Meet Clay Newman

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Clay Newman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Clay, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
Enjoy every tiny victory. Wherever you’re at, you need to remember that a lot of people are trying to get there. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by how high the ceiling for success is with the entertainment industry, especially living in Los Angeles. Treat it like the opposite of being afraid of heights: make sure to look down. Otherwise you won’t be able to appreciate how high you’ve already climbed. Let yourself celebrate the callback or even just the invite audition, even if it doesn’t lead to a gig. Plenty of people didn’t get that far.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a touring standup comic and working actor. They’re both incredibly satisfying for different reasons. My comedy lets me scratch that pesky creative itch on a nightly basis. I get to take risks and be the loud, goofy, sweaty mess that brings me joy. Plus I get to see a lot of the world that I wouldn’t normally. Every random mountain town casino I perform at is literally a vacation for other people. And the acting gigs, well… I get lots of reading in which is nice.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
The biggest obstacle for standup is the competition. If you’re funny… great! So is hundreds of other comedians. There are only 52 weeks in a year, which means most comedy clubs only book 52 headliners/features/host. You can’t give them any reason not to book you because you are wildly replaceable. The biggest obstacle for acting is the nonstop attempt to rip you off. Track your pay and don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself if production makes unreadable requests. Unfortunately, SAG doesn’t do much to change the ratio of union to non-union work, which means a vast majority of the work is non-union. Don’t be a dick about it, but keep in mind that production’s goal is to spend as little as possible, and when a production is shady it will negatively impact you.

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