Professional jack-of-all-trades?
March 10, 2010 11:44 AM Subscribe
How does one become a "professional jack-of-all-trades", like David Sedaris or John Hodgman?
Hodgman is the best example I can think of: he writes books and appears on radio shows and acts, but he doesn't seem to do any one of these things more than the others.
A lot of the people who contribute to This American Life seem to be like this as well, so my question is, How do they do it? How did they get all of these jobs? It's like having five dream occupations all at once, and I want to know their secret.
Hodgman is the best example I can think of: he writes books and appears on radio shows and acts, but he doesn't seem to do any one of these things more than the others.
A lot of the people who contribute to This American Life seem to be like this as well, so my question is, How do they do it? How did they get all of these jobs? It's like having five dream occupations all at once, and I want to know their secret.
Hodgman's piece for the 'Nice Work If You Can Get It' episode is probably your starting point.
I also like Ben Hammersley's rules of thumb from his talk on "how to be a Renaissance man", especially "never say no".
posted by holgate at 11:53 AM on March 10, 2010
I also like Ben Hammersley's rules of thumb from his talk on "how to be a Renaissance man", especially "never say no".
posted by holgate at 11:53 AM on March 10, 2010
Well, Hodgman got his start as a lowly literary agent who took on Bruce Campbell's memoir "If Chins Could Kill." He parlayed that into an ongoing feature at McSweeney's ("Ask a Former Professional Literary Agent"), then wrote The Areas of My Expertise, and went on the Daily Show to promote it. And so was history born.
Not sure how he got the Mac commercials gig, but I imagine the income from that has allowed him complete leeway to be a nerdy freewheeling gadabout.
posted by deludingmyself at 11:56 AM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Not sure how he got the Mac commercials gig, but I imagine the income from that has allowed him complete leeway to be a nerdy freewheeling gadabout.
posted by deludingmyself at 11:56 AM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
especially "never say no".
Along with that is "always be easily available". That generally means living in NYC or San Fran or LA. They aren't going to fly Hodgman in for the Daily Show but if he's around...
posted by smackfu at 11:59 AM on March 10, 2010
Along with that is "always be easily available". That generally means living in NYC or San Fran or LA. They aren't going to fly Hodgman in for the Daily Show but if he's around...
posted by smackfu at 11:59 AM on March 10, 2010
I think this really began with George Plimpton, didn't it? My dad described him as a "professional amateur".
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:04 PM on March 10, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:04 PM on March 10, 2010 [3 favorites]
It actually has nothing to do with skill and everything to do with personality.
posted by infinitefloatingbrains at 12:13 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by infinitefloatingbrains at 12:13 PM on March 10, 2010
There's also a ton of being in the right place at the right time (along with skill). No matter how talented a person is, it takes more than effort to get to such a position.
posted by gnutron at 12:23 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by gnutron at 12:23 PM on March 10, 2010
David Sedaris was discovered by Ira Glass of This American Life. Obviously from his stories you can glean that he was a housekeeper until he got discovered (in his forties).
I think John Hodgman struggled until he was on The Daily Show. He has an awesome essay about it.
posted by anniecat at 12:24 PM on March 10, 2010
I think John Hodgman struggled until he was on The Daily Show. He has an awesome essay about it.
posted by anniecat at 12:24 PM on March 10, 2010
Sometimes I am asked: How is it that you became a famous minor television personality? My answer is always the same: I went on television. Specifically, I had written a book, and I had been asked to be a guest on a popular television program to promote that book. This went well, and they asked me to come back on the show as a regular. And I did. And next I was asked to audition for a series of ads for a computer company. And I got that job, too.
(from the John Hodgman essay I linked to above)
posted by anniecat at 12:26 PM on March 10, 2010
(from the John Hodgman essay I linked to above)
posted by anniecat at 12:26 PM on March 10, 2010
Start writing and if you're good hopefully you'll eventually be published, and then hopefully you'll end up on a tv show for something. You can almost tell instantly when someone is in front of a camera if they have that special spark.
I think the thing to keep in mind is that these are very very talented people. Most of us are not that lucky to be born with those skills.
posted by mattsweaters at 12:33 PM on March 10, 2010
I think the thing to keep in mind is that these are very very talented people. Most of us are not that lucky to be born with those skills.
posted by mattsweaters at 12:33 PM on March 10, 2010
In my opinion, the people you list are not professional jacks-of-all-trades, they're professional entertainers. Call them professional producers of media, if you like, and lump in folks on the political side like George Will, Cokie Roberts, etc, who write columns but also appear on television. Some of those folks land themselves regular gigs like John Stewart, Joe Scarsboro, etc, and spend most of their time doing one regular thing but churn out a book periodically.
