Comedian Jeff Arcuri Gets Paid to Talk to Strangers

Jeff Arcuri has made a name for himself spinning unpredictable crowd interactions into comedy gold. His debut Netflix special, “Nice To Meet You,” showcases the fearless, improvisational style that’s made him one of the most-clipped comedians on social media. Jeff sat down with us on How Success Happens to share his journey and process, and we’ve broken down 5 highlights of his insights to help improv your own success.

Listen Now

Subscribe now: Apple | Spotify | YouTube

1. Prepare Before You Improvise

Arcuri’s crowd work looks completely spontaneous — it isn’t. He walks into every show with a game plan and a mental Rolodex of material ready to deploy the second an opening appears. “I always have a plan… I always have a reason to bring something up,” he says. “You’re never gonna see me, like, kinda floundering and then going, ‘All right, so what’s your story over here?'” Instead, he’s always “trying to find trigger words to go into my own, own material, own stories.” That prep work is exactly what lets him stay calm when a stranger says something he never saw coming.

2. Don’t Let Success Distract You

While his career was actually taking off, Arcuri didn’t want anything to prematurely distract him from his goals. He moved from a decent apartment to “living in a basement with rats with five other guys” because he says, “You have to just be okay with struggling financially.” Comforts like “in-unit AC or in-unit laundry” would only “cripple you in the long run,” he warns, because maintaining that lifestyle becomes its own priority. As he puts it, “I’d rather live in a basement filled with rats doing stand-up than living in a high-rise being an accountant. It’s a matter of love of the game.”

Subscribe to the free How Success Happens Newsletter for weekly inspiration.

3. Take One Risk Per Show

In every set, Jeff includes one new, unproven joke tucked between two he knows will land — what he calls “a shit sandwich.” He explains: “You got two nice pieces of bread, you got two jokes that always work, but in between it you got a real brand new one,” he explains. “That, that could become the bread eventually.” Or it could bomb. And he’s blunt about how risky you can be with unproven material: “You get one per show… ’cause then two, they’re gonna start wondering why they paid so much money.”

4. Don’t Blame the Audience

A brutal cruise-ship gig taught Arcuri to look inward before pointing fingers. After following a comedian who brought the house down, he watched half the crowd walk out mid-set. “I am a comic who has blamed the audience in the past, but I also blame myself,” he admits. Although there are definitely going to be bad audiences to face, “I’m never going to 100% blame them. I always try to think, hey, you still gotta learn from stuff.”

5. Adapt or Get Left Behind

Arcuri built his massive following by posting his crowd-work clips instead of hoarding his material out of fear it would get “used up” for his live shows. His advice for creators who guard their content too closely: “Well, then you need to write more to compensate for that. You have to find another niche.” As he puts it, “There is no, ‘Hey, if I get into this club, they’re gonna get me a network deal’ anymore. It’s all up to you to get into people’s brains.” He tells hesitant friends bluntly: “You’re throw shit at a wall, man. Some of it’s not gonna land, but that’s fine.” The only way to build momentum is to stay fresh in their minds.

Learn More

Follow Jeff Arcuri on Instagram at @jarcuri, and stream his special, “Nice To Meet You,” now on Netflix. Check his tour dates to catch a live show — as he told us, that’s where the real magic happens.

More on these themes from Entrepreneur.com:

• How to Build a Strong Personal Brand
• 5 Risk-Taking Lessons From Founders Who Bet Big and Won
• 6 Things You Gain By Embracing Failure and Learning From Mistakes

About How Success Happens

Each episode of How Success Happens shares the inspiring, entertaining, and unexpected journeys that influential leaders in business, the arts, and sports traveled on their way to becoming household names. It’s a reminder that behind every big-time career, there is a person who persisted in the face of self-doubt, failure, and anything else that got thrown in their way.