I’m 3.5 years into my career, won some awards and made some good work. I can’t complain much. But, I got into this industry to do humor work. Film, OOH, etc. It’s what I’m best at. I almost freelanced for Barton F. Graf as my first gig but took a full-time gig elsewhere. Here’s the thing, since then, based on the cards I’ve been dealt, (agencies, clients, opportunities) I’ve found myself with a book fully of stunts. I really want a shot at my dream. How do I make the shift?

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You should know that the experienced writers who do humor well, do everything well. Being a copywriter means learning how to create tones and make unexpected work and humor is one of the tools they deploy. Yes humor is more fun, and by all means chase the dream of making it, but your career will be stunted if it’s all you do

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Standup?

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Humor accounts are becoming rarer and rarer. It terrifies clients. So just know, you’re unfortunately coming into the industry at a time where those jobs are hard to come by.

That being said - find the ECDs who do humor work you admire and email them. The best ones find a way to sell humor, or at least wit, on almost any brand. Theyre the ticket to doing the work and doing it well.

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What is your dream? Humor? You don't get into anything specific.

Can't steer a ship without a compass, and without more relevant info ("almost freelancing for Barton F. Graf" is not quite so helpful) we can't help you get there.

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I’ve spent most of my career on humor brands with some stints on brands that were just witty or “smile on the inside.” I started my career doing banners and travel videos for an airline. I got my break into humor based on a personal blog I wrote and the humor in the write ups I did for the projects in my portfolio. So my recommendation is find a humor thing to do (even if it’s twitter) and put it in your portfolio. Show your humor in any writing you do that potential hirers will see. We’re still looking for flexibility of tone even for the humor-only accounts, so the experience you have is also valuable.

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This is great advice. Find a way to write non advertising humor. When I found myself in a place where I wasn’t selling as much humor during my day job, doings things like second city classes helped tremendously.

Go work for E+K

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On the one hand I’d say, you’ve got to find those moments where the audience or the topic would benefit from a humorous angle, on the other I’d say - when is humour ever not relevant?

faced the same issue so I had to start making stuff outside of work which then lead to more comedic opportunities at work. lame, but more senior level creatives are protective of comedic projects even if that don’t have the chops.

I’ve found that even if you don’t think the projects, clients, or even leadership you have now would go for humor, if you want to do humor bring concepts to the table with humor. Even if they aren’t sold they should get recognized for being humorous potentially leading to more shots at that kind of work. Stunts can also be funny!

This is a little bit of the old idiom “bring what they asked for then show ‘em something better (or humorous)”

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