Yes, some of those people I list do one thing much more than the other but I think to some extent that's a function of (a) the changing media and employment landscape (more people are doing more smaller things than one big thing) and (b) that's what they have to do to be successful.
I'd wager at least some of them would much rather just do one thing all the time and get paid equally well. Look at Dave Barry who used to write weekly columns but stopped to write longer books exclusively... but who still produces short form stuff online for free because that's how you promote your bigger paying stuff.
As others quoted above, they become those people by constantly being on and available. They produce and promote, constantly. More than anything else, they cross-pollinate. Some of the people you hear in stories on This American Life are currently working on other NPR/PRI shows and projects. Presumably again, they're not doing this (exclusively) for the lulz, they're doing it because they need to get paid or want a higher profile because that will lead them to more success and opportunities.
I suppose I should have made that much shorter and said: I suspect some sizable portion of the people you list would say that they don't have five dream jobs, they have five 1/5ths of a dream job that, when you add it all up, isn't quite a dream job BECAUSE it's split into pieces.
posted by phearlez at 12:45 PM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yes, some of those people I list do one thing much more than the other but I think to some extent that's a function of (a) the changing media and employment landscape (more people are doing more smaller things than one big thing) and (b) that's what they have to do to be successful.
I'd wager at least some of them would much rather just do one thing all the time and get paid equally well. Look at Dave Barry who used to write weekly columns but stopped to write longer books exclusively... but who still produces short form stuff online for free because that's how you promote your bigger paying stuff.
As others quoted above, they become those people by constantly being on and available. They produce and promote, constantly. More than anything else, they cross-pollinate. Some of the people you hear in stories on This American Life are currently working on other NPR/PRI shows and projects. Presumably again, they're not doing this (exclusively) for the lulz, they're doing it because they need to get paid or want a higher profile because that will lead them to more success and opportunities.
I suppose I should have made that much shorter and said: I suspect some sizable portion of the people you list would say that they don't have five dream jobs, they have five 1/5ths of a dream job that, when you add it all up, isn't quite a dream job BECAUSE it's split into pieces.
posted by phearlez at 12:45 PM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yes, I think you may be thinking of this a bit wrong. Both of these men are basically professional comics (not standup comics, but comic nonetheless), and they've branched out to do the gigs available to them. But they have a skill, and that skill is basically comic writing. It's their access to people that they've met by that skill that allows them to do other things, and their continued success depends on doing those other things reasonably well.
I think this really began with George Plimpton, didn't it? My dad described him as a "professional amateur".
Plimpton is both an erroneous and an instructive example. He was also an editor and writer, but he was upper-crusty as well. His "professional amateurism" was because he was a participatory journalist, learning new things in order to write about them. But all of those things fed each other: his ability to get himself in certain doors was because he was a writer and had rich friends and relatives.
posted by OmieWise at 1:20 PM on March 10, 2010
I think this really began with George Plimpton, didn't it? My dad described him as a "professional amateur".
Plimpton is both an erroneous and an instructive example. He was also an editor and writer, but he was upper-crusty as well. His "professional amateurism" was because he was a participatory journalist, learning new things in order to write about them. But all of those things fed each other: his ability to get himself in certain doors was because he was a writer and had rich friends and relatives.
posted by OmieWise at 1:20 PM on March 10, 2010
If you didn't mean to limit yourself to "people who are in all areas of media," being a jack-of-all trades is something anyone can do, it just means you have to be willing to get it out of your head that you're not a success unless you hold down one steady job. If you can get rid of the idea that you should "settle down" and live in one place, that helps too; you can do a LOT of cool stuff if you're willing to ping around the map a few times a year. Figure out the things you enjoy and find a way to make it happen, even if only for part of the year. Some jobs are seasonal. Some jobs are part time. Some people have a "main" job to get money and then fill in the rest of the time with other jobs they like better. A lot of people have a normal job that subsidizes hobbies they're very, very serious about.
You might enjoy the book Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher. It's about this exactly, ways to plan your life out so you can fit in all the things you want to do, etc.
posted by Nattie at 1:52 PM on March 10, 2010
You might enjoy the book Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher. It's about this exactly, ways to plan your life out so you can fit in all the things you want to do, etc.
posted by Nattie at 1:52 PM on March 10, 2010
I think this has more to do with being some kind of self-employed freelancer, where you are constantly networking and trying to turn one gig into another, than any specific skill. I work in the photography industry and myself (and most of the people I know) take on gigs peripheral to actually making photos (teaching, retouching, production, art, whatever) because we are available & these things usually lead to other opportunities.
