv and sketch classes with local theaters. After that, it was just forcing myself to write or perform. The “doing” part. After my classes, I formed performance groups with the friends I made to stay active and get stage time. At home, I try to write something everyday. A script, a sketch, an essay, a pitch email, a journal entry. Something. When I don’t feel like writing, I’ll read a book or a script and take notes. If I’m feeling really low-energy, I’ll watch the filmed version of a script I’ve read and takes notes on how what’s written transfers to the screen. There’s many free resources for practicing writing. Most scripts are available online with the right Google searches. The WGA Library also has about every TV script ever that you can checkout and read at the library. The LA public libraries have a massive collection of books on writing for free! (Quick recs: Hidden Tools of Comedy by Steve Kaplan, Write To TV by Martie Cook, and The Writers’ Room Survival Guide by Niceole Levy)

The most essential skills to learning a craft are simply vigor and perseverance. The will to keep at it and keep practicing. I think knowledge comes as it happens. It speeds up and slows down with the rate at which you take it in. The only thing I could’ve done to make the process faster was if I had started it earlier. There aren’t any breathing techniques or hand workouts that allow you type more prolifically. (Or maybe there are and that’s what’s holding me back). There’s nothing physical forcing me away from my keyboard or blocking my way to the stage. If there’s a muscle to exercise, it’s your brain. I try to keep my brain active and thinking about my craft or process. My brain gets better at processing what I need it to do, and I get better at doing it. That being said, I think breaks are important. My brain needs time to detach and refresh with a different activity. If I’m stuck on the same joke for more than a couple hours, I know it’s time to go out and trim some plants or take the dog on a walk.

Of course writing and comedy, like any art, takes talent. It also takes the ability to outlast. The “starving artist” stereotype is a stereotype for a reason. Art doesn’t pay the first few years. No band starts touring their first year. Comedy has a very long internship period, but continuing to believe in your work has a payoff.

Graham, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I write TV and movie scripts, perform improv, sketches and standup, and host podcasts. I used to be a civil and structural engineer before deciding to follow my passion for comedy. I got so tired of the rigidity of the built and industrial world. Everything about it felt so dispassionate. Most of the people I worked with seemed unhappy. Comedy has always been the art form I consume and revere above all else. Outside of a few athletes, most of my idols are comedians. Being able to be funny is a personality trait I value and admire, and let me tell ya, there’s not a lot of comedians in engineering. Comedy was never really presented to me as a career path. Probably for good reason too, there’s rarely any company-provided health insurance or 401k matching. It took years of working in engineering to get me to realize it wasn’t something I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to make people laugh and I want to be around people who want to make me laugh. The whole idea of comedy, the “product” it sells, is joy. The art’s audience, its clients, are people who want to joy.

The thing I’m most proud of is sticking with it. Especially living in Los Angeles, there’s a lot of competition. Screenwriting is one of the few professions where 90% of its professionals live in the same city. It’s easy to get discouraged by the depth of the talent pool. Comedy takes sticking around and putting in time. I’m most proud of the years I’ve put in.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

It’s a broad and probably unhelpful answer but, there’s no right way to do it. That’s why there’s always going to be a market for books/classes/articles on how to “tap in to your creativity”. (Which is good for us creatives, we can keep selling our skills). Being creative is all about finding a process that works for you. If you find that you write your funniest jokes after eating four cheeseburgers and doing a handstand, then buy some wrist guards and a McDonalds delivery subscription. There isn’t one fail-proof, prescriptive method that allows your to create at your best. It’s on you to control what you can to create the right environment for your creativity to thrive. And that can change too. It changes like we change. One week you could write better in a coffee shop, the next week it could be you right better in your Pjs under the covers.

Also, creativity takes grunt work. It takes some elbow grease. Creativity doesn’t descends from the clouds and anoint you with the power to make up something. I often have to write ten bad jokes to get to one good one. I rarely get it perfect on the first draft, and if I think do, that’s a sign that it isn’t perfect.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The laughs. Hands down. It’s such a rush to hear live and inherently positive feedback about something I did. Hearing laughter in general is good. Hearing laughter at something I said? Get outta town! The rush of endorphins I get from getting a pop from the crowd or a chuckle from a writers room is second to none. Comedy is one of the few art forms where the feedback is immediate and obvious. If there’s no laughter, it means I didn’t do my job right. Spending days figuring the right set-up, economizing the exact amount of words I need, and successfully landing the punchline is the most validating thing for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.grahamcamcomedy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/instagrahameron/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grahamzcameron/
• Twitter: https://x.com/GrahamCamComedy

Image Credits

Madelyn Teague
Jason Concepcion