Starving Artist Theory

What's going on, everyone? Let's cut to the chase... Artists. The question is: Can you have enough money to live easily and still be an artist? Let's talk about that.

There's that phrase that everyone knows. Starving Artist. People say that because, usually, an artist of any kind struggles before they make any money on their art. You've got to work at at it, and work at it, and starve, and live in a small apartment, and then you get some break and start making a little money for lunch. That's what brings artists, comedians, and writers into the same group. Poor, at first. We're also included in that "workaholic" group, and I've got an idea of why that is.

We have no money, and we hate normal work. The 9-5 jobs; manual labor. Not for us. We go for art for two reasons: the first is that it's fun and we enjoy doing it. The second is because it seems easier than regular work. Artists are both really lazy and really hard-working. It's an interesting, and stressful mix. We need money to eat, and since we're so lazy to work 9-5 and get a paycheck at the end of the week, we work noon-midnight on our art to make scraps every month, maybe. We work extra hard for those scraps because we all know, that at some point down the line, our art will start paying for itself. We struggle for money, and that's what motivates the enormous passion that will eventually bring us out of the muck. If someone has enough money, the passion might not be there. Or, at least as strong. I'm not saying it's not a thing. I'm sure it is, but I'm suggesting that the poverty brings out more passion then was already there.

That's why, for me, starving artist isn't a bad term. Someone called me that one time at work. It was nice. Artists are supposed to struggle. It's our shtick. It's great to watch a comedian talk about their new TV show and how hard it was to get to that moment. The interviewer says, "Okay, so you've got a new stand-up special, that show you've been doing, and a movie coming out in a few months. Must be great, huh?" and the comedian just kind of chuckles and says, "Once I get my first hour of sleep in a year I'm sure I'll feel a lot better."

And people don't buy it for a second. They think it's a piece of cake. All other people see is the money that's being made, but not the hard work that goes into getting that money. Art is hard. That's why we love it. I once heard Jerry Seinfeld and Garry Shandling talking about when Robin Williams killing himself, and, it was a little bit of a joke, but I think it came out with a lot of honesty. Jerry says, and I'm going to paraphrase; he's talking about a news reporter asking, "Why would he do something like this? He had three movies coming out in the next two years, a new special, and some guest appearances. Why would he do this?" and, Jerry and Garry just have these looks of like, uh, it seems pretty obvious to me. They know how hard it is to work in that business. The consumer doesn't because they only see the finished product. There's months and maybe years of work put into our projects. Obviously, the work can't be the only thing that led to Robin Williams ending his life, but I agree that it contributed. It's sad, but true with a lot of artists. We work so hard to stop starving, that we don't know how to stop working when we're fed.

I hope you all enjoyed this post. If you have any comments for me, go ahead and leave them. I'll reply, I promise. See you all tomorrow. Buh-bye.

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