Also it's fun not doing the same thing every day.
posted by bradbane at 3:03 PM on March 10, 2010
Also it's fun not doing the same thing every day.
posted by bradbane at 3:03 PM on March 10, 2010
Be willing to mercilessly and relentlessly stereotype the vast majority of people who own a particular type of computer. Also, good skin helps.
posted by meehawl at 3:57 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by meehawl at 3:57 PM on March 10, 2010
If Hodgman is, as he says, an E-list celebrity, my celebrity is down at the end of the Excel sheet where they have to double up on letters. My career has been kind of a faint, tinny echo of Hodgman and Sedaris. I, too, have had a book out. I've been on radio, and I've been on television, and I have once or twice spoken to people who assembled in a room specifically to hear what I had to say. I think I can tell you what goes into having a career like that.
1. Be witty. Being funny is the best way to get attention. You can get on TV for being exceptionally beautiful, vastly wealthy, or incredibly smart, but you have to be charismatic to get invited back, and wit is one of the building blocks of charisma.
2. Write. Writing is the easiest way to get your wit into an easily-shared format. It's cheap and easy to disseminate. It's possible that YouTube is replacing the word processor as the audition stage of the future minor notable person, but I think writing stuff, constantly and relentlessly, is still the best approach.
3. Make sure people see what you write. Send it to magazines, blog it, write semi-humorous but ultimately self-pitying comments on message boards, whatever. Eventually, someone will notice. I spent hours and hours in high school and college reading how to properly format a query letter, and in the end, Random House contacted me out of the blue.
4. Once your writing is being disseminated to a wider audience, other people will contact you. I've been invited to read for NPR a couple times and I was on some TV news debate thing for what seemed like a minute and a half. I am kind of a hermit, so this wasn't due to any hustling or glad-handing on my part.
5. If you are David Sedaris or John Hodgman, your books will sell a whole bunch and you'll get invites on a regular basis. If you're like me, your book will tank and your invites will be intermittent, and you'll turn many of them down because you don't like leaving the house.
It's that easy!
posted by lore at 4:32 PM on March 10, 2010 [4 favorites]
1. Be witty. Being funny is the best way to get attention. You can get on TV for being exceptionally beautiful, vastly wealthy, or incredibly smart, but you have to be charismatic to get invited back, and wit is one of the building blocks of charisma.
2. Write. Writing is the easiest way to get your wit into an easily-shared format. It's cheap and easy to disseminate. It's possible that YouTube is replacing the word processor as the audition stage of the future minor notable person, but I think writing stuff, constantly and relentlessly, is still the best approach.
3. Make sure people see what you write. Send it to magazines, blog it, write semi-humorous but ultimately self-pitying comments on message boards, whatever. Eventually, someone will notice. I spent hours and hours in high school and college reading how to properly format a query letter, and in the end, Random House contacted me out of the blue.
4. Once your writing is being disseminated to a wider audience, other people will contact you. I've been invited to read for NPR a couple times and I was on some TV news debate thing for what seemed like a minute and a half. I am kind of a hermit, so this wasn't due to any hustling or glad-handing on my part.
5. If you are David Sedaris or John Hodgman, your books will sell a whole bunch and you'll get invites on a regular basis. If you're like me, your book will tank and your invites will be intermittent, and you'll turn many of them down because you don't like leaving the house.
It's that easy!
posted by lore at 4:32 PM on March 10, 2010 [4 favorites]
Is there a community radio station/newspaper /television station near you? Get involved, and before you know it, you'll be on the air/in print. Like any skill, practice is a big part of competence. Local media always needs content; become an expert, and you'll get calls to appear on local news. People develop expertise in the most surprising things. Read Dave Barry, Calvin Trillin, and other essayists. Have a blog with a focus.
posted by theora55 at 5:14 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by theora55 at 5:14 PM on March 10, 2010
My dad reminds me of this, in a way. The only difference is that he's this way in our medium-sized city, not in NYC or LA. He always tells me it's a lot easier to be a big fish in a small pound. I've read all of David Sedaris' books and it's amazing to me how many places he's lived and how many jobs he's had. That's one way to do it. Or, you can be like my father who's lived in the same city his whole life, worked at a newspaper for his whole career and knows so many people here that we call him our famous-but-not-rich celebrity. He knows so many people and that helps him do projects, be on TV, be on the radio and be creative.
posted by girlmightlive at 5:24 AM on March 11, 2010
posted by girlmightlive at 5:24 AM on March 11, 2010
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posted by Think_Long at 11:51 AM on March 10, 2010