4 years ago, Fortune Feimster had never been on TV.  She was working a day job and doing standup and improv casually for fun.  Then, 6 months after auditioning for “Last Comic Standing”, she was delighting audiences as a writer, performer, and round-table guest on E!’s hit show “Chelsea Lately”.

From “2 Broke Girls” to Tina Fey’s new Pilot “Cabot College”, Fortune Feimster’s effervescent personality and off-the-wall comic sensibilities never fail to bring audiences along for the ride and let everyone feel included in the joke.  But how do you go from working a 9-5 to living the career of your dreams?  Watch the video and read the article below to learn some of the real components of  “overnight success”. 

1. GO FULL OUT
   As she mentions in the video, Fortune was doing improv and stand up for fun when her roommate sat her down and said “Do you really want to do comedy for your career?  Because if so, you’re not doing enough to be successful.”  Something in his words challenged her, and from that day forward Fortune threw herself into the work.  She did 6 shows a week, living and breathing the entertainment business.  When she wasn’t performing, she was writing, shooting videos, studying comedy, promoting herself, or honing some other aspect of her career. 
2. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
   Fortune tried to get an agent, but none were interested.  They told her that she looked too “different” and that they just couldn’t see where she would fit into the industry.

   Being rejected by the gatekeepers of a profession would probably be enough to make most people give up- but not Fortune. 

   Without any agent or representation, she filmed herself, in her backyard, doing her characters and submitted the tape, unrequested, to Saturday Night Live. A few days later, they called and asked her to fly to New York to test for the show.

3. DO IT YOURSELF
   With an attitude like her’s  it’s easy to see that whether an agent said “yes”, or whether Saturday Night Live said “yes”, or Chelsea Lately or Last Comic Standing said “yes”, it almost didn’t matter. 

   Fortune’s love of making people laugh, her talent, perseverance and unflagging belief in herself can be an inspiration for writers, performers, and anyone with a dream. 

   “From very early on, I decided that I’m going to do what I do until someone gets it. When you grow up looking different, you learn to believe in yourself.  You learn that if you want something, they’re probably not going to say “yes” right away- you have to convince them.”

 

For more Fortune, stay tuned for part 2 of this interview (like us and subscribe to be alerted of the next video) and follow https://twitter.com/fortunefunny  Join Gerry’s newsletter at www.standupcomedyclass.com/aweber.html.  

Many thanks to Fortune Feimster – if you enjoyed this video, or have a success tip or a question please comment below!