Start a Comedy Writing Service

1. 1

   Pick your lanes and learn their rates

   Punch-up sessions for comedians commonly run $50 to $150 per hour, jokes written on spec often sell at $25 to $100 per usable joke, wedding toasts and best man speeches run $150 to $400, corporate roasts and emcee scripts $300 to $1,500, and keynote punch-up for professional speakers $500 to $2,500. Two lanes done well beat six done vaguely.

2. 2

   Prove funny on paper before anyone pays

   A portfolio of ten sample jokes in three different voices, one sample toast, and one before-and-after punch-up of a boring paragraph. Comedy writing clients buy laughs they can see; a resume proves nothing here.

3. 3

   Package the service so buying is easy

   Fixed-scope packages with clear deliverables and revision counts, written up once in the Offer Builder (/offer-builder): a toast package, a punch-up hour, a 10-joke custom batch. Take deposits and payments through the Get Paid directory (/getpaid) and never start speech work without one.

4. 4

   Respect the trade's ethics

   Write original material only, keep client work confidential (many comedians and executives never disclose using writers), and be clear that the client owns the delivered material for their use. Recycled or stolen jokes end this career instantly in a community that talks.

5. 5

   Pitch where funny is needed on a deadline

   Comedians after shows and in scene groups, wedding forums and planners for toasts, speaker bureaus and TEDx coaches for keynote punch-up, and marketing agencies whose social clients want funnier posts. A weekly public sample, one great joke thread or a toast teardown posted with the Social Media Studio (/social), brings inbound leads.

6. 6

   Climb to retainers and rooms

   Monthly retainers, commonly $500 to $2,000, for a morning radio show, a touring speaker, a comedy-forward brand account, or a busy comedian smooth out project income. From there the credits ladder leads to festival packets, late-night submission packets, and staffing, with the service business funding the climb.

Do not take our word for the money. Put your own numbers in and see what this idea has to earn before it works. Free, instant, no account needed.