If you have fun, they have fun

You carry an energy felt by the audience.

I remember watching a small-room Louis CK set years ago where he was saying some of the darkest and most foul sh*t you can image – and it was killing. Every once in a while, he’d break into this grin and you’d see a devilish twinkle in his eye. It was clear he was loving the moment. And that vibe was infectious. Everyone in the room fed off it. It’s as if he was implying, “Isn’t this fun?”

The longer you do it, the more you should remind yourself: This should be fun. That’s the whole point of doing comedy, right? I mean, if you just wanna grind at something you don’t even like that much, there are way easier ways to make a living.

But it’s bigger than that: You should have fun because it’s the best way to get them to have fun. When you’re enjoying yourself, the vibe spreads. As writer Cole Schafer explains, your audience feels what you feel.

If you don’t have fun writing, the reader isn’t going to have fun reading. This same advice applies to marketers, graphic designers, product developers, videographers and anyone creating anything for a living. Your work carries an energy that is felt by the end consumer. If you are inspired by your work, the reader will be inspired too. If you are bored by your work, the reader will be bored too. Your reader feels what you feel. So, pay very close attention to what you feel.

Plus, having fun is a good path for your mental health in general. Comedian Skyler Higley profile at Vulture:

I think the best advice is to remember to have fun. Obviously don’t just have fun; it’s work. As comedians, we are turning fun into work (or working to create fun? I don’t know). But while being a comedian and pursuing it as a career, you can start not having fun very quickly without noticing, usually because you’re caught up in what you have vs. what you want, or the way things are vs. the way they could be. And you’re right to feel this way, because it does suck (the industry, human life, society, take your pick), but try to have as much fun as you can relative to how much everything sucks.